What is BS EN 62689-2- Current and voltage sensors or detectors for fault detection about?
BS EN 62689-2 is a safety standard on current and voltage sensors or detectors, to be used for fault passage indication purposes.
BS EN 62689-2 describes electric phenomena and electric system behaviour during faults, according to the most widely diffused distribution system architecture and to fault typologies, to define the functional requirements for fault passage indicators (FPI) and distribution substation units (DSU) (including their current and/or voltage sensors), which are, respectively, a device or a device/combination of devices and/or of functions able to detect faults and provide indications about their localization.
By localization of the fault, it means the fault position with respect to the FPI/DSU installation. The point on the network (upstream or downstream from the FPI/DSU’s location) or the direction of the fault current flowing through the FPI itself. The fault localization may be obtained:
- Directly from the FPI/DSU
- From a central system using information from more FPIs or DSUs
considering the features and operating conditions of the electric system where the FPIs/DSUs are installed.
BS EN 62689-2 is therefore aimed at helping users in the appropriate choice of FPIs/DSUs (or of a system based on FPI/DSU information) properly operating in their networks, considering adopted solutions and operation rules (defined by tradition and/or depending on constraints concerning continuity and quality of voltage supply defined by a national regulator), and considering the complexity of the apparatus and consequent cost. BS EN 62689-2 is focused on system behaviour during faults, which is the “core” of FPI/DSU fault detection capability classes described in IEC 62689-1, where all requirements are specified in detail.
Who is BS EN 62689-2- Current and voltage sensors or detectors for fault detection for?
BS EN 62689-2 on current and voltage sensors or detectors, to be used for fault passage indication purposes is relevant to:
- Manufacturers of a fault detector, smart sensor, faulted circuit indicator (FCI), short circuit indicator (SCI), and earth fault indicator (EFI)
- Electromagnetic engineers
- Manufacturers of current-voltage sensors
- System engineers
- Electrical engineers and electronics engineers
- Electricians
Why should you use BS EN 62689-2- Current and voltage sensors or detectors for fault detection?
BS EN 62689 series is a product family standard for current and voltage sensors or detectors, to be used for fault passage indication purposes by proper devices or functions, indicated as fault passage indicator (FPI) or distribution substation unit (DSU), depending on their performances.
Different names are used to indicate FPIs depending on the region of the world and on their
functionalities concerning the capability to detect various kinds of faults, for instance:
- Fault detector
- Smart sensor
- Faulted circuit indicator (FCI)
- Short circuit indicator (SCI)
- Earth fault indicator (EFI)
- Test point mounted FCI
- Combination of the above
BS EN 62689-2 is about simpler versions, only using local information/signals and/or local communication, which is called FPI, while very evolved versions are called DSU. The latter is explicitly designed for smart grids.
DSUs, besides FPI basic functions, also optionally integrate additional auxiliary functions
such as:
- Voltage presence/absence detection for medium voltage (MV) network automation, with and without distributed energy resources presence (not for fault confirmation, which can be a basic FPI function depending on the adopted fault detection method, neither for safety-related aspects
- Measuring voltage, current, active, and reactive power, etc., for various applications, such as MV network automation, monitoring of power flows, etc.
- Smart grid management (such as voltage control and unwanted island operation) by means of a proper interface with locally distributed generators (DER)
- The local output of collected information by means of suitable interfaces
- Remote transmission of collected information
- Others
The BS EN 62689 series will also introduce a dedicated namespace to support the integration of FPIs/DSUs into power utility automation. In addition, BS EN 62689-2 defines proper data models and different profiles of communication interfaces to support the different use cases of these FPIs/DSUs.
Overall, BS EN 62689-2 is useful as it assists with the concept of the extended substation, which is intended as communication among intelligent electronic devices (IED). BS EN 62689-2 is not just limited to FPI/DSU devices but also embraces features needed to support extensions of the substations along with the MV feeders connected to the main substation themselves.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN 62586-1:2017 supersedes BS EN 62586-1:2014, which is withdrawn. BS EN 62586-1:2017 replaces the first edition published 2013. BS EN 62586-1:2017 constitutes a technical revision.
BS EN 62586-1:2017 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- Integration of the new measurement functions of IEC 61000-4-30:2015 (e.g., RVC and current functions)
- Integration of the new requirements of IEC/TS 61000-6-5:2015, update of definitions of environment G and H, update of applicable EMC performance criteria
- Correction of minor mistakes, improvement in specification
