KR20240034368A - relay module unit for controlling and monitoring the electric power facilities - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a relay module unit for control and monitoring of power plant field devices. A relay module unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is a relay module unit that controls and monitors field devices in conjunction with a field controller of a power plant, and includes a power module that supplies power; and a plurality of relay interface units connected to a plurality of field controllers of the power plant to control and monitor corresponding field devices. The relay interface unit includes a coil disconnection detection unit that detects whether the coil of the field device is disconnected. According to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine whether coils are disconnected due to aging or impact of power plant field equipment.

Description

Relay module unit for controlling and monitoring the electric power facilities}

The present invention relates to a relay module unit for controlling and monitoring field devices in a power plant, and more specifically, to a relay module unit for facilitating control and monitoring of field devices in connection with a field controller of a power plant.

It is very difficult and cumbersome for users to check each time whether the coil is disconnected due to aging or impact of field equipment. In particular, it is difficult to confirm in the case of continuous operation and operation, such as a nuclear power plant.

This is a very important issue in that if you check the condition of the coils of the power plant field devices in advance, you can respond to ensure that there are no problems with the facility operation.

“Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2021-0114139 (2021.09.23.)” “Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2006-0082679 (2006.07.19.)“ “Republic of Korea Registered Utility Model Publication No. 20-0299915 (2003.01.08.)”

The present invention proposes a relay module unit that can easily determine whether coils are disconnected due to aging or shock in power plant field equipment.

A relay module unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is a relay module unit that controls and monitors field devices in conjunction with a field controller of a power plant, and includes a power module that supplies power; and a plurality of relay interface units connected to a plurality of field controllers of the power plant to control and monitor corresponding field devices. The relay interface unit includes a coil disconnection detection unit that detects whether the coil of the field device is disconnected. The coil disconnection detection unit has a structure in which the input terminal and the output terminal are electrically insulated from each other, and a power supply unit that converts a DC input voltage into a DC output voltage and outputs it; a constant current output unit that generates a constant current passing through the coil of the field device and provides it to the coil of the field device; a protection circuit unit to protect the system from high voltage induced from the coil of the field device; a standard setting unit that sets an impedance value for determining whether the field device coil is disconnected; It includes a detection unit that detects a constant current passing through the field device coil, and an alarm unit that lights an LED or notifies the system when the constant current passing through the field device coil is detected.

The protection circuit unit includes a switch that forms or blocks a constant current path between the constant current source and the field device coil; a first diode whose cathode terminal is connected to one end of the switch and whose anode terminal is connected to one end of the coil of the field device; and a second diode whose anode terminal is connected to the other end of the switch and whose cathode terminal is connected to the other end of the coil of the field device.

The switch is opened when the coil of the field device operates, and is short-circuited when the coil is not operated.

The detection unit includes a photodiode and provides a result of detecting a constant current passing through the coil to the alarm unit.

The alarm unit has an OR gate, receives a coil operation command from the field device and a detection result from the alarm unit, and outputs an alarm signal.

According to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine whether coils are disconnected due to aging or impact of power plant field equipment.

As another effect, damage to the circuit due to high voltage applied from the power plant field equipment can be prevented.

As another effect, it can prevent noise from entering the power plant field equipment.

1 shows a power plant system including a relay module unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the coil disconnection detection unit shown in FIG. 1.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing embodiments and is not intended to suggest the invention. As used herein, singular forms also include plural forms, unless specifically stated otherwise in the context. As used in the specification, “comprises” and/or “comprising” does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements in addition to the mentioned elements. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification, and “and/or” includes each and every combination of one or more of the referenced elements. Although “first”, “second”, etc. are used to describe various components, these components are of course not limited by these terms. These terms are merely used to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, it goes without saying that the first component mentioned below may also be a second component within the technical idea of the present invention. In addition, terms such as "... unit" and "module" used in the specification refer to a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software, or as a combination of hardware and software. .

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiments introduced below are provided as examples so that the idea of the present invention can be sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art.

Figure 1 shows an example of use of a relay module unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the relay module unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention is located between the field controller 110 and the field device 130 of the power plant and is connected to the field device 110 of the power plant to provide a field device ( 130) controls and monitors. Field devices may be, for example, any of the following: a large-capacity ACB or breaker, a large-capacity solenoid valve, a large-capacity pump, and a large-capacity FAN. Therefore, since field devices are equipped with coils, it is necessary to check the status of the coil in advance and respond to ensure that there are no problems with the operation of the equipment.

The relay module unit 120 supplies power required for coil operation of the field device 130 and checks whether the coil of the field device 130 is short-circuited. For this purpose, the relay module unit 120 includes a power module 121 and a plurality of relay interface modules (RIMs) 122, 124, 126, and 128. The relay interface module (RIM) (122, 124, 126, 128) includes coil disconnection detection units (1222, 1242, 1262, and 1282). In one embodiment, the relay module unit 120 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to use up to 4 sets of relay interface modules (RIMs) in a 4-slot configuration, and has 32 DI channels and 16 DO channels with the controller 110. connected to the signal. The DI 32 channels of the controller DIM are branched into 8 panels each and connected to the relay interface module (RIM) through the 4 Slot Back Plane. The 16 DO channels of the controller DOM are branched into 2 channels each and connected to the relay interface module (RIM) through the 4 Slot Back Plane. The 8 DO channels of the controller that are not used in the relay interface module (RIM) output BY-PASS using a DIN41612 Type connector. The relay interface module (RIM) is connected to the field device 130 and the RIM TB (not shown) with a cable, and between the RIM TB (not shown) and each field device (132, 134, 136, 138), DI 4 channels, It is connected to 2 channels for Do, 1 channel for fail alarm, 2 channels for coil disconnection detection, and 2 channels for power.

Meanwhile, the relay module unit 120 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be configured with 8 slots and redundancy depending on the user's needs. The 8-slot configuration uses up to 8 sets of relay interface modules (RIMs) and is connected to the controller and signals of 64 DI channels and 16 DO channels. The redundant configuration consists of 4 sets of relay interface modules (RIM) as one group, and is connected to the controller and signals of 128 DI channels and 32 DO channels.

Meanwhile, the main controller and backup controller may be connected to one relay module unit. Even if the main controller fails, the backup controller is configured to operate normally. In this case, 8 DI channels of the relay interface module (RIM) are integrated in the FIM-DI2 (not shown) of the relay module unit, and 32 DI channels are connected in parallel to the relay interface module (RIM) of the main controller and backup controller. The 16 DO channels of the main controller and backup controller data output module are branched into 2 channels each and connected to the relay interface module (RIM) through the FIM-DOM (not shown) and FIM-DOB (not shown) of the relay module unit. Inside the relay module unit, one controller DO among the main controller and backup controller is selected through FIM-DOM/B (not shown) to be connected to the relay interface module (RIM).

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the coil disconnection detection units 1222, 1242, 1262, and 1282 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the coil disconnection detection unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to a field device and detects whether the field device has a coil disconnection. The field device is connected to the power source through the switch (SW1). The power source 270 provides power to drive the coil of the field device and, in one embodiment, can output 125VDC or 120VAC. The switch (SW1) operates in response to the control signal (Con1). The coil disconnection detection unit 200 operates when the switch SW1 is open and the field device does not operate to detect whether the coil is disconnected.

The coil disconnection detection unit 200 applies an electrical signal to the field device coil to check the soundness of the field device coil. Specifically, the coil disconnection detection unit 200 uses a current penetration method to check disconnection of the field device drive unit (coil). Since the field device coil can operate when a general electric signal is applied, the electric signal to check the health of the field device coil is set to a fine electric signal. In one embodiment, the coil disconnection detection unit 200 can check the disconnection of the coil using 2 mA passing through the coil.

Since a higher voltage than the power source of the coil disconnection detection unit 200 is applied to the coil of the field device, the system may be damaged due to back electromotive force generated in the coil. To prevent this, the power terminal and output terminal of the coil disconnection detection unit 200 are electrically separated from each other. The coil disconnection detection unit 200 can use an electrically separated power source to generate a 2 mA constant current to be used for coil penetration. The generated current flows toward the field device coil. At this time, if the field device coil is in a normal (short-circuited) state, the current passes through the coil. In the opposite case, the current does not penetrate the coil. The coil disconnection detection unit 200 may generate an alarm when the coil is disconnected and notify the user of the coil disconnection. In one embodiment, if the impedance of the coil is more than 4.7KΩ, a constant current of 2mA may not penetrate the coil and an alarm may occur. The coil impedance value that generates an alarm can be arbitrarily set by the user.

The coil disconnection detection unit 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a power supply unit 210, a constant current output unit 220, a protection circuit unit 230, a standard setting unit 240, a detection unit 250, and an alarm unit 260. ) includes.

The power supply unit 210 generates and outputs DC voltage. For this purpose, the power supply unit 210 includes a voltage source 212 and a DC-DC converter 214. The voltage source 212 generates a DC voltage, and the DC-DC converter 214 converts the DC input voltage level and outputs it. In one embodiment, the voltage source 212 generates and outputs 48VDC, and the DC-DC converter 214 can receive a 48VDC voltage and output a 24VDC voltage. The DC-DC converter 214 has a structure in which the input terminal and output terminal are electrically insulated from each other. Therefore, the voltage source 212 can be protected from the back electromotive force of the field device coil to which a higher voltage than the voltage source 212 is applied. In addition, noise generated from field device coils can be blocked from being transmitted to the voltage source 212, thereby stabilizing the power supply unit 210.

The constant current output unit 220 provides a current passing through the field device coil to check the health of the coil. For this purpose, the constant current output unit 220 may be provided with a constant current source and a dummy resistance (R1). Since there are various types of field device coils, each type may require different microscopic electrical signals. However, in this case, the possibility of errors occurring during use may increase. The coil disconnection detection unit 200 has a constant current output unit and is implemented to allow a constant current to flow regardless of the type of field device coil. In one embodiment, the constant current output unit 220 can provide 24VDC 2mA as a field device coil penetration current. In this case, if the electromotive force generated by 2mA in the field device coil is 5VDC, the remaining 19VDC is consumed as heat in the constant current output unit 220. If damage occurs due to heat generation, it may cause malfunction of field equipment. To prevent this, the constant current output unit 220 includes a 2mA constant current IC and a dummy resistor (R1).

When the field device coil is activated, 125VDC or 120VAC flows in the circuit. This voltage is also applied to the coil disconnection detection unit 200, which may cause damage. The protection circuit unit 230 protects the coil disconnection detection unit 200 when the field device coil operates. The protection circuit unit 230 is provided with a switch (SW2) between the input terminal and the output terminal, and when the field device coil connected to the output terminal operates, the switch (SW2) is opened so that the internal circuit connected to the input terminal is electrically disconnected from the field device. . The switch (SW2) is shorted or opened according to the operation control command for the field device coil. In one embodiment, when the operation control signal of the field device coil is confirmed to be ON, the switch (SW2) is opened to disconnect the internal circuit and the field device coil. Conversely, if the operation control signal of the coil is confirmed to be OFF, the switch (SW2) is opened to disconnect the connection between the internal circuit and the field device coil. SW2) is short-circuited and performs the coil disconnection detection function. Additionally, the switch SW2 may operate opposite to the switch SW1. In one embodiment, when the switch SW1 is shorted, the switch SW2 may be open, and when the switch SW1 is open, the switch SW2 may be shorted. Meanwhile, the switch SW2 can be shorted or opened by monitoring the voltage of the field device coil. When the field device coil operates, the field device coil senses 125VDC or 120VAC. When the corresponding voltage is detected, the protection circuit unit 230 opens the switch (SW2) to disconnect the circuit and the field device coil. Conversely, if the voltage is not detected, the switch (SW2) is shorted to perform the coil disconnection detection function. The protection circuit unit 230 may additionally include a rectifier diode 232 and a Zener diode 234 in case the protection through the switch SW2 is not sound. The rectifier diode 232 is arranged so that its anode faces the field device and its cathode is connected to one end of the switch (SW2) to prevent the power applied to the coil from flowing into the internal circuit. In addition, the Zener diode 234 is arranged in the forward direction so that the anode is connected to the other end of the switch and the cathode is connected to ground, so that the back electromotive force of the coil is not applied to the internal circuit more than -1V. Through this, the internal circuit of the coil disconnection detection unit 200 is protected from being damaged by the high voltage applied to the coil.

The reference setting unit 240 includes a resistance, and an impedance reference value for determining whether the coil is disconnected is determined according to the set value. In one embodiment, when the constant current output unit 220 is 24V and 2mA, if the load impedance is 12KΩ or more, normal constant current cannot flow. Using this principle, the sum of the dummy resistance (R1) and the resistance (R2) of the reference setting unit 240 is set to 7.3KΩ, preventing constant current from flowing when the field device coil exceeds 4.7KΩ. If constant current does not flow, it is determined that the coil of the field device is disconnected.

The detection unit 250 detects the penetrating current passing through the coil. In one embodiment, short circuit (4.7KΩ or less)/disconnection (more than 4.7KΩ) of the field device coil is distinguished through the constant current output unit 220 and the standard setting unit 240. When the coil is short-circuited, the through-current is detected, and when the coil is disconnected, the through-current is not detected. The detection unit 250 is provided with a photocoupler to detect penetration current. The photocoupler can output logic 1 when a constant current of 2mA passing through the coil is detected, and logic 0 otherwise. Photocouplers can also serve as electrical isolation to protect the system from back electromotive force from field device coils.

The alarm unit 260 generates an alarm to notify the system or user when the penetrating current of the field device coil is not detected. The alarm unit 260 can generate an alarm and display it with an LED so that the user can visually check it, or it can generate and output a digital signal so that it can be recognized by the system. If the 2mA constant current for penetrating does not penetrate the field device coil, the field device coil may be disconnected or the constant current according to the field device coil operation may not be applied. An alarm should only occur if the field device coil is disconnected. Therefore, the alarm unit 260 is provided with masking logic to prevent an alarm from occurring during operation of the field device coil. The masking logic receives a command (Con1) to drive the field device coil and determines whether to mask the alarm. The masking logic can be implemented as an OR gate that uses the output of the detector 250 and the coil drive command (Con1) as input. The output of the OR gate is provided to the LED driver and system output. Accordingly, when the constant current is not detected while the field device coil is not operating, the alarm unit 260 determines that the coil is disconnected and issues an alarm.

The coil disconnection detection unit according to an embodiment of the present invention can easily check whether the coil of a field device is short-circuited by using a current penetration method. Additionally, damage to the circuit due to high voltage applied from field devices can be prevented. Additionally, it is possible to prevent noise from flowing in from field devices.

The coil disconnection detection unit according to an embodiment of the present invention can check whether the coil of the field device is short-circuited using a voltage measurement method. In other words, instead of detecting the 2mA penetrating constant current, it is possible to check whether the coil is disconnected by measuring the voltage generated from the coil and comparing it with a reference value. This has most of the configurations of the coil disconnection detection unit shown in FIG. 2 in common, but is different in that it detects coil voltage instead of constant current detection. The coil disconnection detection unit includes a constant voltage generator that generates a reference value for comparison with the coil voltage measurement. Specifically, an electrically separated power source is used to generate a 2mA constant current to be used for penetration. The generated constant current flows toward the field device coil. At this time, if the field device coil is in a normal (short-circuited) state, current passes through and voltage is generated in proportion to the coil impedance. If the field device coil is disconnected, no current flows and a voltage of 24VDC is generated. The constant voltage generator generates a 14VDC voltage and compares it to the voltage generated from the field device coil. If it is more than 14VDC, an alarm is generated to check for disconnection of the coil. The 14VDC standard is a voltage slightly higher than the voltage generated when the impedance of the field device coil is about 4.7KΩ. If the field device coil is more than about 4.7KΩ, it is judged to be a disconnection and an alarm is issued.

The steps of the method or algorithm described in connection with embodiments of the present invention may be implemented directly in hardware, implemented as a software module executed by hardware, or a combination thereof. The software module may be RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), Flash Memory, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or It may reside on any type of computer-readable recording medium well known in the art to which the present invention pertains.

Above, embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the attached drawings, but those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without changing its technical idea or essential features. You will be able to understand it. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

110: Controller 112: Data output module
114: data input module 120: relay module unit
121: Power module 122, 124, 126, 128: Relay interface module (RIM)
1222, 1242, 1262, 1282, 200: Coil disconnection detection unit
130: Field device group 132, 134, 136, 138: Individual field device
210: power supply unit 220: constant current source
230: protection circuit unit 240: standard setting unit
250: detection unit 260: alarm unit

Claims (5)

In the relay module unit that controls and monitors field devices in conjunction with the field controller of the power plant,
A power module that supplies power; and
It includes a plurality of relay interface units that are connected to a plurality of field controllers of the power plant to control and monitor corresponding field devices,
The relay interface unit includes a coil disconnection detection unit that detects whether the coil of the field device is disconnected,
The coil disconnection detection unit
A power supply unit that converts a DC input voltage into a DC output voltage and outputs it, with a structure in which the input terminal and the output terminal are electrically insulated from each other;
a constant current output unit that generates a constant current passing through the coil of the field device and provides it to the coil of the field device;
a protection circuit unit to protect the system from high voltage induced from the coil of the field device;
a standard setting unit that sets an impedance value for determining whether the field device coil is disconnected;
A detection unit that detects a constant current passing through the field device coil, and
A relay module unit including an alarm unit that lights an LED or notifies the system when a constant current passing through the field device coil is detected. The method of claim 1, wherein the protection circuit unit
a switch that forms or blocks a constant current path between the constant current source and the field device coil;
a first diode whose cathode terminal is connected to one end of the switch and whose anode terminal is connected to one end of the coil of the field device; and
A relay module unit including a second diode whose anode terminal is connected to the other terminal of the switch and whose cathode terminal is connected to the other terminal of the coil of the field device. The method of claim 2, wherein the switch
A relay module unit that opens when the coil of the field device operates and shorts when the coil does not operate. The method of claim 3, wherein the detection unit
A relay module unit including a photodiode and providing a result of detecting a constant current passing through the coil to the alarm unit. The method of claim 4, wherein the alarm unit
A relay module unit that has an OR gate and outputs an alarm signal by receiving a coil operation command from the field device and a detection result from the alarm unit.