Almost all major renewable as well conventional energy companies rely on Fluke Test & Measurement Tools

Founded in 1948, Fluke Corporation is the world leader in compact, professional electronic test tools and software for measuring and condition monitoring. Fluke customers are technicians, engineers, electricians, maintenance managers, and metrologists who install, troubleshoot, and maintain industrial, electrical, electronic equipment and calibration processes. Mr P. Sridharan, Sr. Manager & Head – Product Management at Fluke, speaks candidly on a wide range of issues. Excerpts:

The Indian power sector has been undergoing major transformation. Being one of the most critical component of an infrastructure that affects India’s economic growth, what is your exact take on this statement?

The Infrastructure development is the key to any country’s progress. Power is a vital need for any infrastructure development. Indian power sector has seen a rapid growth in all its aspects, power Generation, transmission and distribution. The total generation capacity is growing at 5% for the last 5 years and the non- conventional energy is growing at a strong rate of more than 20% in the last 3 years. Present governments plan to electrify all villages under DDUGJY plan and to all households by providing 40 million connections under Saubhagya Scheme will give a boost to power sector.

Do you think electrification of energy demand in all regions and sectors will drive India’s growth?

Certainly! The current peak demand is about 175GW and the installed capacity of 344GW is a clear example of the growth in electrification of demand and this will have a growing trend in the days to come. Make in India initiative also expected to increase the demand for the power and will be a major growth engine for many sectors.

Almost every year, several initiatives are announced to breathe new life into Indian electricity sector. Can you single out one such initiative that has proved beneficial for your sector and has been a game changer?

Fluke provides specialised Predictive Maintenance Tools alongwith Advance Condition Monitoring Systems in addition to General Purpose Test Tools. The awareness of predictive maintenance to safeguard critical assets from failures are increasing and we see a large number of deployment of these tools across the energy value chain. Initiatives around renewable and non-conventional energy sources are really helping our sector. Renewable energy needs critical measurements to ensure high efficiency operations. Almost all major renewable as well conventional energy companies relies on Fluke Test & Measurement Tools to check the health of their system and to verify the performance and efficiency of their installations.

How do you view the contribution of measuring instruments to a sustainable society?

Measuring instruments help organisations to ensure safety, productivity, efficiency and thereby lower cost of operation which brings global competitiveness. Fluke tools helps its customer understand the baseline efficiency and implement sustained energy efficiency programs to achieve energy reductions goals thereby helping them reach their efficiency targets. Fluke test tools plays vital role in identifying any potential safety hazards in the facility and help the user to proactively avoid downtime & accidents due to failure of assets.

Fluke Connects, a new set of wireless tools developed by Fluke, is an integrated set of wireless test tools & asset management software. Fluke connects simplifies maintenance by syncing with other tools recording data, access historical baselines and share results over live video or thru emails.

How imperative is the role of T&M equipment in installing, improving efficiency and extending the life of power plant assets?

The test and measurement instruments help the user to gather insights and analyse critical data-points to understand whether the installation is optimized or not. Fluke offers wide range to test tools to conduct Load & Energy Studies, Thermal & Vibration Audits, check various Process Loops to identify potential problem BEFORE they occur. These latest tools from Fluke like Vibration Testers, Advanced Motor Analyzer, Infrared Cameras, SF6 Leak Detectors help to troubleshoot various sub-station equipment, electrical panels and rotating assets that are at risk of premature failure. They provide vital information that can be used by the power plant to avoid failures and downtime which increases productivity and reduces overall cost of production.

What parameters measure the electrical power quality?

The quality of the electrical power and installation can be assessed through various power quality parameters. Voltage, Current, Power Factor, Phase Angle and Harmonics are most important among them. Harmonics, if present in the electrical network, reduces the utilization capacity of electrical network, poses serious safety risks, causes heating in electrical machines and reduces life of the assets considerably. Unbalance, transient, voltage Dip, Sag, Swell are other important power quality parameters that will affect the process and may cause damage to assets if undetected.

How do you evaluate the new usages of measuring instruments and their expansion?

New technologies in areas like cloud based storage, faster telecom networks, lower data costs, penetration of internet and IIoT are also reshaping customer’s expectations from their test tools. We are experiencing globally that apart from making instantaneous measurements, now users are demanding a more comprehensive set of tools which are capable of conducting tests over longer period of time, remote monitoring of test results and access to historical data anywhere, anytime.

Transparent factories and E-Maintenance are going to be next buzzwords and we will see wave of Smart tools which can not only make measurements but can communicate to other tools and systems, convey data over network and can be remotely controlled using internet technologies.

Fluke has is revolutionizing industrial condition monitoring with its first portable, easy to install Condition Monitoring Systems that you can access from anywhere-anytime. Fluke Condition Monitoring System integrates sensor measurement, analytics, cloud storage alarms and communication tools all in one smart system. This provides users with continuous monitoring for your equipment, deliver real time alarms, this will revolutionise the way we maintain and troubleshoot industrial & commercial facilities.

For information on Fluke tools and applications, or to find the location of a distributor, contact Fluke India e-mail [email protected], call toll free 1-800-419-3001 or visit the Fluke Web site at www.fluke.com/india