# US 2013/0158736 A1 · System And Methods for Managing Emergency Power Supply System Operational Information > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0158736 A1 - Document ID: US20130158736A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/691,366 - Filed: 2012-11-30 - Published: 2013-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2006-08-24 - Assignees: Blue Pillar, Inc. - Inventors: Bradley Jay Witter; Thomas Joseph Butler; Joseph J. Scoufis; Eric D. Reichel - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130158736A1 ## CPC - H02J 13/1323: {using optical fibres} - G01F 13/006: {measuring volume in function of time} - G01R 31/40: Testing power supplies (testing photovoltaic devices H02S50/10) - G06F 1/26: Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof (for memories G11C) - G06F 17/00: Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions (information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00) - G06F 17/10: Complex mathematical operations {(function generation by table look-up G06F1/03; evaluation of elementary functions by calculation G06F7/544)} - G06Q 10/063118: {Staff planning in a project environment} - G06Q 10/06313: {Resource planning in a project environment} - G06Q 10/06315: {Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis} - G06Q 10/06395: {Quality analysis or management} - G06Q 30/0601: Electronic shopping [e-shopping] - H02J 13/12: Monitoring network conditions, e.g. electrical magnitudes or operational status - H02J 13/333: the equipment forming part of substations - H04Q 9/00: Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom - H02J 13/1337: {involving the use of Internet protocols} - H04Q 2209/10: using a centralized architecture - H04Q 2209/86: Performing a diagnostic of the sensing device - Y02E 60/00: Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation - Y04S 10/30: State monitoring, e.g. fault, temperature monitoring, insulator monitoring, corona discharge - Y04S 40/124: using wired telecommunication networks or data transmission busses - Y04S 50/10: Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid - H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY - G01F: MEASURING VOLUME, VOLUME FLOW, MASS FLOW OR LIQUID LEVEL; METERING BY VOLUME - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - H04Q: SELECTING (switches, relays, selectors H01H; wireless communication networks H04W) - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION - Y04S: SYSTEMS INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO POWER NETWORK OPERATION, COMMUNICATION OR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR IMPROVING THE ELECTRICAL POWER GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, DISTRIBUTION, MANAGEMENT OR USAGE, i.e. SMART GRIDS ## Abstract Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for managing and monitoring a plurality of emergency power supply systems (EPSS's) at a facility via an emergency power management system (EPMS). The EPMS generally comprises EPSS equipment, a management computer system for managing, monitoring, and testing the operational characteristics of the EPSS equipment, and a plurality of interface modules for providing unified communication capabilities between the management computer system and the EPSS equipment. Additional aspects relate to methods for easily and efficiently creating and installing an EPMS at a facility. Further aspects are directed to providing predictive analyses related to the EPSS equipment. Also, aspects of the present disclosure relate to normalizing EPSS equipment information across varying vendors, makes, and models of equipment so as to provide a unified view of all equipment across a given facility. ## Claims ### Claim at position 1 1-46. (canceled) ### Claim 47 An emergency power management system (EPMS) for managing one or more pre-existing emergency power supply systems (EPSS's) at a site, comprising: a plurality of items of data acquisition equipment for collecting EPSS operational information from one or more items of EPSS equipment at the site, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are manufactured by one or more manufacturers; one or more interface modules operatively connected to the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment for receiving the collected EPSS operational information from the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment, wherein the one or more interface modules also normalize the EPSS operational information for subsequent processing; and a management computer system operatively connected to the one or more interface modules for receiving the normalized EPSS operational information from the one or more interface modules and storing the normalized EPSS operational information in one or more databases, wherein the management computer system includes automatically configurable management software for processing the normalized EPSS operational information into an interactive display and presenting the interactive display to a user via a user interface; whereby the user utilizes the interactive display of the normalized EPSS operational information to manage the one or more items of EPSS equipment at the site. ### Claim 48 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment comprise a plurality of predefined EPSS's at a facility. ### Claim 49 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment are selected from the group comprising: monitoring sensors, connectors required by particular types of monitoring sensors, power supplies, fuel gauges, power meters, gauges, status indicators, viewing cameras, microphones, vibration sensors, inertial sensors, motion sensors, actuation components, solenoids, and relays. ### Claim 50 (depends on 49) The system of claim 49, wherein the monitoring sensors are selected from the group comprising: thermocouples, resistive temperature detectors (RTDs), pressure sensors, current transformers (CTs), and limit switches. ### Claim 51 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment are physically installed on the one or more items of EPSS equipment. ### Claim 52 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are preconfigured to include one or more of the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment. ### Claim 53 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are selected from the group comprising: generators, automatic transfer switches (ATS's), switchgear, fuel supplies, and fuel management systems. ### Claim 54 (depends on 53) The system of claim 53, wherein the EPSS operational information for each generator within the one or more pre-existing EPSS's is selected from the group comprising: jacket water temperature, exhaust temperature, oil pressure, oil temperature, coolant temperature, battery charging voltage, battery charging current, engine running status, engine “not in auto” status, engine runtime, engine speed, generator power, rated load, generator power factor, percent generator capacity, three-phase voltage, three-phase current, generator frequency, and applied torque. ### Claim 55 (depends on 53) The system of claim 53, wherein the EPSS operational information for each ATS within the one or more pre-existing EPSS's is selected from the group comprising: emergency power, emergency power factor, emergency frequency, emergency three-phase voltage, emergency three-phase current, emergency average current, emergency power hours, normal power, normal power factor, normal frequency, normal three-phase voltage, normal three-phase current, normal average current, normal power hours, emergency power status, normal power status, emergency breaker status, and normal breaker status. ### Claim 56 (depends on 53) The system of claim 53, wherein the EPSS operational information for each fuel supply within the one or more pre-existing EPSS's is selected from the group comprising: fuel level, fuel supply status, and exit fuel flow rate. ### Claim 57 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein each of the one or more interface modules includes a microprocessor, memory, communication bus, one or more data inputs, one or more data outputs, and interface module software for carrying out the functions of receiving, normalizing, and transmitting EPSS operational information from the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment to the management computer system. ### Claim 58 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein at least one of the one or more interface modules comprises a remote terminal unit (RTU). ### Claim 59 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein at least one of the one or more interface modules comprises a programmable logic controller (PLC). ### Claim 60 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein each of the one or more interface modules includes a firewall for preventing unauthorized access to the one or more items of EPSS equipment, the management computer system, and the EPSS operational information. ### Claim 61 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the management computer system further includes one or more servers for operating the automatically configurable management software. ### Claim 62 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the management computer system logs historical EPSS operational information in the one or more databases for providing operational trends of the one or more items of EPSS equipment over time. ### Claim 63 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the automatically configurable management software comprises supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software. ### Claim 64 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the user interface is displayed on a computer screen. ### Claim 65 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises a chart or graph of one or more items of EPSS operational information over a predefined time period. ### Claim 66 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises one or more visual pictures of the one or more items of EPSS equipment for visually monitoring the EPSS equipment at the site. ### Claim 67 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises an interactive map view of the one or more items of EPSS equipment for enabling a site-wide view of the pre-existing EPSS's at the site. ### Claim 68 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises a report detailing specific normalized EPSS operational information for one or more selected items of EPSS equipment for a predetermined time period. ### Claim 69 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises an electrical one-line view of power connections of the one or more items of EPSS equipment at the site to utility power or emergency power. ### Claim 70 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the user interface displays an alarm to the user when one or more predefined conditions related to the EPSS operational information are satisfied. ### Claim 71 (depends on 70) The method of claim 70, wherein the one or more predefined conditions are selected from the group comprising: one or more values of EPSS operational information exceeds one or more predetermined values, one or more values of EPSS operational information falls below one or more predetermined values, and one or more items of EPSS equipment malfunctions. ### Claim 72 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the user interface displays normalized EPSS operational information related to a power disruption event as the event is occurring. ### Claim 73 (depends on 72) The system of claim 72, wherein the power disruption event comprises a planned or unplanned loss of utility power. ### Claim 74 (depends on 47) The system of claim 47, wherein the management computer system provides user security to prevent unauthorized access to the EPMS. ### Claim at position 30 75-219. (canceled) ### Claim 220 A method for managing operational information relating to one or more items of emergency power supply system (EPSS) equipment, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are operatively connected to one or more interface modules, the one or more interface modules being operative to process and transmit operational information between the one or more items of EPSS equipment and a management computer system, comprising the steps of: receiving operational information relating to a particular item of EPSS equipment at a particular interface module, the operational information comprising a format defined by the particular item of EPSS equipment; retrieving from a database a configuration flag relating to the particular item of EPSS equipment, wherein the configuration flag comprises instructions for modifying operational information for the particular item of EPSS equipment to conform to a predetermined standardized format; generating standardized operational information by modifying the received operational information to conform to the predetermined standardized format according to the instructions in the configuration flag; and transmitting the standardized operational information to a management computer system for subsequent processing. ### Claim 221 The method claim of 220, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment comprise a plurality of predefined EPSS's at a facility. ### Claim 222 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are manufactured by one or more manufacturers. ### Claim 223 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the operational information relating to a particular item of EPSS equipment is received from a particular item of data acquisition equipment. ### Claim 224 (depends on 223) The method of claim 223, wherein the particular item of data acquisition equipment is selected from the group comprising: monitoring sensors, connectors required by particular types of monitoring sensors, power supplies, fuel gauges, power meters, gauges, status indicators, viewing cameras, microphones, vibration sensors, inertial sensors, motion sensors, actuation components, solenoids, and relays. ### Claim 225 (depends on 224) The method of claim 224, wherein the monitoring sensors are selected from the group comprising: thermocouples, resistive temperature detectors (RTDs), pressure sensors, current transformers (CTs), and limit switches. ### Claim 226 (depends on 223) The method of claim 223, wherein the particular item of data acquisition equipment is physically installed on the particular item of EPSS equipment. ### Claim 227 (depends on 223) The method of claim 223, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are preconfigured to include one or more items of data acquisition equipment. ### Claim 228 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are selected from the group comprising: generators, automatic transfer switches (ATS's), switchgear, fuel supplies, and fuel management systems. ### Claim 229 (depends on 228) The method of claim 228, wherein the operational information for each generator is selected from the group comprising: jacket water temperature, exhaust temperature, oil pressure, oil temperature, coolant temperature, battery charging voltage, battery charging current, engine running status, engine “not in auto” status, engine runtime, engine speed, generator power, rated load, generator power factor, percent generator capacity, three-phase voltage, three-phase current, generator frequency, and applied torque. ### Claim 230 (depends on 228) The method of claim 228, wherein the operational information for each ATS is selected from the group comprising: emergency power, emergency power factor, emergency frequency, emergency three-phase voltage, emergency three-phase current, emergency average current, emergency power hours, normal power, normal power factor, normal frequency, normal three-phase voltage, normal three-phase current, normal average current, normal power hours, emergency power status, normal power status, emergency breaker status, and normal breaker status. ### Claim 231 (depends on 228) The method of claim 228, wherein the operational information for each fuel supply is selected from the group comprising: fuel level, fuel supply status, and exit fuel flow rate. ### Claim 232 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein each of the one or more interface modules includes a microprocessor, memory, communication bus, one or more data inputs, one or more data outputs, and interface module software for carrying out the steps of receiving, normalizing, and transmitting EPSS operational information from the plurality of items of data acquisition equipment to the management computer system. ### Claim 233 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein at least one of the one or more interface modules comprises a remote terminal unit (RTU). ### Claim 234 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein at least one of the one or more interface modules comprises a programmable logic controller (PLC). ### Claim 235 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein each of the one or more interface modules comprises a firewall for preventing unauthorized access to the one or more items of EPSS equipment, the management computer system, and the EPSS operational information. ### Claim 236 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the management computer system further comprises automatically configurable management software for processing the standardized EPSS operational information into an interactive display and presenting the interactive display to a user via a user interface. ### Claim 237 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the management computer system further comprises one or more servers for operating the automatically configurable management software. ### Claim 238 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the automatically configurable management software comprises supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software. ### Claim 239 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the user interface is displayed on a computer screen. ### Claim 240 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises a chart or graph of one or more items of EPSS operational information over a predefined time period. ### Claim 241 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises one or more visual pictures of the one or more items of EPSS equipment for visually monitoring the EPSS equipment at the site. ### Claim 242 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises an interactive map view of the one or more items of EPSS equipment for enabling a site-wide view of the pre-existing EPSS's at the site. ### Claim 243 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises a report detailing specific standardized EPSS operational information for one or more selected items of EPSS equipment for a predetermined time period. ### Claim 244 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the interactive display that is displayed to the user via the user interface comprises an electrical one-line view of power connections of the one or more items of EPSS equipment at the site to utility power or emergency power. ### Claim 245 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the user interface displays an alarm to the user when one or more predefined conditions related to the EPSS operational information are satisfied. ### Claim 246 (depends on 245) The method of claim 245, wherein the one or more predefined conditions are selected from the group comprising: one or more values of EPSS operational information exceeds one or more predetermined values, one or more values of EPSS operational information falls below one or more predetermined values, and one or more items of EPSS equipment malfunctions. ### Claim 247 (depends on 236) The method of claim 236, wherein the user interface displays standardized EPSS operational information related to a power disruption event as the event is occurring. ### Claim 248 (depends on 247) The method of claim 247, wherein the power disruption event comprises a planned or unplanned loss of utility power. ### Claim 249 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, where in the management computer system provides user security to prevent unauthorized access to the EPMS. ### Claim 250 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the management computer system logs historical EPSS operational information in the one or more databases for providing operational trends of the one or more items of EPSS equipment over time. ### Claim 251 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the configuration flag comprises an electronic data file. ### Claim 252 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the instructions for modifying operational information for the particular item of EPSS equipment are dependent on a specific manufacturer and model of the particular item of EPSS equipment. ### Claim 253 (depends on 220) The method of claim 220, wherein the retrieving step further comprises the steps of: identifying the specific manufacturer and model of the particular item of EPSS equipment from the received operational information; transmitting a request for the configuration flag relating to the particular item of EPSS equipment to a management computer system database; and receiving the configuration flag at the particular interface module from the management computer system database. ### Claim 254 A method for managing operational information relating to one or more items of emergency power supply system (EPSS) equipment, wherein the one or more items of EPSS equipment are operatively connected to one or more interface modules, the one or more interface modules being operative to process and transmit operational information between the one or more items of EPSS equipment and a management computer system, comprising the steps of: receiving one or more configuration flags relating to one or more items of EPSS equipment at the one or more interface modules, wherein each configuration flag relates to a corresponding item of EPSS equipment and comprises instructions for modifying operational information relating to the corresponding item of EPSS equipment to conform the operational information to a predetermined standardized format; storing the one or more configuration flags in a database, the database operatively connected to the management computer system; receiving operational information relating to a specific item of EPSS equipment at particular interface module, the operational information comprising a format defined by the specific item of EPSS equipment; retrieving from the database a specific configuration flag relating to the specific item of EPSS equipment; generating standardized operational information by modifying the received operational information to conform to the predetermined standardized format according to the instructions in the specific configuration flag; and transmitting the standardized operational information to the management computer system for subsequent processing.