System and method for detecting arc faults
AssigneeGE Aviation Systems LLC
InventorDavid Alan Elliott
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for detecting arc faults includes receiving, by a controller module, a first sensed power characteristic from a first power characteristic sensor at an output of an upstream electrical component, receiving, by the controller module, a second sensed power characteristic from the second power characteristic sensor at an input of a downstream electrical component, the input and output connected by a conductor, determining, by the controller module, a difference between the first and second sensed power characteristics, and providing indication of an arc fault at the conductor.
Claims20
A power distribution system comprising:
- an upstream electrical component having an output and a first power characteristic sensor configured to sense a power characteristic at the output;
- a downstream electrical component having an input and a second power characteristic sensor configured to sense a power characteristic at the input;
- a conductor conductively connecting the output with the input;
- and
- a controller module having an arc fault threshold stored in memory and communicatively connected with the first and second power characteristic sensors and configured to determine if an arc fault is present by receiving a first sensed power characteristic from the first power characteristic sensor and a second sensed power characteristic from the second power characteristic sensor, determining a difference between the first and second sensed power characteristics, determining a calibration factor and modifying the arc fault threshold based on the calibration factor, comparing the difference with the modified arc fault threshold, and upon satisfaction of the comparison, providing indication of an arc fault at the conductor;
- wherein the calibration factor includes at least one of a temperature factor, a current factor, or a timing factor.
A method for detecting arc faults in a power distribution system, the method comprising:
- receiving, in a controller module, a first sensed power characteristic from a first power characteristic sensor at an output of an upstream electrical component;
- receiving, in the controller module, a second sensed power characteristic from a second power characteristic sensor at an input of a downstream electrical component, the input and output connected by a conductor;
- determining, by the controller module, a difference between the first and second sensed power characteristics;
- determining, by the controller module, a fault threshold calibration factor;
- modifying an arc fault threshold stored in memory of the controller module based on the fault threshold calibration factor;
- comparing the determined difference with the modified arc fault threshold;
- and
- upon satisfaction of the comparison, providing indication of an arc fault at the conductor;
- wherein the fault threshold calibration factor includes at least one of a temperature factor, a current factor, or a timing factor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.