ROM Communications Inc

Power Fault Trip Monitor

Product: Power Fault Trip Monitor (PFM-001)
Communications Options: Cellular
Demo Site: http://faulttripdemo.romcomm.com

Overview

ROM Communications has developed a fault monitoring solution for monitoring power underground and aerial circuit over-current faults for utility or other providers. Using an optical sensor coupled to existing 3rd party devices, the device monitors the fault switch LEDs for error conditions. Upon a fault trip, the fault monitor wakes from a low power state and transmits a status message. This message can be tied to ROM's alarming system and web interface, or connected to the end user's SCADA system. By reporting the exact nature of the fault (specific phase/leg), deploying resources to respond can be achieved faster.

Hardware

The fault trip monitoring solution utilizes a battery powered system to provide reliability in a power outage, while eliminating the need for a more costly transformer siphon on the high-power transformer. The fault trip monitor is capable of running up to 2 years on a set of standard lithium batteries. The monitor uses an optical sensor to determine the state of the fault indication switches.

Data

The ROM fault trip monitoring system transmits a heartbeat status every few days to ensure the device is operating correctly. If a power event occurs, the device wakes up and transmits changes in the fault states. When an event ends, an all-clear signal is sent, and the device returns to its normal low power state.

The system uses a cellular GPRS connection to transmit changes in state. Up to 12 fault trip switches can be monitored simultaneously per device.

Data display is available through a web interface, or alternatively, connected to a SCADA system through a MODBUS TCP connection using a custom client application