ELEN 3441 Fundamentals of Power Engineering

Lab # 16

Spring 2012

Lab 15: Introduction to ETAP.

Objective: to become exposed to ETAP a software complex designed to analyze power systems and their components. Equipment: PC with installed ETAP

Introduction:
According to its manufacturer, ETAP offers a suite of fully integrated Electrical Engineering software solutions including arc flash, load flow, short circuit, transient stability, relay coordination, cable ampacity, optimal power flow, and more. Its modular functionality can be customized to fit the needs of any company, from small to large power systems. Operation Technology, Inc. is the designer and developer of ETAP, the most comprehensive analysis software for the design, simulation, operation, monitoring, control, optimization, and automation of power systems. ETAP is the industry leader used worldwide in all types and sizes of power systems, including generation, transmission, distribution, and industrial systems such as oil and gas, manufacturing, steel, cement, mining, data centers, nuclear facilities, transportation, smart grid solutions, renewable energy, and more. Visit etap.com for more information.

Experiment:
Preliminary note: Please, do not save any changes to the example files you will be working with during the experiments! 1) Start ETAP. Depending on the computer, this operation may take a few minutes. Be patient! Go to the menu/open command and select to open Example ANSI. Click Ok when prompted for user and Ok for Project Editor. You should see a window similar to one in Figure 16-1:

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ELEN 3441 Fundamentals of Power Engineering

Lab # 16

Spring 2012

Figure 16-1 2) Switch to the Load Flow Analysis mode by clicking the button 1. Run the Load Flow Analysis by clicking the button 2. Click Unit to see the units. Select Alert View (button 3) and then Critical to see critical errors. You should see something like Sub3 Bus is at 106%, Fuse3 is at 113.6%. These errors rated as critical may lead to failure of the power system! Double-click Fuse3 to display SubNet 3 diagram and locate the Fuse3 (442 A). Double-click the fuse and go to Ratings, change the fuse value to what you think should be appropriate, click Ok. Go back to Study View and re-run the Load Flow test. Check the warning generated. If the value you selected for the Fuse3 is appropriate, the warning for it should disappear. Following the same approach, correct the Sub3 Bus error.
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ELEN 3441 Fundamentals of Power Engineering

Lab # 16

Spring 2012

3) Return to the Study View and switch to the Short Circuit Analysis mode. Run the 3phase device duty test. After the test is over, select the Alert view to inspect the errors generated. Modify the appropriate circuit parameters to eliminate the critical errors. Run the Arc-flash test, check the alerts and modify the circuit elements to clear them. 4) Close ETAP. Please, do not save any changes to the example files when prompted. In your report: No formal report is required.

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