Arno Giubbini, a power quality and earth ground testing specialist from Fluke Europe, was in South Africa at the end of November to conduct power quality and earth ground testing seminars in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Hosted by local Fluke distributor, Comtest, the workshops looked at typical problems experienced in power network systems and ways of analyzing and measuring them.Giubbini focused on two areas in his workshops: ground systems and power quality. He explains: "In Europe, electricity is regarded as a product. As such, we have product liability associated with electricity, which makes it necessary to measure the quality of the "product", ie electricity, that we are supplying or purchasing."
The Swiss power quality expert also demonstrated the Fluke 1760 three phase power quality recorder and the Fluke 1744 three phase power network analyser. Giubbini says, "Our user-friendly software sets our power quality tools apart from the rest. Users can analyse a network according to a wide range of parameters and generate graphs and tables that will assist in identifying faults and carrying out preventive and predictive maintenance."
Giubbini says, "Good grounding not only contributes to the safety of personnel and equipment, it also reduces the likelihood of power disturbance and damage to equipment.
"Soil resistivity depends on soil composition, moisture and temperature. It stands to reason that soil resistivity will vary seasonally. In addition, soil that is low in resistivity is often corrosive owing to the presence of water and salts and it can eat away at ground rods and their connections. This is why it is highly recommended that ground systems be checked at least annually."
He demonstrated the Fluke 1625 GEO earth ground tester that provides three or four pole measurement, selective measurement by means of clamp-on and stakeless measurement, as well as soil resistivity measurement.
Giubbini concludes by saying, "Electricity providers and consumers around the world face the same pressures: legal; technical; and commercial. Using the right equipment to take the right measurements can go a long way towards improving the quality of the product called electricity. To prevent and predict provides very significant quantitative and qualitative benefits. The only way to achieve this is to know, therefore to measure."