Digital measurement station for power quality analysis in distributed environments

Today there is a wide application of different electronic apparatus that both produce electromagnetic disturbances on the supply power system and are sensitive to them. Power disturbances present on typical electric utility distribution systems degrade product quality, increase process downtime, and dissatisfy commercial customers. For these reasons, the monitoring of the quality of the supply networks has become an issue of international interest. To monitor power quality, in this paper, we propose a digital measurement station. Its main features are remote data transmission capability and reduced cost. It is a PC-based virtual instrument that offers the flexibility due to the high-level programming language, the familiar working environment of Windows, and the low cost of a widely used computer. The local area network or a modem card allows the measurement system to be controlled via a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol network, implementing in this way a distributed power quality evaluation system.