Superfast Sampling with the Genesis HighSpeed Measuring System
The ABB High Power Laboratory in Ludvika, Sweden, currently tests virtually all of their power products. This international industrial group tests things like switchgear, high voltage circuit breakers and transformers at various stages during product development and as part of routine testing of the finished products.The tests involve subjecting the products to extreme current and voltage stresses, then acquiring the test data at an extremely high sampling rate. Advanced test and measuring equipment is used, including the HBK Genesis HighSpeed measuring system combined with Perception software. Ludvika has been at the heart of ABB's testing activities for power products since 1933, when it housed what was at the time the largest short-circuit generator in the world. To this day, Ludvika remains a world leader in this highly specialized field. The site has two robust short-circuit generators capable of delivering a combined power of 4,000 MVA for direct testing. For synthetic testing, they can supply as much as 75,000 MVA.
Destructive Testing
"We work with extremely high currents and voltages. Many of our tests are also destructive, meaning there is not much left of the products after testing. And you obviously can't test high voltage products without a few fireworks. Even so, the test needs to work so that everything that happens in an instant is documented perfectly. We want to see an accurate, detailed curve describing the process," says Kjell Korhonen, senior engineer and specialist in measuring technology and control systems at ABB's High Power Laboratory in Ludvika.
ABB has been running the High Power Laboratory in Ludvika since 1933. Today, it is a modern laboratory equipped with two robust short circuit generators supplying a combined power of 4,000 MVA.