ELECTRICITY

One of the issues addressed in a new way in the Low Voltage Electrotechnical Regulation (REBT 2002) is the characteristics of the electrical installations in public buildings.

The new text, although it follows the scheme of the repealed 1973 Regulation, completely modified the regulatory criteria in force up to that time in Spain.

These changes are set out in Technical Instruction ITC BT 028, which regulates and develops the execution of lighting and power installations in this type of premises, placing special emphasis on issues relating to lighting, security services, wiring and circuits.

In the industrial field, it is increasingly common for a large part of electrical installations to incorporate electrical automation. It is essential that plant operation and maintenance personnel have consistent knowledge of this type of equipment and installations, in order to guarantee safe operation and maintenance conditions.

In the tertiary and residential areas, the number of buildings incorporating automated installations is growing exponentially. These are the so-called “intelligent buildings”.

Both the installer company, the maintenance contractor and the inspector of this type of installations must have sufficient knowledge to solve the various problems that arise in this type of installations, including continuous recycling in new technologies implemented in these buildings and establishments.

The regulation for low voltage REBT 2002 includes a series of technical instructions in which the electrical installations of some premises with very particular uses are regulated, such as lifting and transport machines, construction sites, fairs and stands, or operating theatres, among others.

Technical personnel must be aware of the particularities of these installations, as well as the standards and regulations governing them, in order to adequately carry out design, maintenance and inspection operations, respectively.

A bad knowledge of electrical protection or a bad design of the same, are the most frequent causes of a multitude of failures.

This section looks in depth at issues related to LV distribution and personal protection, design and construction aspects, protection of LV installations against overloads and short circuits, protection against overvoltages and overcurrents, thermal and dynamic stresses in a short-circuited electrical installation, among others.

This type of training is aimed at technical personnel, experts, risk engineers, installers and maintainers of these systems.

A PLC can be considered as a microprocessor-based system, its fundamental parts being the CPU (Central Processing Unit), the memory and the Input/Output (I/O) system.

The programmable controllers are used to control machines, processes and installations within the industrial environment, being more and more present in the tertiary sector.

The quality of the electricity supply depends mainly on two (2) factors:

• Continuity of supply, relating to the number and duration of supply interruptions.
• Voltage wave quality.

Thanks to the knowledge of the variables that can affect both factors, the student will be able to evaluate which problems can derive from the existence of electrical disturbances, make diagnoses for specific cases based on measurements made in installations, or determine which means are necessary to reduce their influence.

On many occasions, receivers and electronic equipment stop working and often their power supplies are the source of the failure.

In order to make an initial diagnosis and identify the power supply is the cause of the failure, and if it needs to be repaired or replaced, it is essential that the technician or expert has a minimum and reliable knowledge of this electrical equipment.

Within the industrial sector, installations with rotating electrical machines are particularly relevant.

Technical personnel must be familiar with aspects relating to the operation of direct and alternating current machines, electrical diagrams of motor installation and associated protection, as well as aspects relating to their maintenance, fault identification and engines repair.

It is increasingly common to find frequency variators as a control system for driving asynchronous motors in any application or machinery, so it is highly recommended to know in depth what they are, how they work and how they are configured.

The fields of application of home automation are, nowadays, of a wide spectrum. In this sense, it is essential to know the different types of systems on the market and how they work, in order to know how they really interact with existing installations.