Can we use IEC 61850 for safety related functions?

Safety is an essential issue for processes that present high risk for human beings and environment. An acceptable level of risk is obtained both with actions on the process itself (risk reduction) and with the use of special safety systems that switch the process into safe mode when a fault or an abnormal operation mode happens. These safety systems are today based on digital devices that communicate through digital networks. The IEC 61508 series specifies the safety requirements of all the devices that are involved in a safety function, including the communication network. Also electrical generation and distribution systems are processes that may have a significant level of risk, so the criteria stated by the IEC 61508 applies.Starting from this consideration, the paper analyzes the safety requirement for the communication network and compare them with the services of the communication protocol IEC 61850 that represents the most used protocol for automation of electrical plants. The goal of this job is to demonstrate that, from the technical point of view, IEC 61850 can be used for implementing safety-related functions, even if a formal safety certification is still missing

Energia e sostenibilit\ue0: un futuro nato a Genova 130 anni fa

Durante una ricerca sui sistemi di High Voltage Direct Current, i moderni sistemi che consentono di controllare enormi flussi di energia elettrica su grandi distanze, ci siamo imbattuti nella pagina di Wikipedia (edizione in inglese) che elenca questo tipo di impianti suddivisi per continente ed ordinati cronologicamente. I pi\uf9 antichi sistemi di trasmissione di energia elettrica sono ovviamente in Europa, ed il pi\uf9 vecchio \ue8 un impianto sperimentale tra Monaco e Miesbach in Germania, del 1882, oggi non pi\uf9 operante. Il secondo pi\uf9 antico, del 1889, collegava il \u201cGorzente River\u201d con \u201cGenoa\u201d. Incuriositi, e anche un po\u2019 infastiditi per aver dovuto scoprire la faccenda su un sito americano senza che noi, genovesi, ne sapessimo nulla, abbiamo approfondito la storia di questo collegamento. Abbiamo cos\uec avuto modo di riscoprire la storia di un primato genovese ormai dimenticato che merita di essere conosciuto e ricordato

An Algorithm for the Automatic Detection of Islanded Areas Inside an Active Network

Active networks require modifications of control logic and fast load/generator shedding actions to preserve system stability in case of creation of islands. Today, industrial networks are designed to run both in parallel with the grid (if is present) and in islanded mode. The Transmission System Operator (TSO) in public networks, on the other hand, does not allow islands. This will change as the detection of separated areas with generation capacity and loads will become crucial for the activation of the required control actions in public networks. Here we describe an algorithm that automatically selects the events that may cause the system islanding, recognizes the island configuration, and calculates the amount of power to shed (when required). This algorithm is the very core of a Power Management System (PMS) both for today industrial applications and for future public networks. It can be used to start all the required reactions to islanding, e.g. frequency control and load-shedding. The algorithm is for general-purpose and it does not require any customization for a specific network. The algorithm is based only on the network topology, and it does not require data on the network parameters