Files
Abstract
Vectren Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility company headquartered in
Evansville, Indiana. Vectren serves Evansville and the surrounding counties with electricity
while they serve most of Indiana and parts of Ohio with natural gas. One of the main goals of
the company is to supply their customers with clean, safe, and reliable power. To increase the
reliability of the electric system, there are yearly checks and upgrades to ensure the customers
are receiving the best quality possible while also trying to keep costs low.
Vectren has operating voltages from 4,140 volts (4kV) up to 345k.V. In the electric
system, there are switches installed at key locations. These switches are used to re-route power
when there is an outage or when maintenance is being done on a section of line. Many of the
current switches are Gang Operated Air-Break Switches or GOABS. These switches are often in
remote locations and require manual operation resulting in an increased outage time. Newer
technology allows for remote controlled switches, which can greatly reduce outage times.
The purpose of this project is to create a standard for replacing GOABS with Motor
Operated Air-Break Switches or MOABS. MOABS projects have been done in the past, but the
technology was not mature, which resulted in many different types of installations. Creating a
standard for construction of MOABS installations will reduce troubleshooting time when there is
a problem since only one methodology is needed to be learned by support personnel. It will also
allow parts to be ordered in bulk for projects rather than for one-time projects and minimize the
number of spare parts required to be kept on hand.