Estimation and Validation of Power Losses in a Three-Phase Loading Circuit Using Infrared Thermal Imaging

Three-Phase Load Balancing is important and the power must be distributed evenly across the Three-Phase Circuits in the Electrical Panel Boards in order to avoid Power Distribution anomalies. Uneven power distribution influences reduced efficiency, increased power losses and voltage drops, tripping of the circuit breakers, and deterioration of electrical devices involved. These anomalies cause Power Loss in the form of overheating of conductors, connectors, insulators, and so on. The identification and location of these anomalies rely on a mechanism, strongly supported by techniques like IR Thermography, currently popular Energy Auditing Methodology. This paper enumerates the Power Losses obtained in a Protective Devices Module with circuit breakers which was assembled for Three-Phase Load Circuits, used to finally to validate the results. A Digital Wattmeter, is used to monitor the loading; Voltages, Currents, and Power. Lighting Circuits and Motor Loads were connected to simulate heavy current being drawn and to monitor the increase in temperature, which is a manifestation of power loss due to dissipation. The unbalanced loading was purposely done to investigate the effects on the lines and cables, connectors, bus bars, and etc. A Flir T-865 IR Thermal Imaging Camera was used to capture thermal images of the hotspots. The temperature logged in the thermal image was used in estimating the Power Loss and its equivalent energy in KW-Hr. Based on the sample data, the Power Loss for the Lighting Load was approximately 23% while for the Motor Loads, approximately 27% for an unbalanced loading of 30% deviation across the three-phases.