Swissohm

Illustration with a project of selectivity verification on low voltage switchboard:

• Building: tertiary offices
• Equipment: Low voltage switchboard – materials
• Specifications: several manufacturers – new and old components references
• Country: Switzerland

The project

The request concerned an existing switchboard for a financial institution. We had to check the the selectivity of the site from the Low Voltage Switchboard. In Switzerland, selectivity studies are carried out after the project, i.e. after the supply of the equipment. Selectivity is a very important parameter for the customers and for the control offices.

The constraint

The customers had specific requirements on ABB, Schneider and Terasaki manufacturers, new and former ranges. “When we started the study, Terasaki range was not available in elec calc. I sent a request to Trace Software’s support department.”

The solution

We were able to provide the catalog team with the technical documentation for the references we needed and they integrated them into elec calc. “We were able to take all the references of the existing equipment thanks to elec calc and perform the study. The software detected that it was not possible to perform selectivity on the existing panel because the circuit breakers of old ranges did not allow it. The site was compliant but not selective” says Lionel Pereira.

The result

Further to the study carried out with elec calc, and in order to guarantee the selectivity of the installations, it was proposed to the customer to start with a new LVB equipped with recent circuit breakers with electronic triggers, therefore with much finer settings that allow for end-to-end selectivity of the installation.

“In this specific case, the integration of the manufacturers’ equipment and the precision of the software made it possible to deliver a precise study that highlighted the need to replace the existing equipment and thus guarantee the continuity of the building’s operation.”

elec calc strengths

• Design flexibility through the integration of manufacturer materials. “When I send a ticket to the technical support, the references are usually integrated the week following . We don’t work exclusively with brands and we can propose several manufacturers to our customers depending on the availability of the material. The software is agnostic and it is a real asset that allows us to be more flexible in the offers.”
• Real-time visualization of curve evolution to verify selectivity. “With elec calc it is possible to spot directly, and in a single view, if there is a curve crossing or not and to refine the settings instantly. For me this is an important advantage of the software.”
• The availability of the NIBT* standard. “Thanks to elec calc we can to carry out our studies with the Swiss standard.”
• Access to technical support

*Note that elec calc offers 7 standards: NF, IEC, NIBT, RGIE, REBT, NEN and VDE.

Citation : “The technical support very responsive. When I send a ticket, I always know that my request will be taken into account, that I will get an answer quickly and that they have the information I need. I am very satisfied and it is nice to know that I can rely on them.”

Lionel Pereira

Highlights

• The great database of the manufacturers catalog
• The powerfull real time calculations
• The ergonomic visualization of the selectivity curves
• Availability of standards: NIBT, NF, IEC, NEN, RGIE, REBT, VDE
• Responsive technical support