Patents by Inventor Gabriel Benmouyal

Gabriel Benmouyal has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7660088
    Abstract: An apparatus and method compensate for the sensitivity of at least one line current differential element of a first current differential relay providing differential protection for a transmission line of a power system during a single-phase pole-open condition. The apparatus includes a first delta filter configured to remove a first pre-fault current from a first fault current of the transmission line to derive a compensated first current phasor. The apparatus also includes a second delta filter configured to remove a second pre-fault current from a second fault current of the transmission line to derive a compensated second current phasor. The compensated first and second current phasors are provided to the at least one line current differential element to compensate the sensitivity of the at least one line current differential element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph B. Mooney, Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Publication number: 20090254291
    Abstract: A system and method for acquiring phasors outside of the frequency tracking range for power protective relays. As the frequency of a power system varies from the rated frequency, phasors calculated from such samples include errors. A frequency tracking range is used to sample the signal waveform at a rate corresponding to the frequency when the frequency is within the frequency tracking range. When the frequency is outside of the frequency tracking range, the signal waveform is sampled at a rate corresponding with the maximum or minimum of the frequency tracking range depending on whether the frequency exceeds or falls below the frequency tracking range. The difference between the frequency and the minimum or maximum of the frequency tracking range is used to correct the measured phasors to result in accurate phasors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 4, 2008
    Publication date: October 8, 2009
    Inventor: Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Patent number: 7582986
    Abstract: Provided is a compensated inverse-time undervoltage load shedding system and method for use in an electrical power system. The compensated inverse-time undervoltage load shedding system includes a compensation element for determining a compensated value and an inverse-time undervoltage element operatively coupled to the compensation element and enabled based on the compensated value. When enabled, the inverse-time undervoltage element calculates a load shedding time delay value based on the compensated value, and determines a load shedding signal based on the load shedding time delay value. An associated load of the electrical power system is shed based on the load shedding signal. The compensation element may determine the compensated value using a voltage magnitude, a rate-of-change of power system voltage over time, a weighted rate-of-change of power system voltage over time, a current magnitude, a weighted current magnitude, and an impedance phasor value, to name a few.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2009
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Ralph W Folkers, Jeffrey B Roberts, Edmund O Schweitzer, III, Armando Guzman-Casillas, Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Patent number: 7498818
    Abstract: An apparatus and method detects an open condition of a grounding path provided by a rotor grounding brush electrically connecting a rotor body of a rotor to electrical ground. The rotor includes an insulated field winding wrapped around the rotor body and is configured to generate a magnetic field upon receipt of an exciter voltage across lower and upper extremities of the insulated field winding. The method includes applying a square wave voltage signal to a second end of each of a first and a second buffer resistor, where a first end of each of the buffer resistors is operatively connected to respective upper and lower leads of the exciter voltage source, and calculating the total capacitance between the insulated field winding and electrical ground. The total capacitance when compared to a pre-selected capacitance value is determinative of the absence of the grounding path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2009
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Thanh-Xuan Thi Nguyen
  • Publication number: 20090015213
    Abstract: An apparatus and method detects an open condition of a grounding path provided by a rotor grounding brush electrically connecting a rotor body of a rotor to electrical ground. The rotor includes an insulated field winding wrapped around the rotor body and is configured to generate a magnetic field upon receipt of an exciter voltage across lower and upper extremities of the insulated field winding. The method includes applying a square wave voltage signal to a second end of each of a first and a second buffer resistor, where a first end of each of the buffer resistors is operatively connected to respective upper and lower leads of the exciter voltage source, and calculating the total capacitance between the insulated field winding and electrical ground. The total capacitance when compared to a pre-selected capacitance value is determinative of the absence of the grounding path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2008
    Publication date: January 15, 2009
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Thanh-Xuan Thi Nguyen
  • Patent number: 7457088
    Abstract: A system and method for accomplishing power swing blocking and unstable power swing tripping schemes during disturbances of electrical networks is disclosed. The disclosed system and method eliminates the requirement of stability studies. The no-setting scheme utilizes the swing center voltage of the electrical network to carry out its functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2008
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Daqing Hou, Gabriel Benmouyal, Demetrios Tziouvaras
  • Publication number: 20080048666
    Abstract: An apparatus and method detects an open condition of a grounding path provided by a rotor grounding brush electrically connecting a rotor body of a rotor to electrical ground. The rotor includes an insulated field winding wrapped around the rotor body and is configured to generate a magnetic field upon receipt of an exciter voltage across lower and upper extremities of the insulated field winding. The method includes applying a square wave voltage signal to a second end of each of a first and a second buffer resistor, where a first end of each of the buffer resistors is operatively connected to respective upper and lower leads of the exciter voltage source, and calculating the total capacitance between the insulated field winding and electrical ground. The total capacitance when compared to a pre-selected capacitance value is determinative of the absence of the grounding path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2006
    Publication date: February 28, 2008
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Thanh-Xuan Thi Nguyen
  • Patent number: 7239496
    Abstract: The system includes a distance protective relay for power lines which includes a logic capability which is responsive to settings entered into the relay by an end user to implement the value of those settings into stored thermal model equations which emulate the temperature of the power line conductor. The logic within the relay is organized and has the capability of receiving the setting values entered by the user and to use those in the logic equations to determine the temperature of the conductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2003
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2007
    Assignee: Schweitzet Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, Gabriel Benmouyal, Michael B. Bryson
  • Publication number: 20070070565
    Abstract: An apparatus and method compensate for the sensitivity of at least one line current differential element of a first current differential relay providing differential protection for a transmission line of a power system during a single-phase pole-open condition. The apparatus includes a first delta filter configured to remove a first pre-fault current from a first fault current of the transmission line to derive a compensated first current phasor. The apparatus also includes a second delta filter configured to remove a second pre-fault current from a second fault current of the transmission line to derive a compensated second current phasor. The compensated first and second current phasors are provided to the at least one line current differential element to compensate the sensitivity of the at least one line current differential element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2006
    Publication date: March 29, 2007
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Joseph Mooney, Billy Turner
  • Publication number: 20060152866
    Abstract: A system for maintaining fault-type selection during an out-of-step condition is provided comprising an element for calculating the element reach M; an element for fault type selection; an element for out-of-step detection and blocking; and an element for distinguishing between single-phase-to-ground faults and double-phase-to-ground faults. Single-phase-to-ground faults are distinguished from double-phase-to-ground faults through either a derivative or integration element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2005
    Publication date: July 13, 2006
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Daqing Hou
  • Publication number: 20060077605
    Abstract: Provided is a compensated inverse-time undervoltage load shedding system and method for use in an electrical power system. The compensated inverse-time undervoltage load shedding system includes a compensation element for determining a compensated value and an inverse-time undervoltage element operatively coupled to the compensation element and enabled based on the compensated value. When enabled, the inverse-time undervoltage element calculates a load shedding time delay value based on the compensated value, and determines a load shedding signal based on the load shedding time delay value. An associated load of the electrical power system is shed based on the load shedding signal. The compensation element may determine the compensated value using a voltage magnitude, a rate-of-change of power system voltage over time, a weighted rate-of-change of power system voltage over time, a current magnitude, a weighted current magnitude, and an impedance phasor value, to name a few.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2004
    Publication date: April 13, 2006
    Inventors: Ralph Folkers, Jeffrey Roberts, Edmund Schweitzer, Armando Guzman, Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Publication number: 20060067095
    Abstract: A system and method for accomplishing power swing blocking and unstable power swing tripping schemes during disturbances of electrical networks is disclosed. The disclosed system and method eliminates the requirement of stability studies. The no-setting scheme utilizes the swing center voltage of the electrical network to carry out its functions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2005
    Publication date: March 30, 2006
    Inventors: Daqing Hou, Gabriel Benmouyal, Demetrios Tziouvaras
  • Patent number: 6934654
    Abstract: A measured phasor representing a sinusoidal power signal waveform is produced by orthogonal FIR filters, one of which produces the real part of the phasor and the other of which produces the imaginary part. The frequency difference between the rated frequency of the signal waveform in the power system and the actual frequency of the waveform at any selected point in time is determined and the elements (A, B, C, D) of a compensation matrix is determined. The compensation matrix is then used to perform a linear transformation to produce an exact phasor for the waveform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2005
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventor: Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Publication number: 20050047043
    Abstract: The system includes a distance protective relay for power lines which includes a logic capability which is responsive to settings entered into the relay by an end user to implement the value of those settings into stored thermal model equations which emulate the temperature of the power line conductor. The logic within the relay is organized and has the capability of receiving the setting values entered by the user and to use those in the logic equations to determine the temperature of the conductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2003
    Publication date: March 3, 2005
    Inventors: Edmund Schweitzer, Gabriel Benmouyal, Michael Bryson
  • Publication number: 20040186669
    Abstract: A measured phasor representing a sinusoidal power signal waveform is produced by orthogonal FIR filters, one of which produces the real part of the phasor and the other of which produces the imaginary part. The frequency difference between the rated frequency of the signal waveform in the power system and the actual frequency of the waveform at any selected point in time is determined and the elements (A, B, C, D) of a compensation matrix is determined. The compensation matrix is then used to perform a linear transformation to produce an exact phasor for the waveform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 21, 2003
    Publication date: September 23, 2004
    Inventor: Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Patent number: 6757146
    Abstract: The instantaneous overcurrent element, used in a microprocessor-based protective relay for a power system, includes a finite impulse response filter which generally is a cosine filter and is responsive to the current waveform from the current transformer for fault determination unless the distortion in the current reaches a preselected threshold, at which point a peak detector circuit is used to provide the current magnitude values for fault determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2004
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Stanley E. Zocholl, Armando Guzman-Casillas
  • Publication number: 20040093177
    Abstract: The relay system obtains voltage and current values from a power line and uses a first sampling element to sample the voltage and current values at selected intervals of time. The resulting sampled signals are used for power system-wide protection, control, monitoring and metering. The sampled signals are then resampled at a rate which is a selected multiple of the power system frequency. The results of the resampling are used by processing circuitry for protection functions including fault determinations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2003
    Publication date: May 13, 2004
    Inventors: Edmund O. Schweitzer, Luth r S. Anderson, Armando Guzman-Casillas, Gregary C. Zweigle, Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Patent number: 6662124
    Abstract: The relay system obtains voltage and current values from a power line and uses a first sampling element to sample the voltage and current values at selected intervals of time. The resulting sampled signals are used for power system-wide protection, control, monitoring and metering. The sampled signals are then resampled at a rate which is a selected multiple of the power system frequency. The results of the resampling are used by processing circuitry for protection functions including fault determinations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2003
    Assignee: Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, Luther S. Anderson, Armando Guzman-Casillas, Gregary C. Zweigle, Gabriel Benmouyal
  • Publication number: 20030223171
    Abstract: The instantaneous overcurrent element, used in a microprocessor-based protective relay for a power system, includes a finite impulse response filter which generally is a cosine filter and is responsive to the current waveform from the current transformer for fault determination unless the distortion in the current reaches a preselected threshold, at which point a peak detector circuit is used to provide the current magnitude values for fault determination.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2002
    Publication date: December 4, 2003
    Inventors: Gabriel Benmouyal, Stanley E. Zocholl, Armando Guzman-Casillas
  • Publication number: 20030200038
    Abstract: The relay system obtains voltage and current values from a power line and uses a first sampling element to sample the voltage and current values at selected intervals of time. The resulting sampled signals are used for power system-wide protection, control, monitoring and metering. The sampled signals are then resampled at a rate which is a selected multiple of the power system frequency. The results of the resampling are used by processing circuitry for protection functions including fault determinations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2002
    Publication date: October 23, 2003
    Inventors: Edmund O. Schweitzer, Luther S. Anderson, Armando Guzman-Casillas, Gregary C. Zweigle, Gabriel Benmouyal