Research on IoT-based Online Monitoring Technology for Ring Main Unit

To deal with complex operation and maintenance (O&M), and high life cycle cost of today’s online monitoring device of ring main unit (RMU) because of low integration level, a monitoring device of RMU based on Internet of Things (IoT) integrated with interfaces for sensors, online monitoring of circuit breaker mechanical characteristics, online monitoring of partial discharge (PD) and standardized communication interfaces was developed. The structure of submodules and the software architecture based on container technology are introduced in detail. Zero drift compensation, sampling trigger threshold setting, and characteristic analysis related to online monitoring of mechanical failures are emphasized. An improved peak holding mechanism for PD sampling is introduced. To verify the performance of the developed device, a test platform was set up and some typical mechanical failures were simulated. The results show that the monitoring data are accurate and consistent, which meet the requirements of field applications.