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Seamlessly combining power, quality, and efficiency measurements for energy loss detection

by Yokogawa Test&Measurement November 28, 2024

We are all witnesses to the huge surge in demand for energy-efficient, sustainable industrial products like the latest-generation motors and inverters. It’s these products that will drive decarbonization across society and support a better planet for future generations. However, verifying the efficiency and power consumption of energy-efficient motors and drives requires increasingly complex measurements. Our expert team of design and development engineers here at Yokogawa Test & Measurement therefore set about creating the new WT1800R high-performance power analyzer.

Our WT1800R combines high and low current input elements – supported by a power supply for a current sensor – to deliver the performance and stability attributes required when undertaking measurements in a wide range of new-energy applications, including electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy systems. Notably, it provides you with the ability to combine these measurements with results from other instruments. You can also perform field-oriented control measurements on motors and drives, and store the measurement data directly to a network drive.

Whether analyzing multi-phase inputs during EV motor or inverters design, or meeting the stringent efficiency standards of photovoltaic drives, the versatility of the WT1800R will help bring your products to market faster and more easily than ever before.

For convenience, you can set the measurement intervals of the WT1800R either manually or automatically. Nine data update intervals are available for selection between 50 ms and 20 s. In addition, the WT1800R can automatically follow fluctuating input frequencies. This functionality is useful whenever you are measuring motors where the input signal frequency varies with RPM. Furthermore, during low-speed motor operation, data updates occur every cycle, allowing you to check the measurement results per motor revolution.

Whether the application is EVs, photovoltaics, wind turbines, smart buildings, data centers, robots, HVAC systems, or anything else, a power accuracy of 0.05% of reading (plus 0.05% of range) makes our WT1800R class leading.

We’ve also made sure the instrument is capable of harmonics analysis up to the 500^th order of a 50/60 Hz fundamental frequency. Two options are available for analyzing harmonics: harmonic measurement mode for fundamental measurements; and dual harmonic mode for the side-by-side measurement of harmonics on two different sources. A good example of the latter is the input and output of inverters, variable speed motors, and uninterruptable power supplies (UPS).

The basic power (AC measurement) accuracy of our new WT1800R is guaranteed from 1% to 110% of the selected voltage and current range. What’s more, the unit is accurate during large phase shifts and high frequencies from the low power factor error of ±0.07% (of apparent power).

With the ability to capture simultaneous 16-bit measurements at 2 MS/s supported by a wide range of display and analysis features, our WT1800R is ideal for a broad spread of power efficiency and harmonic analysis requirements. The high-resolution 8.4-inch display provides you with split-screen viewing of up to six waveforms. It can also display measurements in vector format or trending in time.

You can easily view, control, and download your measurements from a PC. Our powerful WTViewerE application software connects up to four WT1800R power analyzers to a PC via a communications interface. The result? Easy access to numeric, waveform, trend, and harmonic data.

Visit WT1800R webpage  for more in-depth details.