Application Load Management

by Ripple Control
Load management is the process of balancing the supply of electricity on the network with the electrical
load by adjusting or controlling the load rather than the power station output. This can be achieved
by; direct intervention of the utility in real time, the use of frequency sensitive relays triggering
circuit breakers (ripple control), with time clocks or by using special tariffs to influence consumer
behaviour. Ripple control is the most common form of load control, and is used in many countries
around the world.

EAC-S simulated ripple control signals

The EAC-S family of AC Sources from ET system electronic can simulate ripple control signals. Ripple
control involves superimposing a higher frequency signal (usually between 100 and 1600 Hz) onto
the standard 50 60 Hz of the mains power signal. When the receiver device attached to a nonessential residential or industrial load receives this signal, they shut down the load until the signal is
disabled or another enabling frequency signal is received.
The EAC-S gives the test and development engineer the capability to simulate the ripple signals used
by many public grid authorities. This helps to ensure that ripple control systems in development or
used in production units operate as expected.
For example the scope shot below shows an output of 230 VAC at 50 Hz from the EAC-S. A ripple of
1 kHz can be seen on top of the 50 Hz output.
Waveforms can be easily created using freely available software. They can be transferred to the AC
Source via the convenient memory card slot.

Ripple control waveforms can be implemented from an EAC-S with either a single or 3 phase output.
Besides sine signals many other signal variations are possible.

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