Abstract

This project is on Digital Surge Protection System (PC based). A surge protection system
protects an appliance or equipment from power surge and this surge protection component is
interlinked with a PC based intelligent system which incorporates a Graphic User Interface
(GUI) for monitoring areas affected by surge via a microcontroller which is used as an interface
between the surge protection component and the Computer Intelligent System.

Chapter 1

Review of Related Literature

 A surge protector system is a system that protects electronics devices or equipment from

“surges”. A power surge, or transient voltage, is an increase in voltage significantly above the

designated level in a flow of electricity. Power surges occur when something boosts the electrical

charge at some point in the power lines. This causes an increase in the electrical potential energy,

which can increase the current flowing to your wall outlet. A number of different things can

cause this to happen.

The most familiar source is probably lightning, though it's actually one of the least

common causes. When lightning strikes near a power line, whether it's underground, in a

building or running along poles, the electrical energy can boost electrical pressure by millions of

volts. This causes an extremely large power surge that will overpower almost any surge

protector.

A more common cause of power surges is the operation of high-power electrical

devices, such as elevators, air conditioners and refrigerators. These high-powered pieces of

equipment require a lot of energy to switch on and turn off components like compressors and

motors. This switching creates sudden, brief demands for power, which upset the steady voltage

flow in the electrical system. While these surges are nowhere near the intensity of a lightning

surge, they can be severe enough to damage components, immediately or gradually, and they

occur regularly in most building's electrical systems.

Other sources of power surges include faulty wiring, problems with the utility company's

equipment, and downed power lines. The system of transformers and lines that brings electricity

from a power generator to the outlets in our homes or offices is extraordinarily complex. There

are dozens of possible points of failure, and many potential errors that can cause an uneven
power flow. In today's system of electricity distribution, power surges are an unavoidable

occurrence.

Some tremendous review has been made on some related project and we discovered that

the surge protection system been designed as a protection lack some modification or were barely

modified. Some of the reviews made on related works include:

• A standard surge protector which passes the electrical current along from the outlet to a

number of electrical and electronic devices plugged into the power strip. If the voltage

from the outlet surges or spikes -- rises above the accepted level -- the surge protector

diverts the extra electricity into the outlet grounding wire.

• Another most common type of surge protector, a component called a metal oxide

varistor, or MOV, diverts the extra voltage. As you can see in the diagram below, an

MOV forms a connection between the hot power line and the grounding line.

An MOV has three parts: a piece of metal oxide material in the middle, joined to the

power and grounding line by two semiconductors.

 These semiconductors have a variable resistance that is dependent on voltage. When

voltage is below a certain level, the electrons in the semiconductors flow in such a way as to

create a very high resistance. When the voltage exceeds that level, the electrons behave

differently, creating a much lower resistance. When the voltage is correct, an MOV does nothing.

When voltage is too high, an MOV can conduct a lot of current to eliminate the extra voltage.

As soon as the extra current is diverted into the MOV and to ground, the voltage in the

hot line returns to a normal level, so the MOV's resistance shoots up again. In this way, the MOV

only diverts the surge current, while allowing the standard current to continue powering

whatever machines are connected to the surge protector. In this case, the MOV acts as a

pressure-sensitive valve that only opens when there is too much pressure.

The nature of problem that led us to choose this particular project is that these related

projects lack the ability to record the statistics of the surge and also detect the areas affected by

surge, they are just a mere connectors for protecting an electronics or equipment.

Chapter 2

Methodology
 The project title is Digital Surge Protection System (PC Based). The components consist

of a microcontroller, a personal computer, a multiplexer and the surge protection component.

The PC based intelligent system incorporates a Graphic User Interface (GUI) for monitoring

areas affected by surge. The microcontroller is used as an interface between the multiplexer and

the Computer Intelligent System for synchronizing the multiplexer with the computer intelligent

system. The multiplexer connects the surge protection component with the microcontroller. It

routes data from the surge protection component to the microcontroller. The surge protection

components consist of a number of surge protector devices for the required number of

apartments or building to be protected.

PC M exer Surge
intelligent Protection
system Compone
nt

Fig 1. Schematic representation of a PC based digital surge protection system.

The surge protection components are installed near the electric meter, where the power

lines run to the building. This protects all the circuits in your house or office from a certain range

of voltage surges. In this case, a building with offices may be used as a case study. The surge

protection systems installed near the electric meter of each office is connected to the multiplexer

which routes data to the micro-controller. The micro-controller act as the interface between the

Computer Intelligent System and the multiplexer. The Computer Intelligent System is

incorporated with a Graphics User Interface (GUI) which displays the location of buildings and
its environment. It also records the log of every event that takes place which include the date and

time display of the surge happening, the amount of volts stroke by the surge, the working

conditions of the surge protector components. The Graphics User Interface is designed with a

program called C-sharp.

Thus, with the introduction of Computer Based Intelligent System in the surge protection

system, this has made the System more intelligent.

The estimated cost of this project will amount to N80, 000 to N100, 000.