Is there any device in electrical engineering which has the capability to release current from the utility side instead of absorbing current from the load side so that consumer will never draw more current than their sanction capacity? Load current limiting device?
Hello Somnath,
A simple approach is the overload cut-off relay. Off course this is a viable solution for low load currents of few tens of amps. However, you can still adopt this technique on a large scale load currents primarily with alarms to indicate the current demand is approaching the limit and then cut-off the load when the current exceeds. Kindly bear it mind that normal approach of relay-style ON/OFF switching may not be a feasible idea as the loads that demand such a high current/s are quite complex. But basic idea of current monitoring based solutions is worth considering.
Best Luck!
Hello Somnath
Current limiting is common on DC power supplies, it effectively drops the voltage so that the total power is maintained within limit. I don't know how you would implement something like this on an AC electrical supply. If you did try this approach, there is a big caveat: It would work well for restrictive loads, but if you have switched mode power supplies such as are now common in electronic equipment then they may just try to compensate for the voltage drop by drawing more current. This may lead to the same outcome, total loss of power, as Prasanna's overload cut-off relay.
I don't think any other means of curtailing load current other than by tripping a few loads because load is an independent variable in this context. Hence priority based remote tripping, circuit breaker based tripping, changing the configuration of loads from parallel to series or delta to star automatically (though I doubt if there are any such applications!) are some suggestions
Overcurrent relays and load tripping are the more conventional approaches.
Another (rather complex) approach is a "grid parallel" power supply: charging batteries when the local demand is low, feeding the local grid when the local demand is high. Thus, at the "official grid" connection point the current would not exceed the limit value whilst locally the load could be higher. Controls can be implemented by measuring the current at the grid connection point.
Such devices exist (though I cannot point you to one), but this is surely the most expensive and complex solution.
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