General test requirements

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GENERAL TEST REQUIREMENTS

Informative: The tests specified  are intended to show that the equipment meets the general user’s requirements for electronic equipment.

Table 2 shows the basic testing classifications for equipment supplied to the user. These tests shall be applied to electronic equipment in the manner defined in this document.

Test	Comments
Type	To be carried out on a sample standard production equipment. These may include factory acceptance tests, integration tests, and system tests. These tests are normally carried out by the supplier, but may be witnessed in whole or part by the user.
Routine & Sampling	Intended for each item of production equipment, these may include factory acceptance tests, integration tests, and system tests. Some of these tests may be witnessed by the user.
Site Pre-commissioning	These tests take place after the equipment has been fully installed.
Energisation	These tests are only applicable to turnkey projects.

Table 2 Test Classifications

General

Informative: If national or international specifications or standards apply to equipment, these may contain different or additional tests. These tests will be taken into account in deciding the testing required for a particular contract.

Type Testing

Informative: Type tests are intended to show that electronic equipment meets the requirement of its specification.

               If during the tests a failure occurs, adjustments are made, the test configuration is changed, alternative instrumentation is used instead of that agreed, the design of the Equipment Under Test (EUT) is changed, or any other change is made which could affect the test results in any way; the fact shall be noted in the test report.

Informative: Depending on the significance of the event or change, the user may require the repetition of any or all of the tests.

Reference Conditions

               Unless otherwise specified in the appropriate source standard all type tests shall be carried out under the reference conditions quoted in table 3 

                Table 3 Test Reference Conditions.

Variable	Limits
Ambient temperature	20°C ±2°C
Ambient relative humidity	≤70%
Supply voltage	Normal † ±1%
Supply frequency (for A.C. equipment)	50 Hz ±0.5% (no significant voltage waveform distortion)

Table 3 Test Reference Conditions

                                                                                                                                               

Measurement of Equipment Characteristics

               Details of the equipment characteristics to be measured during the course of the test shall be given.

Description of the Tests Required

Informative: The following clauses give general details of the tests discussed in Clauses for Type Testing.

Informative: Particulars of the performance requirements and pass/fail criteria will be included in the individual equipment specification.

Non Maloperation Tests

               For Non Maloperation tests the Equipment Under Test (EUT) is required to be performed to its specification in all respects while being subjected to the test conditions.

Informative: For some equipment which is not concerned with Control, Protection and other continuous service facilities, it may not be necessary that error free operation continues during primary plant operations.

Protection Equipment

Informative: The BS EN 60255 series of Standards are the product specific standards for protection equipment. As such they often contain reference conditions and acceptance criteria specifically designed for protection. Generally the tests and test levels specified in Table 4 are compatible with the IEC 60255 tests. For each test in this specification the appropriate BS EN 60255 standard, where it exists, will be indicated.

               In the case of protection equipment or any hardware platform that is specified for use for a protection application, the method of application and acceptance criteria for the tests as defined in the appropriate BS EN 60255 standard is definitive and shall take precedence.

               In the case of protection equipment or any hardware platform that is specified for use for a protection application, the test levels required are stated in Table 4 and Table 5.

Substation Control Equipment

Informative: Substation Control Equipment comes within the scope of the BS EN 60870 series of standards. Specifically BS EN 60870-2-1 covers the power supply and electromagnetic compatibility requirements and BS EN 60870-2-2 defines the environmental requirements. They have been adopted by CENELEC as product family standards for this equipment. Table 4 relates the test levels called up by TS 3.24.15 (RES) with those required by BS EN 60870.

Performance Tests 

               Performance tests shall demonstrate that the equipment functions correctly in all performance aspects of its functional specification as defined in the appropriate functional TS(s).

                With digital equipment, complete cycles of operation must be monitored, each cycle exercising each input and output and checking the correct operation of all performance characteristics.

               The number of performance characteristics checked with digital equipment needs to be assessed carefully to ensure that no aspect of the performance is overlooked; this requirement includes its operation under fault conditions such as operator error, faulty inputs, etc.

                Where relevant, the effect of supply interruptions and the start-up/shut-down performance should be checked at various points in the performance cycle of the equipment.

                ELECTRICAL ENVIRONMENTAL TESTS

Informative: The tests to be applied are summarised in Table 4 and Table 5, Substation Equipment and Table 6, Control Centre Equipment. They are required to establish that the equipment will perform in accordance with its specification in its working environment. The tables specify the levels of the tests to be applied to specific ports of the equipment. The port connections are more fully defined in Table 7. Not all the tests will be appropriate to every item of equipment.

               The tests in Table 4 are mandatory while those in Table 5 need only be called up if it is a specific requirement of the contract. However, it should be noted that certain of these tests are required in order to comply with BS EN 60870-2-1 (see Section on Substation Control Equipment). The test descriptions specify whether the equipment is required to function correctly during the test (non-maloperate) or whether the equipment is required to resist the specified test conditions without damage (withstand).

               Unless otherwise stated in the appropriate TS for the EUT, equipment, when subjected to the non-maloperate tests, shall perform to specification during and after application of the tests. See also Section on Non-maloperation Tests.

                Except where otherwise stated, the method of application for each test shall be as specified in the appropriate source standard as quoted in Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6.

               The interference tests are designed to demonstrate that equipment is likely to be compatible with its environment. If specific measures on site are required to achieve the desired degree of immunity, full details of these measures shall be submitted to the user for assessment.