Development of a CAD software for electric diagrams and improvement of the related design process

Abstract

The electrical system in Wärtsilä’s power plants consists of the generating sets, switchgears and auxiliary systems. During a power plant project a single line diagram of the medium voltage system and circuit diagrams for the auxiliary system local control panels are created. Software known as AutoCAD Electrical and Autodesk Vault are used in the design process. A standardized way of working is followed during the design of the diagrams.

The goal of this thesis was to investigate what kind of changes the users would like to make in order to improve the way of working and to develop the design tool. A survey was used as the research method. At first, this thesis presents the electrical system of a combustion engine power plant and its auxiliary systems. The design tool and the design processes are covered next. The results of the survey are analyzed in the last chapter.

As a summary of the results it can be said that the performance of the software should be improved, unnecessary steps in the design process should be eliminated and the software should be integrated with company’s own document management system.