OpenUtilities Substation

Bentley Substation is a design tool for substation design. It uses Promis.e Wiki functionality for the electrical design. Integrated into the application with is a range of additional tools allowing users to create the 3D physical design of the substation. All of the drawings exist within the same project and sharing the same database. This results in easy navigation between the different drawing modes and shared attribute, part data, and reports. Bentley Substation is unique in that the 3D physical model and the Electrical drawings are all created with the same application and sharing the same common project database.

In addition to the Promis.e functionality and 3D functionality of the MicroStation-based platform, Bentley Substation has specialized design tools for substation design in a 3D environment:

• Hook Points - Hook points are placed on symbols to allow them to easily snap onto other symbols. Orientation can be controlled in all three axes (or less). They also bond the connected symbols allowing them to me moved as a unit. This simplifies working in the 3D environment.
• Grounding Grid - A special tool allows a grounding network to be placed into the Substation foundation to be used for equipment grounding. Parameters are entered to generate the Grid based on desired spacing. Once generated, the components are automatically included in the bill of materials (BOM). Individual areas of the generated grid can be modified by the user as needed.
• Sag Algorithms - Used to graphically generate cables in the substation model with sag. Custom algorithms can also be created by Bentley Professional Services.

These are in addition to the standard benefits of 3D modeling which can speed design and approval while eliminating interference and positioning design errors.