The Capacitor Bank That Blew Itself Up Quietly

Emeritus Professor Akhtar Kalam’s Electrifying Mysteries

This webinar series provides a structured examination of real-world engineering challenges. Each session will address specific, technically focused topics relevant to professional engineers.

Webinar details

Capacitor banks play a vital role in power factor correction and voltage stability, but their failures are often subtle, internal, and devastating. This webinar examines a real-world case in which a capacitor bank failed without any obvious warning, ultimately resulting in internal damage and rupture.

The session explores key contributing factors, including harmonic resonance, switching transients, dielectric breakdown, and thermal stress. Participants will gain insights into why traditional protection schemes may fail to detect early-stage deterioration and how system-level interactions can create dangerous conditions.

• The webinar will be recorded and will be sent out to registered attendees afterwards.
• A certificate of attendance will be provided to attendees who request one near the end of the live webinar session.
• Please note: the time stated on this event is in UTC. You will need to convert this to your own time zone.

Key takeaways from this webinar

• Understand harmonic resonance and its impact on capacitor bank health.
• Identify early indicators of capacitor degradation and failure.
• Analyse switching transients and overvoltage effects.
• Implement improved monitoring and protection strategies.

Related courses

This webinar/topic relates to our school of Electrical Engineering and is particularly found in the following courses:

• Professional Certificate of Competency in Circuit Breakers, Switchgear & Power Transformers
• 52894WA Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Renewable Energy)
• 52888WA Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Power Industry)
• 52883WA Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Electrical Systems)
• Online – Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering)
• Master of Engineering (Electrical Systems)

To learn more about tuition fees, please click here.

About the presenter

Emeritus Professor Akhtar Kalam

BSc, BScEng, MS, PhD, FIET, CEng, FAIE, FIEAust, CPEng, NER, APEC Engineer, IntPE(Aus), PEV, MCIGRE, Life Senior Member of IEEE.

Professor Akhtar Kalam is a supervisor of EIT’s Doctoral students. He has worked at Victoria University since 1984 and recently associated with the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities. He is the Editor in Chief of Australian Journal of Electrical & Electronics Engineering. Further, he has Distinguished Professorship position in many national and international institutions. He has been recognized internationally and nationally for his research. He is regularly invited to deliver lectures, work on industrial projects, and examine external theses overseas. Professor Kalam is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Victoria (PEV), Fellow of EA, IET, AIE, a life Senior Member of IEEE, NER, APEC Engineer, IntPE (Aus) and a member of CIGRE AP B5 Study Committee.