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Substation and MCC lab

Substation and MCC simulator: isolate, protect and fault-find in 3D

A motor control centre is the cabinet row that starts and protects a plant's motors, and a small substation feeds it. The Substation and MCC lab in EDWartens Lab is a free 3D room in your browser where you practise the safe, careful work around them.

Open the lab freeSee the whole lab

Free with a free EDWartens account. Runs in your browser. The lab is in beta.

A control room with rows of electrical panels
The Substation and MCC lab is a 3D switch room.

What the substation and MCC simulator does

You walk a small 11/0.415 kV substation and the motor control centre it feeds. Each job starts with a work order from a fictional client, and the result is marked by an automatic acceptance test. A wrong step behaves wrongly, as it would on site.

The equipment is generic and the clients are fictional, so the lab teaches the method rather than one maker's product.

3D view of Safe isolation of an MCC bucket
Safe isolation of an MCC bucket

Eight levels, from the drawing to the fault

The lab has eight levels. You read the single-line diagram and name each device and rating. You isolate a motor bucket the safe way: lock, tag, prove the tester, test dead and prove again. You size a motor circuit with its cable, breaker and overload relay, and you commission a star-delta starter.

The later levels cover grading an incomer relay so it discriminates with the feeder below it, checking the fault level and breaker ratings when a bigger transformer goes in, correcting the power factor with a capacitor bank, and finding why a motor keeps tripping.

Safe isolation comes first

The isolation level marks the order of the steps, including proving the tester and testing dead twice. A real site has its own rules and permits, and the simulation lets you arrive already knowing the order of the work.

Free, and part of the internships

Opening the lab, doing the levels and passing the acceptance tests are free with a free EDWartens account. The lab is in beta. Substation and MCC tasks also count inside the Control Panel Design and Wiring, Commissioning and Maintenance, and Electrical Design internships, where they are optional practice in the weeks that teach them.

How it works

  1. Create a free EDWartens account, or sign in if you already have one.
  2. Open Read the single-line diagram and name each device.
  3. Isolate a motor bucket safely and sign the permit.
  4. Size a motor circuit and commission the star-delta starter.
  5. Grade the relay, then find the fault in the MCC.

Labs to open for this

Browse all labs (free account needed to open them).

Questions people ask

Is there a free substation and MCC simulator?

Yes. The Substation and MCC lab in EDWartens Lab is a free 3D room that runs in your browser. You need a free EDWartens account. You read the diagram, isolate a bucket, size a motor circuit and pass an automatic acceptance test.

Can I practise safe isolation online?

Yes. One level has you stop, open, withdraw, lock, tag, prove the tester, test dead, prove again, earth and sign the permit. The order of the steps is part of the mark.

Can I practise relay grading and fault level checks?

Yes. One level has you set an IDMT relay so it discriminates with the feeder breaker below it. Another has you work out the new fault level when a bigger transformer goes in.

Does it replace training on a real board?

No. A real board has its own permits and procedures. The simulation is practice for the thinking and the order of the work.

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