Uninterruptible Power for Industrial Applications
Customer:
Worldwide producer of packaging for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, tobacco, foil rolling and container markets
Product Highlighted:
CleanSource® UPS
Business Challenge:
Electrical power disturbances costs U.S. manufacturing companies hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost productivity. Not only do these businesses face costly downtime, but they also must incur unplanned expenses to reset, service and sometimes even repair equipment damaged by a critical process interruption. The Tulsa based packaging facility was no exception to this statistic experiencing approximately 30 micro outages (those lasting only a few seconds) in 2006. A majority of these micro outages caused the facility’s extrusion lines to go completely offline.
The facility quickly began its due diligence to identify an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system that could protect its extrusion lines from power disturbances and also save the facility money on energy costs over the long term. The customer didn’t have a substantial amount of floor space to dedicate to large UPS systems as they wanted to dedicate more of the manufacturing floor to revenue generating equipment. In addition, the customer couldn’t install the UPS system in a conditioned environment so the system had to be rugged enough to operate in a wide range of temperatures and other operating conditions.
Active Power Solution:
The customer selected Active Power’s CleanSource UPS system and deployed a one megawatt system onsite. Uniquely suited for industrial applications, the rugged system can be placed right into the manufacturing environment as it operates at a wide range of ambient temperatures. The system also operates at up to 98 percent efficiency, reducing power losses and delivering savings to the operator’s bottom line. This benefit along with the system’s high efficiency rating and economically green aspect make it an attractive option for critical manufacturing processes where downtime is not an option.
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Customer:
Pemex Refinacon, Victoria Zaragoza, Mexico
Product Highlighted:
CleanSource UPS
Business Challenge:
Pemex Refinacion is the refining subsidiary of PEMEX, Mexico’s national oil company, and operates re-pumping stations for crude oil, gasoline and diesel throughout the country.
Including the one in Victoria Zaragoza, the 18 stations used to pump product to the state of Chihuahua operate in series, such that if one is down, the others must cease pumping as well. Downtime stops the flow, leading to lost revenues and possible equipment damage.
“The motors and turbines in our pumping stations have very sensitive controls and quality power is crucial for efficient operations,” said Mauro Caceres, Superintendente General de Operaciones Ductos Zona Norte for Pemex Refinacion.
Pemex Refinacion needed a UPS system to condition the poor utility power and bridge to its generator during extended power outages.
Active Power Solution:
Active Power supplied a 900 kVA CleanSource UPS system to protect the pumping operations at the Victoria Zaragoza Station. Based on patented flywheel technology, CleanSource UPS is inherently more reliable than conventional UPS systems and is the ideal solution for frequent power quality issues in industrial applications.
The system conditions the power as it comes into Pemex Refinacion’s facilities, delivering a steady stream of high-quality power to run the equipment as well as providing backup power in the event of a commercial power failure. In addition, the system records commercial power glitches - 164 which occurred in the first 24 hours the UPS system was running. These can wreak havoc on sensitive equipment if the power is not conditioned properly. The consistent performance without degradation through potentially infinite discharge cycles of the CleanSource flywheel makes it the most cost-effective solution for such environments.
“The lack of consistent and reliable power to support our operations was an ever-present management headache before we installed CleanSource UPS,” said Mr. Caceres. “Since starting the Active Power system our operation has not experienced any power-related interruptions, and we are very pleased with the improvement in our day-to-day operations.”
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Customer:
Continental Teves, Morgantown, NC
Product Highlighted:
CoolAir UPS
Business Challenge:
Continental Teves, a leading worldwide manufacturer of automotive braking systems, has an automated plant in North Carolina with significant compressed air infrastructure, and several production lines.
A key production line with power-sensitive Programmable Logic Controllers was subject to shutdown and equipment damage due to even minor power fluctuations. This is an increasingly common problem facing the manufacturing industry today as automation becomes more prevalent.
In order to maintain manufacturing efficiency, Continental Teves needed a UPS system on the line in order to condition the power and provide backup power in case of a utility power outage.
Active Power Solution:
Active Power’s CoolAir UPS system solves this significant industry issue in a unique way. It is the only compressed air-based UPS system on the market today. Part of the design employs standard air tanks and a compressor to refill them, making CoolAir UPS ideally suited for companies with the infrastructure and expertise to support high-pressure compressed air. “Continental Teves has a high-pressure compressed air infrastructure,” said Gregg Pace, Facility Engineer Supervisor at Continental. “Active Power engineers showed creativity and flexibility to devise a solution to retrofit the CoolAir system onto our existing compressed air infrastructure and equipment.”
Active Power provided a version of its CoolAir UPS system integrated into Continental’s existing high-pressure air supply infrastructure. Active Power engineers and Continental engineers worked together to connect the CoolAir unit with the high-pressure air infrastructure and maximize the company’s existing assets.
Now, Continental has reliable protection for its key production line, and has over 20 minutes of backup power to protect and support the line in the event of a power failure. The CoolAir system sits on the factory floor, as it does not require special cooling, and has no hazardous materials.
The green nature of CoolAir, not common in UPS systems, also helps Continental in its efforts to comply with the requirements of its ISO 14000 certification, which is a voluntary series of environmental management standards.
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