Experience. Solutions.
Case Study: Power Generation
Saturday at 9 p.m., the cell phone rings. An anxious-sounding plant manager in Central Florida needs urgent assistance with the catastrophic failure of a 250-megawatt turbine generator and associated electrical equipment, bringing all operations to a screeching halt. Southern Power & Controls, experienced with high-voltage requirements, was on the scene in less than two hours with a skilled team of industrial electricians prepared to start work immediately.
Thankfully, it’s not everyday you need an electrical contracting firm experienced with high-voltage requirements. However, this was clearly going to be one of those days. Southern Power & Controls responded immediately because we understand that down-time translates into huge losses of revenue and productivity.
As it turns out, a vital section of wire way containing high-voltage cabling from a control system to sensitive instrumentation conductors was damaged beyond repair. Replacement parts and materials had to be purchased immediately. With Southern Power & Controls’ long-standing relationships with suppliers, we were able to purchase the specialized parts from around the country, over the weekend, and schedule immediate delivery — no problem.
Working without any coded electrical plans, a team of Southern Power & Controls electricians quickly shut down and locked out any power that might be associated with the damaged wiring and cabling. To sort out the wiring and diagram of the original installation, the Southern Power & Controls team worked two 12-hour shifts to bring the facility back online.
This “Mission Possible” assignment included:
4,160 volt-conductor terminations
300 480-volt motor terminations
5,125 control wire terminations
600 various instrumentation termination: thermo-couples, high and low level detectors, heat sensors and pressure sensors — many of which had to be calibrated prior to installation.
Remarkably, after all of the wiring and equipment had been reinstalled, the plant started up without one single wire out of place.
“With over 6,000 terminations to make, my experience said I should expect a 10% to 15% failure rate at start-up, or 600 to 900 mistakes. There were no failures — absolutely none.”
Dave Fox, Supervising Plant Engineer