Westac Power Limited has provided 12 Power Stations to the National Wheat Project in Northern Sudan.
The Power Stations vary in size from 1.44mVA to 4.9mVA. All are supplied with between two and four Westac Powerpac diesel generating sets, the smallest being 720kVA and the largest 1869kVA at site conditions. The generating sets are powered by the MTU 2000 and 4000 range of engines coupled to Mecc Alte alternators with Bearward 50°C radiators.
These generating sets are synchronised at a suite of Westac panels using Deep Sea Electronics 5510 controllers. The power is supplied through a Manual Transfer Switch to the irrigation pump motor start panels. The 12 pumping stations vary from two 250kW to seven 425kW motor driven pumps. The water is pumped out of the River Nile into a network of canals stretching to more than 10km from the river, supplying water to thousands of acres of previously barren desert.
The first station at Gabriya on the Niles west bank was commissioned in the summer of 2007, much to the joy of the local farmers. The station was then officially opened by the Sudanese President, Omar Hasan Ahmad Al-Bashir on 3rd August 2007. The largest station at Aldefufa was commissioned shortly afterwards, in time for the second of the two growing seasons which began in late September after the annual floods.
Westac Power Ltd have recently built and tested four generating sets that are to provide power and heat for the new Halley VI research station in Antarctica. Working in close co-operation with the main contractors Morrisons and the client British Antarctic Survey together with fellow AMPS members Cummins, Meccalte, Applied Acoustics and Deep Sea the project presented a number of unique problems.
The units have been designed in a combined heat and power configuration, where the generator engine provides power and also makes use of the waste heat to warm the buildings and melt snow to provide water.
Each generating set is controlled by a Deep Sea 5510 control module which enables all machines to be used to provide a common power supply for the whole station. Four units have been selected so that the number of generating sets on line can be varied to suit both the heat and power requirements and to allow each set to operate at optimum output. A Deep Sea 820 plc interface module has been provided to allow single website access for monitoring of all generating sets.
For most generator applications the aim is to keep the generator cool, in this case the opposite is true. We had to ensure the combustion and cooling air is kept at a temperature the engine could handle. This has been achieved by re-circulating the air within the canopy controlled by modulating louvres and temperature sensors. External cold air was mixed with hot air and only discharged from the canopy as temperatures rise to allow it. A forced ventilation fan provided the necessary duct allowance to minimise the ductwork sizes allowing the package size requirements to be achieved.
Final testing was carried out using the same fuel and coolant which will be used in the Antarctic, in order to determine the actual power output and heat recovery. The engine cooling circuits are the primary heating source for Halley VI, Morrisons and Faber Maunsell were in attendance to confirm that the engine heat recovery profile matched the heating design model.
The new station will consist of eight individual modules, connected together to form a long, train-like structure. Seven of the modules will be of a standard design containing sleeping, support, energy generation and science facilities. The living area, dining room, gym and kitchen will be housed in a larger double-height central module. The modules are kept above the snow surface using hydraulic legs mounted on skis. If the station must be moved the individual modules are designed to be separated, towed across the ice shelf by bulldozer, then reconnected again at the new site. This makes it possible for the station to remain a safe distance from the edge of the ice shelf.
Westac Power Ltd are pleased to announce a completely new design of control panel which will be fitted as standard equipment on all of their generating sets.
This comprises a base mounted arrangement and features the newly launched Deep Sea 5110 control unit. This incorporates Micro-processor design, automatic engine starting & stopping, automatic fault shutdown, full engine and generator instrumentation, engine alarms and status information, LED & LCD alarm indication and front panel configurable inputs, outputs, alarms and timers.
The control panel has a hinged front door for easy access and the circuit breaker enclosure featuring ABB circuit breakers is mounted alongside the panel and arranged to simplify power cable connection. Other arrangements are available to suit all customer requirements including full AMF and Synchronising options.
Westac Power now provides data sheets to download in the Portable Document Format (PDF). These data sheets are available to download from the right hand menu when viewing details of a specific engine range in our products pages. To view the data sheets requires PDF viewing software such as Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be freely downloaded from Adobe's website.
Westac Power have recently had their ISO9001 certification upgraded to the new ISO9001:2000 standard.
Westac Power is pleased to announce that it has obtained CE certifcation for its range of generating sets.
