Himoinsa machines are guaranteeing backup power within seven seconds to Doha Festival City, a 670,000m2 retail and entertainment complex in the Qatari capital, after the Spanish company supplied with five gensets capable of supplying a total of 8.7MVA of stand-by energy.
The objective of the project was to guarantee an uninterrupted supply of electricity in the event of a failure in the supply of electricity for the national grid, with the gensets capable of starting up fully synchronised to take 100% of the load in less than 10 seconds.
However, thanks to a detailed programming study of its control units, and after having subjected the units to multiple highly demanding tests, Himoinsa has been able to guarantee a synchronised start-up in just seven seconds – a performance that far exceeds the project’s technical specifications.
The five HTW-1745 T5 generator sets are individually capable of supplying 1.736 kVA, and feature Mitsubishi engines and Stamford alternators that have been oversized and fitted with sophisticated control systems that synchronise the gensets.
The gensets are also prepared to work in a maximum ambient temperature of 55 degrees centigrade.
“The biggest challenge of this project was to meet the stringent requirements of Qatar Civil Defence, said Terry McGuire, regional general manager of Al Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company (FAMCO).
“We needed to prove that all the gensets would be able to run from a dead start, synchronise and produce power within ten seconds. We managed to show this by the factory witness test, where we achieved 7.8 seconds and we also proved the same results on site.”
Himoinsa’s technical team subjected the gensets to a stringent test protocol, pushing the units to the limit of their operational capacity, to predict and guarantee a suitable response, including single-step load impact tests at 100% of output, and simulations of all the possible combinations of breakdowns.
Technical Specifications:
- The gensets feature Mitsubishi S16R PTA engines and Japanese technology, fitted with a Woodward speed control that guarantees a quick and reliable response.
- The PI734E alternators are oversized to 1900kVA and fitted with a digital voltage governor, while at the mechanical level, Himoinsa guaranteed the temperature controls in the bearings and the winding could operate safely and continuously, even for longer periods of time than necessary.
- Himoinsa also used deep sea control units that allow the units to sync directly with a Dead Bus, saving time manoeuvring the motorised circuit breakers in each generator set. The control systems are also connected to a PLC that handles the running of the generator sets and their interactions with the shopping complex’s distribution system.
- To ensure a fast response in the event of a grid failure, a water pre-heating system was added, as was a battery charger that ensures maximum efficiency.
- All the engine’s vital parameters such as the oil pressure, the temperature of the water or the oil or the exhaust fumes are measured continuously and they communicate with a monitoring system that controls the condition of the engine.
