QF MEL T1 (DOM): Power currently out [6May2011]

[markis10]

The power requirements would be huge. our print site doesn't have enough backup power to run the presses if we have a failure - we'd need something the size of a substation to run it. An airport terminal would be the same too. Those sort of backup generators aren't the sort of thing you can buy at Bunnings . Actually I don't know if you could even get something that could run the KVA's required to power the terminal.

Both Melbourne and Adelaide have at least two gen sets, not sure what MEL has as I would imagine it's pretty old now but Adelaide has a fully integrated system that uses standard coughmins PowerCommand generator sets and PowerCommand digital paralleling equipment along with a coughmins MC300 digital master control system for the two 1340 kWe gensets which are powered by coughmins 50-litre KTA50G3 engines.

 

[thewinchester]

Both Melbourne and Adelaide have at least two gen sets, not sure what MEL has as I would imagine it's pretty old now but Adelaide has a fully integrated system that uses standard coughmins PowerCommand generator sets and PowerCommand digital paralleling equipment along with a coughmins MC300 digital master control system for the two 1340 kWe gensets which are powered by coughmins 50-litre KTA50G3 engines.

Shouldn't have gone all tech there markis10, I'm about to ask a question about power supplies and redundancy and how that pertains to the needs of large scale commercial premesis like airport terminals.

I understand the concept of redundant power and fallover in the case of data centres, but not in environments such as terminals, shopping centres and the like. Is the overarching methodology of redundnat power supply for data centres/server rooms the same as environs like an airline passenger terminal?

As I have no clue about how it would operate in such a massive commercial environ - could equipment scale to the level of such enormous needs? I ask this considering the sheer amount of power being drawn (even if factoring in automated rationing and load reduction), the length of the outage, and the fuel resource required to generate even 50% of the usual energy for a sustained period of time.

The need for a metric coughload of fuel available onsite to achieve it for sustained periods I thought would have posed a problem, and even if that could last a while you'll still need to truck it in on call plus be monitoring the fuel levels like a hawk.

In short, isn't having backup generation for the terminals themselves (being non-essential parts of an airport, specially in the context of a wider outage) cost ineffective? Wouldn't it be far more effective for non-essential services having access to two seperate, geographically diverse connections to 'the grid'?

Here ends my curiosity on this topic.

 

[markis10]

The need for a metric coughload of fuel available onsite to achieve it for sustained periods I thought would have posed a problem, and even if that could last a while you'll still need to truck it in on call plus be monitoring the fuel levels like a hawk.

In short, isn't having backup generation for the terminals themselves (being non-essential parts of an airport, specially in the context of a wider outage) cost ineffective? Wouldn't it be far more effective for non-essential services having access to two seperate, geographically diverse connections to 'the grid'?

Here ends my curiosity on this topic.

It's not a matter of cost, it's a matter of need, two separate connections will not ensure uninterrupted supply as evidenced by the disasters in Christchurch and Japan. As for fuel, when was the last time you saw a fuel tanker heading to the airport, it's piped in for Jet A1 as well as diesel.

 

[TonyHancock]

In short, isn't having backup generation for the terminals themselves (being non-essential parts of an airport, specially in the context of a wider outage) cost ineffective? Wouldn't it be far more effective for non-essential services having access to two seperate, geographically diverse connections to 'the grid'?

MEL is supplied by two separate 66kV lines from Keilor. The lines follow two separate routes. It has it's own 66/22 kV substation feeding multiple rings with more than 80 on site substations. This is likely to expand with the proposed terminal extensions.

The capacity of the system is 60 MVA and the current high demand is 23 MVA. :shock:

I have know idea about the back up generators, but it would be unlikely they would be used to operate non core requirements. (I'll ask when I'm involved in the upgrades.)