Square One Power Solutions, the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) specialist in the JSE-listed Square One Solutions Group, has installed and commissioned an 80kW UPS system to support critical elements of the rolled patterned glass production line at PFG Building Glass, the Springs-based float glass manufacturer.
The APC Silcon UPS unit has a dual power supply and is also linked to an existing standby diesel generator set at the plant. The UPS ensures critical electrical loads on the rolled patterned glass production line are maintained if there is a mains power failure or the plant experiences voltage variances (sags or spikes).
Electronic systems that control the roller drives on the production line and the critical plant instrumentation are supported by the UPS, which maintains the load until power from the diesel generator set becomes available.
PFG electrical engineer, Richard Kumalo, said the removal of the old rotary UPS unit that been in service on the patterned glass production line for 23 years and its replacement with the new Silcon unit had to be very carefully planned and executed with great precision.
"To minimise downtime, we had to work very quickly within short windows of time spread out over a week so as to not interrupt normal production.
"The UPS ensures that unplanned interruptions of production due to power failure are eliminated. This is vital because if production stops for more than a minute, the glass hardens and the patterned rollers can be damaged. These are very expensive items to replace and it is both difficult and costly to get replacements working perfectly."
Square One Power Solutions, an APC High Power Partner, has provided two other UPS solutions to PFG Building Glass in the past two years - a 720kW system made up of three 240kW Silcon units configured in parallel redundancy to ensure critical electrical loads to the float glass production line are maintained under all circumstances, and a 40kW Silcon system to support a data centre at the plant.
Silcon UPS units are extremely efficient with very high input power factors and low input distortion that add up to lower running costs. The units are also 'diesel-friendly' and their Delta conversion online technology results in reduced installation, wiring, air conditioning, harmonic distortion and maintenance costs as well as lower energy consumption.
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