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More
Output, Increased Efficiency, Reduced Costs
The
controls department at Schulz Electric has had great success in converting
older control systems to solid state controls.
The benefits from this newer technology are many and varied.
Each job that we have undertaken has presented a new or different
problem, but in the end, we were able to produce more output and increased
efficiency, while reducing costs. The
number one cost savings is in electricity.
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Playland
Park, Rye, New York: The Dragon Coaster
The Dragon Coaster roller coaster at Playland Park in Rye,
New York is one of the park’s seven historic rides. Working together with the maintenance electricians at
Playland Park, the Schulz control department provided a new 75hp GE
motor, a starter control
using a Sprecher and Schuh soft starter, a new operator control
console, and a GE Fanuc PLC. The
PLC controls the cars as they leave the station and start to climb the
first hill. The motor was
so old that it would be very difficult to buy a replacement, no matter
how long they were prepared to wait.
The resistor bank starter was in even worse condition.
Because of the importance of this ride, Playland Park decided
to upgrade the whole system.
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Briarcliff Manor Pump Station
The
County of Westchester, New York, maintains a pump station for pumping
sewage. The station was
flooded out by a severe spring storm.
The water in the station filled the lower two floors in the station
and was three feet deep in the top floor.
Schulz got a call...could we do something to get the plant going?
At the same time, could we upgrade the failing equipment that had
been damaged by the flood water? Each
motor was taken out of service in a rotation and taken to Schulz for
overhaul. While the first
motor was out for service, that control was upgraded to a new Saftronics
softstarter. When that one
was done, another motor and control were shut down and refurbished.
While this was being done, a new liquid level control and a new
400-amp main distribution panel were installed.
The panel that was replaced was probably the original and was about
40 years old. Because of the
tremendous cooperation on the part of the Westchester County personnel and
the support of the Schulz home office in New Haven, the plant never went
offline and the entire job was finished in less than two weeks.
This
is another County of Westchester facility.
The station has an old but well built Square D main distribution
and pump control system. The
problem was that the older type starters were becoming pricey to get parts
for and it was obvious that the new Saftronics Soft Starters would give
the plant a new lease on life. In
rotation, each cabinet was stripped of the old automatic transformer
reduced voltage starter. With
some fabricated metal work that was well thought out, the new Saftronics
was put in the same spot where the Square D came out.
This approach was not disruptive to the plant operation and has
made for a very reliable system.
The
original plan for this project was a change out of two 75hp pump motors
and modernization of the corresponding controls. The new motors Schulz
installed are 93% efficient. The
old Allen Bradley across the line starters were changed to Baldor Variable
Frequency drives. GE Fanuc
PLCs were utilized to have the storage facility on Eureka Mountain talk to
the well field at Maple Avenue, approximately 6 miles apart.
Panemetrics
flow transducers were used to record the gallons of water produced and to
vary the speed of the drives so that the storage would stay relatively
full and yet not overflow. Because
we were able to slow the pumps down, the Town of Bethel saved water, saved
chemicals used to treat the water, and a great deal of electricity.
The
message from these little tales is that even when something is working,
maybe it can be working more reliably and more efficiently. Just as the
personal computer has gotten better and cheaper, so have control systems
gotten smaller, faster, more cost effective, and more reliable.
For
more information or a free evaluation, contact Joe May, Joe Kowerdovich,
or anyone on the Schulz Group team at 203-562-5811.
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Maintenance
Staff Issues Solved
With
the ups and downs of today’s economy, most
facilities are searching for the most cost effective way of
reaching success. Unfortunately,
this has caused a reduction in budgets and maintenance staffs.
So what do you do when your only electrician goes on vacation for a
week? What do you do when you
have more than you can handle, but are not prepared to add to your
maintenance staff permanently? Have
you considered some type of outsourcing to assist your valued employees?
Schulz
Electric can help you out of a bind.
Without causing any feelings of job insecurity, Schulz can send a
qualified person to help you. Call
us today to find out how Schulz can help support your maintenance staff.
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| Critical
Production Restored in Less Than One Day
It
was mid-afternoon. The phone
rang at Schulz Electric with a frequently heard call to pick up and turn
around a motor as soon as possible. Our
driver arrived at about 4:00 pm, picked up the foreign manufactured,
unavailable, motor and brought it straight to our New Haven shop by 5:00
pm.
Please
Help!
Shortly after, a key supervisor at our customer’s plant
called our Sales Engineer. “Please
Help! Do everything possible to turn this motor around on a dime!”
The production machine from which the motor was removed was
critical to the company’s operation.
It could not function at all without the motor.
Backlog
Backlog had exceeded 1/4 million dollars already.
Each eight hour shift without that machine was costing our client
about 200,000 items in additional backlog.
Communication
The Schulz Electric Sales Engineer called the second shift
Supervisor as well as our Shop Manager and explained the situation.
The second shift Winder removed the old winding and had the new
winding inserted in the old motor in two hours.
Dipped
and Baked by 3rd Shift
The motor was then dipped and baked on our third shift.
First thing on day shift, the motor was removed from the bake oven.
The required machining to the end bell and shaft was completed
successfully. The motor was then reassembled,
balanced and thoroughly tested per Schulz Electric Company’s
ISO 9000 program.
21
Hour Turnaround
SUCCESS! The
motor was then painted and delivered just 21 hours after it was picked up,
the paint barely dry.
The
motor in this example was a foreign AC induction motor.
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| Controls
Save Money Too!
Don’t
overlook controls as a way to save on the energy bill in your facility.
For a number of reasons, motors are not the only path to a more energy
efficient system. In some
cases, there is a piece of equipment that requires a certain motor. This
motor can not be purchased as an energy efficient unit. The challenge then
becomes, how can we change the rest of the process to make the system more
energy efficient.
The
picture below shows a 100 HP reduced voltage starter at the Barden Bearing
Co. in Danbury. The motor was changed but the controls were a bigger
problem. The standard auto transformer starter for a large motor uses a
transformer to cut down the voltage and to start the motor at a slower
speed. Once the unit has gained some momentum, and this is controlled by a
timer in the starter, the unit engages another contactor to throw the unit
across the line. The five times in-rush current is still there, but just
disguised somewhat.
By
replacing the auto transformer unit with a micro processor controlled soft
starter, the in-rush is eliminated. In most cases, the old equipment can
be removed and a large spot for the newer and smaller soft starter to fit
right in. In this case we were able to use the same cabinet, main breaker
disconnect and hardware.
We
have done a similar type change out for the County of Westchester on
several of their pump installations. All the people involved in these jobs
saw a very clear benefit in the energy saving and in the reduced time
needed to maintain these jobs. Less moving parts to go bad and more direct
back up by Schulz to keep things running.
For
more information or a free evaluation, contact Joe Kowerdovich, Joe May,
or anyone on the Schulz Group Team.
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