{"id":1721,"date":"2017-04-04T19:01:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T17:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mag4web.com\/onload-de\/?p=1721"},"modified":"2023-06-02T09:31:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T07:31:38","slug":"it-was-pretty-tough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/05-2017\/it-was-pretty-tough\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt Was Pretty Tough\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Why do you need a mobile transformer?<\/h3>\n

After hur\u00adri\u00adcane Sandy in 2012, we real\u00adized that the longest our cus\u00adtomers will accept being out of pow\u00ader is three to five days and after that cus\u00adtomers, includ\u00ading you and me, can\u2019t tol\u00ader\u00adate liv\u00ading life with\u00adout elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty. So typ\u00adi\u00adcal trans\u00adformer down\u00adtime at Con Edi\u00adson, from the time it trips to the time it gets restored is about 14 days. These are three-phase units that require a lot of assem\u00adbly, pro\u00adcess\u00ading of oil, wiring etc. and actu\u00adal\u00adly also the phys\u00adi\u00adcal move\u00adment of these units.<\/p>\n

Hav\u00ading gone through Sandy as one of the oper\u00ada\u00adtional and plan\u00adning chiefs dur\u00ading the recov\u00adery effort, I real\u00adized we have to do bet\u00adter and in addi\u00adtion after 9\/11 and look\u00ading at cur\u00adrent world affairs \u2013 the geopo\u00adlit\u00adi\u00adcal scene \u2013 there are a lot of threats: phys\u00adi\u00adcal threats, and also actu\u00adal actions that have tak\u00aden place. So you say to your\u00adself: ok, if some\u00adbody comes and destroys our trans\u00adform\u00aders, the quick\u00adest we can do replace\u00adment if we have spares on hand is 14 days \u2013 which is three times our cus\u00adtomers\u2019 expec\u00adta\u00adtions. And resilien\u00adcy must be not just to ter\u00adror\u00adism but also to nation\u00adal weath\u00ader, earth\u00adquakes, flooding\u2014all those sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions.
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What is the technical concept?<\/h3>\n

I said to the trans\u00adformer man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ader: \u201cHere is my con\u00adcept: I want a trans\u00adformer that\u2019s dual volt\u00adage 345 to 138 or 138 to 69. I want it with a full tap-chang\u00ader, plus or minus twelve per\u00adcent. I want 170 per\u00adcent over\u00adload capa\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty which is kind of unique to us and I will make it easy for you. Put the tap chang\u00ader inside the main tank \u2013 which was a ConEd first since it had nev\u00ader been done before \u2013 and I want a man\u00adu\u00adal volt\u00adage selec\u00adtor between 345 and 138 kV. In addi\u00adtion to that, I want plug-in bush\u00adings on the high side and the same on the low side. In addi\u00adtion, I also want flex\u00adi\u00adble HV cables that con\u00adnect to the low-side, two-part bush\u00ading adapter. Most impor\u00adtant\u00adly, I want min\u00adi\u00admum assem\u00adbly required on site when moved, so I want it be moved oil filled. Fur\u00adther\u00admore, all of this should not weigh more than 100 tons oil filled and it should fit in the car\u00adgo bay of a Lock\u00adheed C5A Galaxy or an Antonov AN 124 car\u00adgo air\u00adcraft. This was a pret\u00adty tough chal\u00adlenge as it had nev\u00ader been done before and goes against most tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal trans\u00adformer design approach\u00ades.<\/p>\n

How did you approach this task?<\/h3>\n

We took the best of our tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal trans\u00adformer and tap-chang\u00ader designs and said \u2018ok we have a design and because the trans\u00adporta\u00adtion is a big issue with these trans\u00adform\u00aders let\u2019s make it sin\u00adgle phase\u2019. By hav\u00ading sin\u00adgle phase you can quick\u00adly trans\u00adport it. Also, by hav\u00ading cable con\u00adnec\u00adtions on the sec\u00adondary side, you just need one fix point on the high side to line it up to your exist\u00ading bus and you don\u2019t need to line it up per\u00adfect\u00adly to do that.<\/p>\n

The oth\u00ader thing that I also men\u00adtioned is that ter\u00adror\u00adism and extreme weath\u00ader events are very rare \u2013 we call them high impact, low fre\u00adquen\u00adcy \u2013 so you can\u00adnot real\u00adly jus\u00adti\u00adfy hav\u00ading a unit sit\u00adting there just for those occa\u00adsions. So I said \u2018what I also want is for this to be used on a day-to-day basis so that in the mid\u00addle of sum\u00admer, if we have a three-phase unit fail\u00adure, I can bring this in and con\u00adnect it quick\u00adly.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we say \u2018go\u2019, the trans\u00adformer must be up and car\u00adry\u00ading load in less than 72 hours.\u201d
\nSan\u00adjay Bose<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When the OEM asked of my expec\u00adta\u00adtion for ener\u00adgiz\u00ading, I said \u20183 to 5 days \u2013 but more like 3. And it\u2019ll be used on reg\u00adu\u00adlar basis, so that peo\u00adple don\u2019t for\u00adget how to use it and all the parts have to be con\u00adtainer\u00adized \u2013 the cables, the plug-and-play type equip\u00adment and the relay pro\u00adtec\u00adtion sys\u00adtems, etc.\u2019 And the oth\u00ader thing I said is that because it will be placed on streets or inside sub\u00adsta\u00adtions, we won\u2019t have full envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal con\u00adtain\u00adment so I want an envi\u00adron\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly friend\u00adly flu\u00adid that has a high\u00ader igni\u00adtion tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adture, because we won\u2019t have reg\u00adu\u00adlar fire pro\u00adtec\u00adtion on it. At the end of the two years of R&D the fol\u00adlow\u00ading dia\u00adlogue came up: \u2018You want a tap-chang\u00ader\u2019; \u2018yes\u2019; \u2018you know that takes a long time\u2019; \u2018yes\u2019; \u2018well, we are talk\u00ading to Rein\u00adhausen\u2019.<\/p>\n

So then we took it a step fur\u00adther. We took it to my con\u00adnec\u00adtions work\u00ading with the gov\u00adern\u00adment. We actu\u00adal\u00adly took it to the US Air Force load mas\u00adters to come up with a load\u00ading plan. I now have a load plan for a C5A Galaxy where this unit will sit in the car\u00adgo bay \u2013 the con\u00adser\u00adva\u00adtor and the tank.<\/p>\n

My vision is that from the time we say \u2018go\u2019 to the time it\u2019s ener\u00adgized and car\u00adry\u00ading will be less than 72 hours. And I think that would be phe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnal because I don\u2019t know of any oth\u00ader prod\u00aduct at 300 MVA that can be placed in ser\u00advice in 72 hours and have all these ben\u00ade\u00adfits like a reg\u00adu\u00adlar trans\u00adformer with full volt\u00adage reg\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion. Peo\u00adple also talk about imped\u00adance issues. Going through this design you can actu\u00adal\u00adly add some small series reac\u00adtors to change the imped\u00adance. Our auto-trans\u00adformer imped\u00adances are 4 to 7 per\u00adcent, and by adding a series reac\u00adtor, it can serve the needs of many util\u00adi\u00adties at the same time. So that\u2019s tru\u00adly an equip\u00adment shar\u00ading pro\u00adgram. It could be here, it could be in Ger\u00admany, it could be any\u00adwhere.<\/p>\n

Why do you equip all new resiliency units with monitoring systems from Reinhausen?<\/h3>\n

We want to have a way to ensure that the unit is reli\u00adable at all times. The trans\u00adformer is good but the mov\u00ading parts are impor\u00adtant. You want to make sure that, when you need it in emer\u00adgency, you have a com\u00adplete ready-to-use unit. So hav\u00ading the mon\u00adi\u00adtor\u00ading unit actu\u00adal\u00adly helps you diag\u00adnose and fix things before they become an emer\u00adgency.<\/p>\n

What is your experience with those monitoring systems?<\/h3>\n

Rein\u00adhausen mon\u00adi\u00adtor\u00ading sys\u00adtems have been very good but the best part is that, over time, Rein\u00adhausen has worked to improve the prod\u00aduct. So, it\u2019s not the same prod\u00aduct as ten years ago. To an aver\u00adage oper\u00ada\u00adtor, the dis\u00adplay should actu\u00adal\u00adly tell you what\u2019s wrong instead of show\u00ading codes that engi\u00adneer\u00ading has to deci\u00adpher. The engi\u00adneer\u00ading lin\u00adgo on the dis\u00adplays are clear\u00adly stat\u00aded in oper\u00ada\u00adtor lan\u00adguage for any-one to read and under\u00adstand \u2013 a real\u00adly friend\u00adly inter\u00adface. Also com\u00adput\u00ader pow\u00ader has grown; soft\u00adware, firmware has grown; plat\u00adforms have grown as well as expe\u00adri\u00adence.<\/p>\n

San\u00adjay Bose (right) in his New York office talks with Markus Stank, MR sales employ\u00adee, about the almost impos\u00adsi\u00adble task of keep\u00ading the ener\u00adgy grid up and run\u00adning for a megac\u00adi\u00adty like New York. (\u00a9 Con Edi\u00adson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Per year on aver\u00adage, it saves us between six to eight pos\u00adsi\u00adble tap-chang\u00ader fail\u00adures. Oth\u00ader than the resilien\u00adcy units, all our trans\u00adform\u00aders have the tap chang\u00ader out\u00adside the main body. So if a fail\u00adure occurs, the bar\u00adri\u00ader board breaks and the cables get impact\u00aded and often times we end up replac\u00ading the trans\u00adformer. In addi\u00adtion, if the tap chang\u00ader is faulty the oil in the main body does get affect\u00aded and one does not have to drain the unit to fix it. So the idea of hav\u00ading an inter\u00adnal tap chang\u00ader raised a few con\u00adcerns. How\u00adev\u00ader, with the increased reli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of Rein\u00adhausen tap chang\u00aders, the prob\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty of such a fail\u00adure has been reduced enough for us to take this risk. And I think that\u2019s great because chang\u00ading a trans\u00adformer means many mil\u00adlions of dol\u00adlars as opposed to going and fix\u00ading the tap chang\u00ader.<\/p>\n

Regarding technical consultancy: how important is the technical competence of suppliers like Reinhausen?<\/h3>\n

Rein\u00adhausen, unlike quite a few man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00aders, has real\u00adly tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly com\u00adpe\u00adtent staff. Most of my inter\u00adac\u00adtions with some major com\u00adpa\u00adnies have been more with mar\u00adket\u00ading folks. There is a great dis\u00adtinc\u00adtion between mar\u00adket\u00ading and tech\u00adni\u00adcal skills. The peo\u00adple we some\u00adtimes inter\u00adface with are mar\u00adket\u00ading peo\u00adple who are not tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly strong and this leads to a lot of back and forth to fix designs and real time issues. My expe\u00adri\u00adence in going to the Rein\u00adhausen fac\u00adto\u00adry and meet\u00ading peo\u00adple: you see both sides of it. But most impor\u00adtant\u00adly, what\u2019s strik\u00ading is that they are very pas\u00adsion\u00adate about their prod\u00aduct; they take a lot of pride in their prod\u00aduct, which I don\u2019t see often. And so they know their stuff tech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly and it becomes eas\u00adi\u00ader for them to mar\u00adket it. For a cus\u00adtomer, that is the best of both worlds and is very sat\u00adis\u00adfy\u00ading to expe\u00adri\u00adence.<\/p>\n

Thinking into the future: Which technical requirements will become important for power transformers in megacities like New York?<\/h3>\n

With the advent of renew\u00adables and inte\u00adgrat\u00ading them into our sys\u00adtem, there are a lot of issues with har\u00admon\u00adics being gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded and then step\u00adping them up and bring\u00ading them into the trans\u00admis\u00adsion side. Volt\u00adage reg\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion is one, check\u00ading har\u00admon\u00adics is the oth\u00ader. What I envi\u00adsion 5 years, 10 years from now is that our think\u00ading needs to change. We need small\u00ader, cheap\u00ader, lighter units like the resilien\u00adcy trans\u00adform\u00aders. So they only last 20 years, but if they are eas\u00adi\u00ader to replace, I\u2019d rather do small\u00ader invest\u00adments over time than one large invest\u00adment today which has to be repeat\u00aded. So I change the trans\u00adformer every 20 or 30 years.<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s much bet\u00adter than hav\u00ading a very expen\u00adsive unit sit\u00adting around when I don\u2019t know what my future looks like, because I could end up with a lot of strand\u00aded costs. I have to be smart enough to know how I can max\u00adi\u00admize my invest\u00adment so that I can make sound busi\u00adness deci\u00adsions with\u00adout sac\u00adri\u00adfic\u00ading reli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty. Any busi\u00adness includ\u00ading yours would do that. In oth\u00ader words, if you need a reli\u00adable car for work, why go buy a top brand twice as expen\u00adsive as anoth\u00ader when you can replace the less expen\u00adsive car more often and still have a reli\u00adable means of trans\u00adport. That\u2019s the busi\u00adness mod\u00adel we need to aspire to.<\/p>\n\n

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Lorem is ipsum \u2014 not a dolores<\/h3>\n
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REINHAUSEN INSIDE<\/h5>\n
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Con Edi\u00adson<\/strong> sup\u00adplies over 10 mil\u00adlion peo\u00adple in New York City<\/a>with elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty.<\/p>\n

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The mobile resilience trans\u00adformer<\/strong> is a real mul\u00adti\u00adtal\u00adent: It can be eas\u00adi\u00adly trans\u00adport\u00aded, quick\u00adly put into oper\u00ada\u00adtion and cov\u00aders a wide volt\u00adage range.<\/p>\n

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Tap chang\u00ader: VACUTAP\u00ae VRC\u00ae with M selec\u00adtor<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n