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Plant services equipment
News Release from: Active Power | Subject: Flywheel based UPS system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 December 2007
Flywheel-based system gives backup power
To offset the poroblems with variable grid power supplies, a US packaging company has had installed a flywheel based uninterruptible power supply system to protect production processes.
Active Power said that electrical power disturbances costs US manufacturing companies US$100 millions'/year in lost productivity These businesses affected face costly downtime and incur unplanned expenses to reset, service and sometimes even repair equipment damaged by a critical process interruption
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 21 Feb 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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One such manufacturing company, Alcan Packaging, has chosen Active Power's flywheel based UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system to protect its production process against electrical disturbances.
Active Power, inventor and manufacturer of what it claims to be the most reliable and energy-efficient critical power systems in the world, has deployed a 1MW CleanSource UPS system at Alcan's operation located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
The system protects Alcan's plastics bag manufacturing process and extrusion lines from power disturbances.
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Project engineer at Alcan Packaging, Frank Genay, said: "We produce approximately one million plastic bags a week using extremely sensitive manufacturing equipment." He added: "Power sags, fluctuations and outages can wreak havoc on our extrusion lines bringing them to a halt.
In 2006, the facility experienced approximately 30 micro outages, lasting only a few seconds; however, a majority of these caused our extrusion lines to go completely offline.
Within the first 30 days of deploying CleanSource, the system recorded approximately 36 events, but with no interruption to the lines.
We haven't needed to replace any of our variable frequency drives.
The system is a virtual work horse taking hit after hit while providing seamless and continuous power".
The Active Power system is uniquely suited for industrial applications.
The rugged system can be placed right into the manufacturing environment as it operates at a wide range of ambient temperatures.
CleanSource UPS also operates at up to 98% efficiency, reducing power losses and delivering savings to the operator's 'bottom line'.
Active Power told manufacturingtalk.com that it has saved its customers more than US$40 million in energy costs due to this extremely high operating efficiency.
The company has shipped more than 1,700 flywheels in systems that have generated more than 37 million of hours of runtime in the field.
"Active Power's system is extremely power dense, consuming less than half the space of a conventional battery-based UPS system," said Gary Rackow, vice president of sales, Americas for Active Power.
"Because the CleanSource system is so compact, Alcan is able to dedicate more space to revenue generating manufacturing equipment.
This benefit along with the system's high efficiency rating and economically green aspect make it an attractive option for critical manufacturing processes where downtime is not an option".
* About Active Power - Active Power Incorporated (NASDAQ: ACPW) provides efficient, reliable and green critical power solutions and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to enable business continuity in the event of power disturbances.
Founded in 1992, Active Power's flywheel-based UPS systems protect critical operations in data centers, healthcare facilities, manufacturing plants, broadcast stations and governmental agencies in more than 40 countries.
Active Power also offers CoolAir, the only solution that provides both backup power and backup cooling.
With expert power system engineers and worldwide services and support, Active Power ensures organizations have the power to perform.
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