Product category:
Electrical systems
News Release from: Moeller Electric | Subject: Power trunking system installation
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 October 2001
Warehouse electrical installations were
on time
Moeller's busbar design for fast and reliable fitting, while retaining flexibility and functionality through frequent tap-off points, allowed Dudley Bower to meet a tight schedule.
A few miles north of Coventry, just off the A444 to Nuneaton, is the new Prologis business park development Sited on the former Keresely Colliery, the project encapsulates the transformation from the old heavy industry based economy to the new service economy
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 18 Sep 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Moeller releases easy-to-use power supplies
Moeller Electric has brought out the easy-to-use Easy500-Pow and Easy600-Pow for automation applications.
Moeller eliminates starter contactos redundancy
Moeller Electric said it has eliminated motor starter contactor redundancy by developing a contactor monitoring device for each contactor.
On the site one of the UK's leading logistics companies, Excel plc, has three massive warehouses, the first two of which provide supply solutions to Safeway and Bridgestone Tyres.
Major building contractors, Norwest Holst working with electrical installation experts, Dudley Bower Services, has completed both these warehouses ready for use in record time.
A key component in this achievement was the quick and easy fitting of the power trunking system supplied by Moeller Electric.
Further reading
Versartile HMI with built-in PLC programs easily
Moeller has has introduced a human machine interface (HMI) with built-in PLC functionality to give easy programming, excellent connectivity and an on-board web server.
Safety position switches enhance protection
Safety position switches offer a simple, efficient and cost-effective way of achieving enhanced protection for personnel and processes.
Switch-mode power supplies are versatile
Moeller Electric's new SN3 switch-mode power supplies are versatile, convenient and cost-effective for automation applications.
To simply quote the dimensions of the warehouses doesn't really do justice to the shear size of the buildings.
However, their areas do at least give some impression of scale with Excel's warehouse, unit 4 plot 5, leased by Safeway at 300,000ft2, while Bridgestone Tyres leases unit 3 plot 5, a 150,000ft2 warehouse.
Dudley Bower, based in Leatherhead, Surrey, has offices nation wide and is a major player in the electrical installation market, offering a complete service from building power supplies to security systems.
Work commenced at unit 4 in August last year, comprising the installation of: power distribution, lighting, CCTV, fire alarm, intruder and door systems, together with complete mechanical services.
Dudley Bower's project manager, Alan Hollingworth, sets the scene: " We had a very tight schedule to meet, all contractors being under intense pressure to deliver to deadline to avoid paying contractual penalties.
Our challenge was the total electrical fit out of a shell and core - what we call an empty building.
After examining a number of alternatives we selected a combination of Moeller's CD and BD2 busbar trunking systems.
Why? Because we believed it was the only solution offering the ease of installation that would enable us to meet the tough deadline.
With a conventional wiring system fitting thousands of metres of cables is a long and tedious job and it would be impossible for us to complete the contract on time." The CD busbar system consists of rectangular galvanised steel enclosures fitted with three to five conductors.
The basic trunking units are in 2m to 3m lengths and have safety tap-off points spaced 0.5m apart, which allow power to be drawn off on both sides of the busbar.
Tap-off units need only be plugged into the busbar to enable power to be utilised.
The trunking units, feeder units and flanges push-fit onto one another, enabling rapid assembly without additional tools being required.
A locking device at two points on each element snaps into place preventing unintentional disconnection.
Only one bolt needs to be tightened at each connecting point to ensure a reliable electrical joint.
This allows the system to adapt to changing requirements as the application develops.
A major advantage of busbars over cables is that power does not need to be tapped off at permanent fixed points, but can be varied as required.
The CD range covers current ratings from 25A to 40A.
This allows the system to adapt to changing requirements as the application develops.
The BD2 busbar range is for more heavy-duty applications between 100A and 800A, such as power distribution for electrical motors and heaters.
Manufactured out of nickel-plated aluminium, the five pole trunking units are available in standard lengths of 3.25m, 2.25m or 1.25m, with tap-off points at intervals of 0.4m.
The BD2 shares the CD busbar's functionality in assembly.
Both the CD and BD2 busbar systems are designed for tough industrial environments and are damp and heat proofed to conform with IEC 60 068-2-3.
They also offer a high degree of protection, complying with global standards.
In unit 4, the largest unit, Dudley Bower has installed three distribution systems: a low power distribution system comprising 500m of CD busbar, rated at 25A, fixed to the wall at a height of 2.2m; a high power distribution system comprising 320m of BD 2 busbar, rated at 160A, fixed at 9m; and a lighting circuit comprising 3682m of CD busbar rated at 25A.
The lighting rig, 15m up, involves 32 traverses of 111m lengths and 570 light fittings.
The normal lighting circuit consists of a 3-pole CD busbar, while a separate 6-pole CD busar is used for the emergency lighting circuit.
"The CD busbar system is easy to fit, and we found that one person can install 111m of lighting track in a day.
To complete all 3682m of the lighting system just took us four weeks", added Hollingworth.
The low level power supply system allows power to be easily tapped off at 0.5m intervals, typically for sockets supplying cleaners and other such uses.
The middle distribution system is needed for higher power applications, for example the power supply for the warehouses' electronic doors.
"The 320m of BD2 busbar took just one worker a week to install, while the 500m low power distribution system took ten days", said Hollingworth.
At unit 3, Dudley Bower installed a very similar distribution system consisting of: 2400m of CD busbar lighting rig, 2400m of BD2 busbar high power distribution system and 460m of CD busbar low power distribution system.
"We completed this GBP1 million contract with six people in an impressive 12 weeks.
Moeller's busbar design for fast and reliable fitting, while retaining flexibility and functionality through frequent tap-off points, allowed us to meet the building contractor's rigorous requirements", commented Hollingworth.
"Quite simply, using conventional wiring techniques this would not have been possible.".
• Moeller Electric: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
