Magellan Power develop a containerised battery backup system to control water hammer effect

The utility Magellan Power completed this project for is the principal supplier of water, wastewater and drainage services throughout the state of Western Australia. The company operates 112 wastewater treatment plants across Western Australia

The water utility wished to upgrade its wastewater plant with replacement pumps of higher capacity than the existing system. The surge analysis of the pressure main, however revealed that a full vacuum was likely to occur throughout the pipeline network during pump trips during which the maximum pressure could significantly exceed the allowable limits resulting in water hammer effect

The Magellan Solution

A pump trip scenario will occur when there is a power loss from grid network which does not allow the VSD to ramp down the pump to mitigate a pressure surge leading to water hammer effect resulting in potential damage to the pipeline system.
It was proposed to design and develop a battery backup system to allow the VSD (Variable Speed Drive) to ramp down in a controlled manner in the event of a power loss. The purpose of this R&D project is the analysis of deploying an Uninterrupted, Chopper Controlled, Variable Frequency, Variable Speed drive to prevent water hammer from damaging pumps and pipes.

Director of Magellan Power, Masoud Abshar said "This is yet another example of using stored energy in a battery to mitigate sudden interruptions to electrical power which can cause damage to industrial installations. At Magellan we have thirty years' worth of solutions to help with power interruptions".

Installation

Once the containersed system was manufactured, the focus of the Magellan team moved to getting the unit on-site for commissioning, this involved the delicate process of transporting the unit across Perth from Megllan Powers' Bibra Lake facility to the wastewater treatment plan.

Once on-site, the Magellan Power commissioning team then installed & tested the batteries & connected and tested the power systems, working closely with the utility to facilitate the handover of this critical equipment.

Components used as part of this project.

2 x string of 39 pcs 100Ah batteries
Magellan 540V 20A charger
DC protection and switch board
VSD DC pre-charge circuit controlled and monitored by PLC
2 x Passive harmonics filters
2 x VSD
Hydrogen detection system
Relay board controlled by PLC
AC distribution board