Page 50 - Energize October 2021

TECHNICAL

Protecting sensitive equipment

for a technologically advanced

farming platform

The PCS100 AVC-40 has successfully corrected 99% of the power outages at the

Dube AgriLab and provides clean constant power to the laboratory

Dube AgriLab has installed two separate active voltage conditioners and a power quality compensator –
Reactive PQCR+, which helps to prevent damage to highly sensitive electronic equipment at the farm.
This solution has resulted in the complete eradication of equipment failures due to voltage dips.

ube AgriZone is Africa’s first integrated perishables supply chain very poor power factor under peak load conditions, with an average
and the most technologically advanced future-farming platform lagging power factor of 0,7. The study also revealed that there was a
Don the continent. It is a high-tech agricultural development significant level of harmonic distortion contributing to the overall poor
located at the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone in Kwazulu-Natal. power quality and inefficiency of the plant.
The laboratory supplies high-quality, disease-free, true-to-type Hence Hamsa Consulting Engineers proposed and implemented
young plants through tissue culture under sterile conditions. This the PQCR+ with ABB South Africa. This solution provided seamless
process ensures absolute consistency and repeatability of plants and instantaneous power factor correction, while also filtering
which, in turn, creates reliability for the plant propagation needs of out the harmful harmonics on the network. A post-commissioning
the KwaZulu-Natal farming community. As the only commercial tissue power-quality study subsequently revealed that the plant now has an
culture laboratory in the province, Dube AgriLab currently has the improved average power factor of 1, while there has also been a drastic
capacity to produce more than three million plantlets a year, with a reduction in harmonics. This will contribute to increased equipment
planned expansion set to boost its capacity to five million a year. lifespan, as well as reducing energy losses.
“To improve performance, a PCS100 AVC-20 power quality unit was Figure 1 shows tThe PCS100 AVC-40 status page, showing the
installed in the hydroponics production line. Hydroponics is the process conditioned voltage on the right-hand side. The voltage limit is set to
of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but 409 V for this particular client’s site requirements.
without soil. This was followed by a second PCS100 AVC-40 unit.
The second unit was combined with a power quality compensator
– Reactive (PQCR+) solution to enhance power factor and energy
efficiency of the electrical network in the Dube AgriLab,” says Sashlin
Govender (Pr Tech Eng) from ABB South Africa’s channel partner Hamsa
Consulting Engineers.
The second project was for the tissue culture laboratory at Dube
AgriLab. Over a four-month period, data gathered from the PCS100
AVC-40’s event log reveal that the site experienced more than 166
power-quality events relating to voltage fluctuations and dips. Prior to
commissioning the AVC, these events would have damaged sensitive
electronic equipment and machinery, in addition to disrupting
production at the laboratory.
“The client notes that there has been no damage to equipment
or related production losses since the commissioning of the AVC,”
discloses Govender, who worked closely with the client from Dube
AgriLab on this project.
Prior to the installation of the ABB PQCR+ installation, a pre- Figure 1: The PCS100 AVC-40 status page, showing the conditioned voltage on
commissioning power-quality study revealed that the plant ran at a the right-hand side

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