Paralleling Gensets

Joining Power bytes today to talk about genset paralleling is Amanda Wilke Diaz.

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Transcript

Intro to Podcast: Good Day and welcome everyone to Power Bytes!  I am your host Lou Signorelli and Power Bytes is your destination Podcast for power generation conversation.  As always please know how much we appreciate you, our listeners.  We hope you find our topics helpful and interesting.  There are several ways for you to get in touch with the show. You can send us an email at powerbytes@cat.com, visit us at Cat Electric Power on Facebook or LinkedIn.  Please remember to subscribe.

Lou: You can't really talk genset power without talking about Paralleling and paralleling strategies.  Joining me today is Amanda Wilke Diaz. Amanda is an electrical engineer from the University of Dayton, and has over 15 years with Caterpillar.  She is a member of our power integration team providing support for our various genset controls platforms.

Amanda: Thanks Lou.  Glad to be here today!

Lou:  Amanda, can you outline Cat's paralleling strategy at a high level to help us level-set for our discussion today

Amanda: Absolutely!  The thing to start with is asking "what are the critical site considerations?" Often times, the need for paralleled gen sets comes from those critical considerations. You may be looking to meet certain power requirements, need redundancy, be looking for reliability, have a specific set of control requirements, and or to be in parallel with utility, among others.  Caterpillar offers the right systems and controls to meet your site power needs and to make optimum use of those assets. We like to talk about our paralleling strategy in three primary categories:  First, is our on board or on gen set paralleling. This refers to the controller being mounted with the engine and generator. Our entry level on board paralleling controller is the EMCP 4.4. On package controls get you such features as dead bus arbitration, synchronization, load sense load demand, and load sharing. Secondly, "Controls only" paralleling solutions for those customers or applications that require the paralleling controls mounted separate from the distribution switchgear and/or the generator set. And Third, we have Paralleling switchgear. Caterpillar has a long history in the Paralleling Switchgear space, where we integrate paralleling controls, typically in the form of PLC controls, with Distribution Switchgear. In each case, you will see Caterpillar products and services designed to meet customer expectations in those general categories.  
 
Lou: Ok, let me ask you about paralleling with the utility.  Is that possible with an "on package" controller?

Amanda:  Yes it is.  We have a couple options to choose from in the utility paralleling space with our on package controller. In what we refer to as complex software, we offer the ability to base load with utility or to do power factor control. This is our most basic offering in the utility paralleling space on package. Building from there, we offer the EMCP 4.4 single generator single utility feature, or 1G1U as we refer to it as. More specifically, we are controlling both the generator output circuit breaker as well as a Utility Tie circuit breaker providing such features as import/export control, closed transition to/from utility, and baseloading with utility.  When more gensets are required to parallel with utility, we also offer our EMCP 4.4 Master Control Panel.  That solution works with up to 8 individual genset EMCP 4.4 paralleling controls to provide a lot of additional capability, including the more advanced utility paralleling features.  

Lou:  Why is being able to parallel with utility important.

Amanda: There are some key applications that make use of this function.  Often times, customers want to parallel generator sets with utility for an extended period of time.  You will hear the term Peak Shaving - which is finding favor right now especially with Gas generator sets.  You also have those applications where you either Import power from or Export power to the Utility.  The application might also be a bit more simple, where the generator set is serving in Standby and only momentarily parallels with the Utility. There is a lot of versatility to our controls platform and we strive to keep improving and adding those features that bring more value to our customers and how they use our equipment.

Lou:  Let's talk about when there is desire to have a stand alone controls package.

Amanda:  For sure. Engine paralleling and integration control, or EPIC, is an offering that can be mounted away from the gen set and or the paralleling gear in multi unit islanding or single utility paralleling applications. Epic offers a full system view at the location you choose to install it. One of the key differentiators of EPIC is that it works independently of the on gen set controller, which allows it to work with all versions of the EMCP, as well as any engine that has a directly bias-able voltage regulator, including non-Cat, making it an easy choice for a retrofit application.

Lou:  Sounds like we have some great options so far, but what about projects that require more than what we have discussed so far?

Amanda:  Going back to really understanding your critical site considerations, many times more will be required in paralleling applications. Projects may require genset controls integrated into the switchgear, interaction with multiple utilities, multiple tie breakers, the list could go on. With our offerings from Cat switchgear, everything is provided that a customer needs for their power system. We even offer fully customized solutions. With a good site one line drawing and clear order of operations we can work to find the right fit for you.

Lou: It appears that for the vast majority of applications or sites, Cat has come up with a controller that can greatly reduce site installation costs while delivering reliability and capability.  Am I seeing things correctly?

Amanda:  Yes, definitely.  We have entry level paralleling options through to fully customizable solutions. We offer a lot of versatility and flexibility to seamlessly integrate our products together to meet power demand, quality, reliability, and cost. We even offer a path to  upgrade as requirements and electronics change and evolve.


Lou:  There you have it.  Thank you for joining us here on Power Bytes.  For more information on this and other topics please contact your local Cat dealer or write us here at powerbytes@cat.com, visit Cat Electric Power on facebook or on LinkedIn.  Till next time; thanks for listening to Power Bytes.