Engineering Solutions, Electrical Specialists & Expert Witness Services
Ohm News
Overcoming City Hall Red Tape
Nothing inflates costs like government red tape. Our client needed to increase an office building by 60,000 square feet. He wanted to add a computer room, more office space, an Uninterruptable Power Supply room and finally an emergency generator in the parking lot. And he wanted it completed in 30 days. But the projects schedule became threatened with costly delays. City officials said their the architectural review board must analyze and approve the location of the generator.
The process could have dragged out well beyond our clients deadline. Instead, Ohm split the project into components. The generator was designed first and sent to the city for approval. The UPS and computer rooms came next and the additional office space last. By expeditiously reshuffling priorities, the city was appeased and the project completed on time.
Power Cost Reduction Installment
Power grids were not designed to accommodate open access or competition. They were designed to reliably provide power to everyone. There will be substantial growing pains as utilities attempt to meet the demands of a new competitive environment, particularly with the specter of deregulation looming.
Today electricity is a uniform, bundled service providing all customers the same standard. Its the equivalent of selling a fully loaded luxury car with all the options, whether the buyer wants them or not.
Few other commodities allow customers to use as much or little as they desire, when they want, without advance notice to the supplier. Few products include round-the-clock repair service without additional charge. This will change. When electrical energy becomes an unbundled commodity and that’s where we are heading, companies will need to know much more about what they are buying and what it is worth.
It wont be reasonable to assume service will be the same. It may be better for one company and worse for another. But it will be different.
Industry Power Reduction Tips
Lightning arresters can protect your electrical equipment. Unless:
- They are not the correct voltage
- Their wire connections are not tight
- They are not well grounded.
- To make sure your electrical equipment is properly protected, make sure the equipment protecting it is in good operating condition.
- These systems need to be maintained.
- Otherwise, your investment in protection may have bought you nothing.
Oil & Gas Industry Power Tips
- Patchwork solutions can create headaches.
- But many production design disasters are avoidable.
- For example, the beam type rod was designed to be run by low-speed, low-compression
- internal combustion engines.
- However, often electrical motors are added to these systems without re-engineering them.
- The different torque speed characteristics of electric motors have led to numerous problems that might have been easily avoided with a little foresight and re-engineering.