Modular IT and infrastructure solution supports chemical processing facility

“Organizations are expressing more and more interest in highly flexible and energy efficient turnkey IT solutions due to the extended time and high costs required to build or even update and expand existing data centers. Customers want OEMs and infrastructure providers who can help them rapidly expand data center capacity in support of IT and business growth, but also balance capital expenditures and operating expenses.”
-Nik Simpson, Senior Analyst, Data Center Strategies, Burton Group

The Challenge

A subsidiary of a leading multinational oil company, this manufacturer develops hundreds of additive packages specifically for diesel, gasoline and natural gas engines as well as gear oils and hydraulic fluids. Due to a continual increase in production, one of its largest Europe based research and technology centers required additional compute power to support its business needs and the associated mission critical power and cooling architecture to support the new IT equipment. The customer required a full turnkey solution that was economically sound with an emphasis on high reliability - as the physical infrastructure solution would provide support for the center's processing plants and onsite datacentre.

Rather than work via multiple vendors, the customer wanted to engage with a single supplier who could provide a turnkey solution that was preconfigured and pretested prior to deployment. Minimal disruption to business operations once the equipment arrived onsite was key.

The Solution

Based on customer's requirements, the manufacturer chose to deploy a containerised datacentre and Active Power's PowerHouse system, a modular and complete power and cooling infrastructure solution. PowerHouse provides the critical physical infrastructure for the containerised datacentre. The PowerHouse system contains two 250 kVA high efficiency flywheel based CleanSource UPS systems; a 450 kVA diesel generator; chiller systems; switchgear; and controls and monitoring software.

The PowerHouse system is made up of manufactured components and is preconfigured and pretested prior to deployment which allows for rapid deployment, but also a lower total cost of ownership versus a component by component build out. This lower total cost of ownership can also be attributed to Active Power's flywheel UPS technology which anchors the PowerHouse system. One of the main reasons the customer selected PowerHouse was due to the high energy efficiency of Active Power's UPS system and its proven experience in the field. The system is proven to be seven times less likely to fail versus conventional UPS technology and has acquired more than 85 million hours of runtime in the field with more than 2,700 flywheels in systems deployed worldwide. 

Preconfigured and Pretested Infrastructure System Addresses Evolving Customer IT Demands

The Challenge

Due to the rapid growth of the company's UK based datacentre facility, the customer required additional space for more server equipment and more power to efficiently operate its IT equipment. This left very little floor space for critical backup power systems required to protect the facility's sensitive IT equipment against power disturbances, a common industry challenge that makes capacity per square meter exceptionally important. The customer needed a complete bespoke solution very quickly to increase capacity.

Like many other organizations, the customer had an environmental sustainability program in place, striving towards reducing their carbon footprint as a company. Because of their environmental initiatives, the customer also required their power management equipment to not only be extremely reliable, but also energy efficient and green.

The Solution

The customer selected Active Power's PowerHouse solution for simplicity, reliability, efficiency and environmental sustainability. Because the customer could acquire all critical power equipment from a single vendor, the entire containerised power system was delivered and installed in a relatively short time. Based on the customer's power requirements, Active Power customised the system with its flywheel based CleanSource UPS (uninterruptible power supply) 750 kVA N+1 system, switchgear and a 1,650 kVA standby engine. The CleanSource UPS system deployed with PowerHouse is ideal for containerisation due to its power density and ruggedness - as the system can operate in wide ambient temperature ranges (0 to 40 degrees Celsius). Conventional battery based UPS systems require a temperature controlled environment which further reduces efficiency and increases power needs.

The flywheel system also aligns well with the customer's green strategy. At up to 98 percent energy efficient, the system reduces power losses and delivers savings directly to the customer's bottom line. At this efficiency level, the customer is displacing approximately 125,000 kilograms of CO₂ emissions each year.

With limited space as another driving factor, the small footprint (as compared to a conventional UPS system with batteries) and ease of mobility made PowerHouse an ideal solution. For this particular deployment, PowerHouse was deployed in the facility's parking lot. And with the UPS system coupled with a generator and placed in an ISO container, the customer received a complete turnkey power solution in a much smaller package than having to dedicate large amounts of space to banks of battery based UPS systems, a generator and other power equipment.

Big Man on Campus: Complete Power Infrastructure Solution Meets University Space Constraints and Environmental Sustainability Goals   

The Challenge

Named one of the top ten modern universities in the United Kingdom, this customer specializes in professional education and research. In 2006, the university determined to relocate from its original three campuses to a single, purpose built campus. The existing campuses were simply too small to support the continued increase in student enrollment and also lacked the facilities and technological advancements to stay competitive and recruit top quality students and professors.

The customer set out to design a state of the art facility with an innovative academic village; a learning resource centre; additional student housing; a student union building; and sports and leisure facilities. The customer also had the lofty goal of making their new campus one of the smallest carbon footprints in the UK among universities. To support this innovative, modern facility, the customer required energy efficient and reliable power to ensure constant uptime for faculty and students. The customer didn't have a substantial amount of floor space to dedicate to large critical backup power systems and was lacking an existing structure to actually house power equipment.

The Solution

For this particular deployment, the customer selected Active Power's PowerHouse solution, a turnkey continuous power system housed in a drop over canopy. Active Power customised the various power components to meet the customer's specific needs. The system contains Active Power's flywheel based 500 kVA N+1 CleanSource UPS system; an 800 kVA standby engine; GenSTART, which provides redundant starting power for the generators; and switchgear. To address the customer's space constraints, PowerHouse was deployed on the roof of one of the campus' buildings. Active Power engineers worked closely with the customer to design, build and install the system. PowerHouse was manufactured offsite which ensured minimal disruption at the new campus.

Another reason the customer selected PowerHouse was to help the university meet its goals for environmental sustainability. The campus building now exceeds current environmental standards and has set a new benchmark in sustainable design due in part to the high energy efficiency of the flywheel based UPS system. The campus building gained a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) rating of 'excellent' which is a benchmark the UK government uses to measure the environmental performance of buildings.