THE POWER CHALLENGE

 Located on the Fox River in De Pere, a southern suburb of Green Bay in Wisconsin, the NEW Water wastewater treatment facility provides treatment services to De Pere and several surrounding communities. The average flow received at the facility is 8 million gallons per day.

Built in 1976, the NEW Water plant was relying solely on a dual feed supply from the local utility for its power. This changed when two violent rainstorms, occurring in relatively quick succession, each brought down the two power feeds, halting operation for two to three hours at a time. Although the power outages never caused the facility to violate its effluent permit with the local authorities, it took several days after power was restored to normalize the flows at the complex and prevent any overloading of its capacity.

While NEW Water had already given the green light to a new on-site standby power plant prior to the outages, they were at an early stage of the design phase. With the storms as catalysts, the facility accelerated the design with the consulting engineer to find a power provider with the products and capability to deliver a reliable and effective end-to-end solution.

Having considered the proposals, NEW Water chose Cummins Sales and Service in De Pere on the strength of Cummins’ proven quality, competitive pricing and ability to supply a full package of integrated equipment. Another determining factor was that Cummins offered EPA emission certification for both stationary emergency and stationary non-emergency applications, giving the customer the flexibility to use the generators for demand response situations if required.

DELIVERING AN END-TO-END BACKUP POWER SOLUTION

“As the storms proved, it was visible that NEW Water required new standby generators to keep the system operational.” says Cummins Sales and Service De Pere Senior Sales Executive, Steven Buechler.

“We were thrilled as Cummins, to be chosen as a partner in the updates for the new power plant, and extremely proud of the team efforts by all parties involved. The manufacturing of the two new generators, right at our De Pere facility, helps keep the local economy moving. Our solution has given NEW Water what was needed — total preparedness in the event of utility power being lost.”

FROM DESIGN TO COMMISSIONING

Cummins De Pere engineers set about assisting with the design of the new power plant, collaborating with the consulting engineers engaged in the planning of the facility’s new powerhouse building. The team specified the installation of two Cummins C650N6 600 kW/ 750 kVA natural gas generator sets, together with a Cummins PowerCommand® DMC8000 Digital Master Control system.

The next phase saw Cummins De Pere manufacture the specified generator sets at their De Pere facility before assisting the contractor with installation at the treatment plant. The generator sets, along with the DMC8000 unit, were housed in the newly finished powerhouse. Cummins was also involved in the design and layout of the plant’s external ground-mount exhaust stacks. Two environmental factors had a bearing on the choice of generator sets, as well as the location and design of the powerhouse. The location of the treatment facility along the Fox River helped finalize the decision to use natural gas, rather than diesel generator sets. The latter would involve potential complications with the placement of bulk diesel storage tanks, which would need to be located away from the river. The facility’s riverside location also meant that the powerhouse needed an elevated position, ensuring a distance from the water to eliminate any flooding risk. The generator sets also needed to be housed in a sound-attenuated building to reduce noise due to the proximity of the facility near some of De Pere’s residential and light commercial districts. After the installation, Cummins successfully conducted all the required commissioning and testing of the power plant, including a real-life simulation involving complete loss of both utility feeds.

DEPENDABLE POWER IN CASE OF UTILITY FAILURE

STANDBY GENERATORS AT THE READY

 The new power plant provides the NEW Water treatment facility with emergency power backup as part of a complex power distribution system. While the facility still has its two utility services for normal power, it is also protected by two standby generators in the event of a power grid failure. Additionally, the generators can be used in a demand response role to relieve excess overloading on the utility grid, if required.

The customer is satisfied with the certainty and reassurance the new standby system delivers. “We have complete peace of mind that our customer’s facility is protected 24/7,” states Michael Munson, Cummins North Region’s Director-Sales Application Engineering.

 “Having experienced extended outages from storms, it was necessary that, as a public utility, NEW Water had access to reliable backup power. Cummins De Pere understood and delivered: providing a full package of Cummins generator sets and control equipment, the required EPA emissions certification, and an end-to-end solution from design to commissioning.”