Since the price of copper is rising almost as fast as the production of the wires and cables of which it is such a major component, there has been a veritable “copper rush” in the U.S. southwest recently—especially in the states of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Nevada.
Mining the copper is an energy intensive job. On December 13, Owings, Maryland-based ComRent, a leading provider of load bank rental solutions for testing mission-critical power systems, announced that it had facilitated the successful commissioning of a new 40 Megawatt (MW), low-emission natural gas turbine generator, which will augment local utility power in support of expanded mining and smelting operations for a large copper mine in Arizona —the largest load bank commissioning project of its kind in North America.
The purpose of a load bank is to accurately mimic the “real” load that a power source, or utility, will provide in actual operation. Whereas the “real” load is served by the power source, the energy output of the load bank is used to test, support, or protect the power source.
By tapping ComRent’s fleet of CR922 transportable, medium-voltage load banks, the project managers at the copper mine could rapidly commission the gas turbine’s additional electrical generating capacity—eliminating the long lead times and high costs associated with extending additional local utility power to the mine.
ComRent provided 40MW of resistive load—enough energy to power over 4,000 households. Testing lasted eight days—including nine hours of rigorous testing at the full load of 40MW. By the culmination of the project, ComRent had helped to verify that the natural gas turbine’s operational capacity, emissions, and safety functions were adequate, and would not delay or impact the mine’s ongoing mining and smelting operations.
According to ComRent, just a decade ago, load banks of this size and complexity for the utility industry didn’t exist. That’s why ComRent built the first and only transportable, medium voltage load bank to handle the commissioning of transformers, emergency diesel generators, and other critical equipment.
On behalf of utilities, ComRent is able to:
- Test Real-World Loads— A constant, sustainable and controllable load enables faster data collection for validation of design specifications and shortens lead-time to commissioning, requiring less labor for lower costs
- Minimize Risk of Outages During Commissioning—Commissioning with load banks instead of the grid minimizes costly risks, accelerates the commissioning process, and delivers more accurate results
- Save Time in Substation Commissioning—ComRent has the experience to commission substation components for the smart grid, reducing risks involved in back-feed, or making changes to the transformer to simulate an actual load
Clayton Taylor, CEO of ComRent, commented “Our load bank fleet is the largest in North America, and the only one with the capacity to test a high-performance natural gas turbine like the 40MW generator used in this project. The ComRent team was able to achieve in a matter of days what would have taken the local utility company several months or even years to complete.”
The copper mining and smelting facility in Arizona is a multi-million dollar endeavor, generating nearly $1million in revenue per day and employing hundreds of local workers. Uptime for a project of this scope is vital, as a power outage can result in the complete halt of operations.
ComRent’s load bank rental solutions and expertise will be highlighted at Power-Gen International, December 13-15, 2011, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Cheryl Kaften is an accomplished communicator who has written for consumer and corporate audiences. She has worked extensively for MasterCard (News - Alert) Worldwide, Philip Morris USA (Altria), and KPMG, and has consulted for Estee Lauder and the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspapers. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
