Soft starters prevent floods in Cornwall
A
Fairford Electronics product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 1, 2006
Soft starters chosen by the Environment Agency for flood prevention scheme on the River Polmorla in Wadebridge, Cornwall.
Fairford's QFE soft starters have been chosen by the Environment Agency for a flood prevention scheme on the Polmorla River in Wadebridge, Cornwall.
The three QFE units have been retrofitted to three 90kW pumps in a pumping station at Wadebridge, replacing autotransformer and contactor sets that were proving unreliable.
The river is affected by a tidal flow, which at its peak could cause flooding if it were not addressed.
A tributary joins the River Camel at Wadebridge, and it is here that a pumping station was built 10 years ago, with the objective of preventing flooding upstream.
The pumping station houses three 90kW submersible pumps, the first of which is called into service when the pressure builds-up behind the tidal flap or gate on the River Polmorla, and upstream level reaches 2.85m.
This pump transfers excess water into the main River Camel.
The second and third pumps are called into service when the water level rises above 3m; these also alleviate the build-up by pumping water into the River Camel.
The 90kW motors driving the submersible pumps were originally started using a combination of autotransformers and contactors.
However, reliability is a key factor at the pumping station and these units were not meeting requirements, due to continuing incidences of contactors failing.
To overcome this problem, David Turner, the engineer responsible for the station, decided to replace the original starting system with soft starters.
He spoke to colleagues at the Environmental Agency's Bridgewater facility, seeking advice on a suitable soft start manufacturer, and they recommended Fairford.
The Environmental Agency has used Fairford soft starters on a number of projects, the latest being retrofits at the Huish Episcopi, Middleney and Westover pumping stations in Somerset.
In all these projects the soft starters have proven reliable and efficient in operation.
As a result, the Environmental Agency in the south-west is recommending Fairford for future projects in the region.
"We like to establish standards for equipment because this ensures familiarity with our engineers, and we generally have a single source to refer to in the instances when we run into problems," said Turner.
"Fairford is local company in the south-west, which is ideal for us, and the reliability of the product and standard of service provided are both well-proven".
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