Author Archives: Bradley Morgan

Obvious Similarities of an Enclosure and a Flamenco

Engineering Blogs, Obvious Similarities of an Enclosure and a Flamenco

The dance lessons continue and I’m learning more than I thought I would. Really, I always assumed it was one or two moves and then just add in some flair, like dips or a fancy foot move. But no, there are STEPS to these dances. And one must know them in a specific order, from start to finish, so that as part of a couple, he or she can lead or be led. Blows my mind really. So are there other processes in life that we must follow exact steps in order to correctly complete the process? Why, I’m glad you asked. Yes, yes there are.

It is surprising to know that are obvious similarities of Flamenco to an enclosure. Actually almost all form of dances is similar to the process of building an enclosure. Dancing is not akin to just forming the steps and just adding extra poses to make it brilliant. The dancer should know how to give the steps and dance gracefully by order. There is no brilliant thing that is done overnight. There are crucial steps that are needed to take in order to lead the dance and be able to finish it gracefully. This is just really amazing when you think that in also in life, you need to take slow processes for you to master the exact steps and be ready to make and complete what it is needed to be done.

With this in mind, I would like to help you understand this by illustrating how a plastic enclosure’s lid is secured by following these steps. For your reference, here are the steps below:

1. First, arrange the screws on the cover and seal them by threading them through the cover holes. There are different holes for different types of screws. For the enclosure cover, it accommodates WA, WC, & WP series. These are considered to be captive screws that is primarily made for stainless stell.

2. After the first step is done, this is the time to have the cover placed over the base or the bottom half of the enclosure. Then arrange the screws or align on the cover over the corresponding holes on the base.

3. Have the screws loosely assembled in the cover in sequence until the screws are already finger tight.

4. Have the screws tighten up to a torque of 8-inch pounds. To achieve a better accuracy, use a torque screw.

5. To make sure that the sealed joint is tight enough and the gasket covered is properly aligned, inspect everything. It should be aligned with the lip in the body.

For the 4-hole covers, the engineer should have the middle of the cover be squeezed tight against the base of the enclosure. There are times that when doing this on a larger enclosure you will hear a snap noise. Do not worry because this is a normal scenario and it just indicates that the sealing lip in the base is now properly seated and aligned with the cover gasket.

The 21st Century’s Lighting Revolution: What is it all about? Part 3

Today, almost all general service lamp sockets (about 75%) are estimated to have longer life compact fluorescent and being occupied by it together with the general service LED bulbs. In summary, the new government regulation is designed to target less energy savings compared to the forecast of Department of Energy have forecasted way back few years ago. This is because there is a significant move seen on the market. This trend is estimated to continue beyond 2020.

In line with the bulbs not being a general service lamp, LBNL have included in their report that there were almost the same problem when it comes to data. The energy consumption, as well as the savings, is now measured by using the estimated number of lamps installed in the sockets. The Department of Energy utilizes an algorithm that will help them arrive at a number estimate and will not only rely on lamp shipments. The data should only include assumptions regarding the light bulb’s life and its longevity when it is installed in the socket before it can be replaced.

However, there is a direct relationship between the shipments of light bulb and the number of installed bulbs. The greater the number of shipments for a specific lamp type, it is safe to conclude that there will be more units of light bulb are going to be installed. In contrary to this, the fact is true if the event happened otherwise. The number figures Department of Energy arrived at for the incandescent lamp reflectors shipments exceeded the manufacturer’s expectation. The LBNL’s estimates for the installed bases used for incandescent reflector lamps are over exaggerated.

The Department of Energy’s data estimations regarding the shipments of the reflector lamps are either flat or growing slightly. But in reality, they were actually falling. Last 2018, NEMA the shipments for incandescent reflector lamp were expected to be less than a third of what DOE has estimated few years back. Partly the reason for this decline is the Department of Energy’s increase in energy efficiency standards for the incandescent reflector lamps (PAR and R.) These lamps required the infrared technology and made the cost of these lamps to go higher what is expected. Thus, the LED reflector lamps are priced in a competitive way compare to the price of the LED reflector lamps. The lamps started to fall.

If there were as many incandescent reflector lamps in the installed base of sockets consuming electricity that LBNL cited, NEMA members would be selling a lot more incandescent reflector lamps, and they are not. Again, American consumers, retailers, and manufacturers have beaten DOE to the regulatory punch. The regulation will achieve less energy savings than DOE could have forecasted because the market has already made a more significant move. And this trend will only continue to 2020 and beyond.

This fact is also true with other concerning speciality incandescent lamps – decorative and tubular lamps, for example – Department of Energy tried to illegally lump in the general service lamp category. Just recently, in its ruling, the Department of Energy has started to acknowledge that the data NEMA shared regarding the sale of these lamps have been declining.

What is the Expected Growth in Integration of Distributed and Renewable Resources?

The panel concerning the climate changed called IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) said that the world is on track on having global temperatures by average of 1.5°C as early by the year 2030. The current administration’s recent assessment done by the National Climate Assessment also indicated that the absence of the great decrease or reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gasses, the economic consequences of climate change happening annually will soon hit hundred of billions of dollars by the end of this century.

However, recently the energy sector concerning this issue became the major source of the emissions of greenhouse gases in United States alone. Hence, the combination of the significant reductions in cost of renewable energy and its improved efficiency made the emissions in the electricity sector steadily decline by 28% last 2005.

But there’s no reason to celebrate yet because of the things that needed to be done. According to IPCC, the emissions that were coming from the carbon dioxide should be reduced by at least 45% generated from 2010 levels. Improvements should be seen in the next 12 years. To avoid the worst effect of climate change and its devastating consequences, there should be requirement of the electrification of other parts of the economy. With this in mind, the transportation should be the top of mind to change its processes to electrification. Because in the national level, the transportation sector emits the principal source of greenhouse emissions.

Regardless of the big challenges ahead, there is now a technology that will help the country to greatly reduce the greenhouse emissions. The renewable source of energy coming from wind and solar continues to show growth at very good exponential rates. It can now produce as much as 70% of total electricity consumed in diverse places such as California and Southwest Power Pool.

In repeating the mantra that the sun doesn’t shine and win doesn’t blow all the time, it makes the fact ignored. That we currently have the latest technologies that can solve the variable levels of renewable energy that were being produced nowadays. For example, there are some operational protocols and improved coordination across all regions that can now makes it easier for the flows of variable generation technologies increase. Just as these changes continually accommodated the fluctuating demand. Such technologies in energy storage such as batteries, pumped hydro, and compressed air has the ability to improve the flexibility of energy grids that will eventually result to decreased and more cost-efficient electricity during peak periods.

We cannot, however, achieve a decarbonized electric generation sector without a robust grid. Although the U.S. has some of the best renewable resources, they are often situated in remote locations. Accessing them will require a significant investment in long-haul transmission facilities.

In conclusion, the United States cannot achieve the decarbonized electric generation sector without the utilization of a robust grid. Even if the United States has some of the best renewable energy resources, the alternative energy plants are located in remote areas. Having access to these power plants will require a tremendous amount of investment for the long-haul transmission lines. In the development of the interregional infrastructure, it brings great potential to bring in about billions of dollars in overall savings brought to the customers that will help in the reduction of congestion and revelation of new renewable projects. These said projects were trapped in the interconnection queues in the country.

The panel concerning the climate changed called IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) said that the world is on track on having global temperatures by average of 1.5°C as early by the year 2030. The current administration’s recent assessment done by the National Climate Assessment also indicated that the absence of the great decrease or reduction in the emissions of greenhouse gasses, the economic consequences of climate change happening annually will soon hit hundred of billions of dollars by the end of this century.

However, recently the energy sector concerning this issue became the major source of the emissions of greenhouse gases in United States alone. Hence, the combination of the significant reductions in cost of renewable energy and its improved efficiency made the emissions in the electricity sector steadily decline by 28% last 2005.

But there’s no reason to celebrate yet because of the things that needed to be done. According to IPCC, the emissions that were coming from the carbon dioxide should be reduced by at least 45% generated from 2010 levels. Improvements should be seen in the next 12 years. To avoid the worst effect of climate change and its devastating consequences, there should be requirement of the electrification of other parts of the economy. With this in mind, the transportation should be the top of mind to change its processes to electrification. Because in the national level, the transportation sector emits the principal source of greenhouse emissions.

Regardless of the big challenges ahead, there is now a technology that will help the country to greatly reduce the greenhouse emissions. The renewable source of energy coming from wind and solar continues to show growth at very good exponential rates. It can now produce as much as 70% of total electricity consumed in diverse places such as California and Southwest Power Pool.

In repeating the mantra that the sun doesn’t shine and win doesn’t blow all the time, it makes the fact ignored. That we currently have the latest technologies that can solve the variable levels of renewable energy that were being produced nowadays. For example, there are some operational protocols and improved coordination across all regions that can now makes it easier for the flows of variable generation technologies increase. Just as these changes continually accommodated the fluctuating demand. Such technologies in energy storage such as batteries, pumped hydro, and compressed air has the ability to improve the flexibility of energy grids that will eventually result to decreased and more cost-efficient electricity during peak periods.

We cannot, however, achieve a decarbonized electric generation sector without a robust grid. Although the U.S. has some of the best renewable resources, they are often situated in remote locations. Accessing them will require a significant investment in long-haul transmission facilities.

In conclusion, the United States cannot achieve the decarbonized electric generation sector without the utilization of a robust grid. Even if the United States has some of the best renewable energy resources, the alternative energy plants are located in remote areas. Having access to these power plants will require a tremendous amount of investment for the long-haul transmission lines. In the development of the interregional infrastructure, it brings great potential to bring in about billions of dollars in overall savings brought to the customers that will help in the reduction of congestion and revelation of new renewable projects. These said projects were trapped in the interconnection queues in the country.

The Exploration and Discovery of NFPA Foundation Regarding Electrical Safety

engineering blog, NFPA Electrical Safety, The Exploration and Discovery of NFPA Foundation Regarding Electrical Safety

The Fire Protection Research Founded by National Fire Protection Association or NFPA currently sponsored an assembly for the Second Draft meetings for the National Electrical Code (NEC) comprised of Electrical Safety Research Advisory Committee (ESRAC). This took place in San Diego, California last October. Represented by Vince Baclawski, NEMA took part in this general Assembly. Baclawski is the senior technical director, together with Jack Lyons the Northeast field representative.

The meeting was started and opened by Casey Grand the director of the The Fire Protection Research Founded by National Fire Protection Association together with Donny Cook the advisory committee chair. The meeting started with the members of the co-making panels and other stakeholders coming from different industries regarding the electrical safety features that should take part in the foundation’s projects concerning about research.

The agenda in this meeting is comprised of the total overview of the organization: its current, completed, and planned or proposed projects. One of which is the discussion about the Power over Ethernet or others call it as (PoE) and several discussions about pools and marinas.

In identifying some future possible concerns, the foundation greatly put emphasis on what is the greatest value or impact that can be done for the electroindustry. With this in mind, the ESRAC functions as the trailblazing committee to make the foundation consider projects such as these.

To increase the number of installations the PoE systems are making caused concerns to arise because of the possible effects of the installations on the building safety. With this in mind, the NEC has successfully addressed some of the cabling structures placed within the buildings by heavily focusing on some of the bundling data cables that helps engineers to make up the overall system.

With this in mind, overheating is a safety and performance issue for the PoE systems. In addition to this, the Article 725 has mentioned the possible concerns regarding the ampacity tables for data/power cables that comes with the new cable designations. There are some key takeaways on this, they are:

Proper identification for the inherently safe installations

Expansion in the usage of life safety systems

Safety of the personnel working in electric industries

Identify the code applications and the necessary licensing requirements

Recent issues about cybersecurity

Together with valuable inputs from the attendees, the meeting identified the top five topics research projects can focus on, such as:

Proper code adoption and regulatory licensing

Equipment grounding conductors

Types of cord-connections installed in the kitchens

Electrical systems installed in some Marinas and Pools, that may need protection from ingress of water, may need NEMA 4x enclosure for splashing water or NEMA 6p enclosures if it needs to be submersion to protect them.

Data gathered about the collection on electrical fires

In a separate meeting, it was said in the discussion that NEMA is enabled to help in the development and sponsorship on webinars about the necessary fundamentals, benefits, and some limitations on the PoE installed systems.

Lamp Index by NEMA Currently Adjusts to the Newly Available A-Line LED Data

The general service (A-line) lamps have a newer take on its look according to the NEMA Lamp Index. When this said lamp was first produced and innovated last 2012 (together with its developments) it was intended to be used to measure the shift in general service (A-line) lamp technology. This came about as a result of the recent implementation of Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA-2007). This served as a guideline for different manufacturers to shy away from the incandescent lamp that consumes a lot more technology. Halogen incandescent lamp consumed 28% than the incandescent counter parts.

During this time, the only innovation and technology considered as general service lamp available in the market was compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). With this in mind, this LED lamp was barely available in the market last 2012 because it was introduced in the market with $60 price point.

However, the market scenario quickly changed. Towards the end of 2015, the traditional incandescent lamps were almost phased out from the market shelves and the manufacturers of lamps almost no longer carry incandescent lamps for shipment because of the regulation EISA-2007. Because of ongoing demand and decreasing supply, LED lamps became affordable for the consumers and sales started picking up for the first time.

In line with this market scenario, Lamp Index showed a reasonable current direction of the A-line shipments since its first development way-back 2012. In the recent two calendar years, the said lamp shipment rates quickly grew and the LED lamp shipments significantly took the majority of the actual share of the LED light shipments. This is because there is a significant volume of orders from non-MEMA-member improts.

Usually, NEMA will be confidently trust on its strength to make use of this difference – as with the recent market changes with halogen and CFL bulbs – according to historical data. However this information about the A-line LED bulbs are not ready because of its drastic changes when it first entered the market.

Last 2017, the United States government took on the initiative of publishing data of A-line LED lamp imports for its domestic consumption in the country. This data was also published with other information that empowered NEMA to measure the shipments for the A-line LED lamps. Together with the consistency of the numbers and what the consumers are currently experiencing with the A-line LED lamps, it can be said that this lamp effectively entered the market efficiently.

Incandescent shipments included a relatively small number of low lumen lamps (15W, 25W) outside of this lumen range because of the way NEMA historically collected incandescent lamp data prior to 2012.

In conclusion, the adjustment of the newly available A-line lamps and the LED data available, made NEMA discontinue the ongoing reporting of incandescent A-line lamps in the lamp index. When NEMA published the first lamp index, originally it was intended to show the data about the shipments of A-line lamps with the lumen rage of 310-2600 lumens. With this data, it can be said that the incandescent shipments that were included showed a relatively small amount of total shipments. The incandescent lamps were classified by having low lumen lamps (15W, 25W) and it is outside of its lumen rage. This is because of the way NEMA collected historical data of incandescent lamps before the year 2012.

4 Effective Ways on Achieving Successful Skid Integration in Batching Operations

4 Effective Ways on Achieving Successful Skid Integration in Batching Operations Part 3, batching operations, engineering blog, integration, skid integration

Four major guidelines for having a successful skid integration when it comes to batching operations 

The integration of the kid equipment in OEM in the overall batch management system will be requiring a clear and specified level of coordination. This coordination should come between the salve and master (DCS or SCADA) systems. The simplistic command set the slave system that does not give the provision for visual representation of the whole system. Once everything is working perfectly fine, a simple command from the master to the slave system is already sufficient to make everything work. However, there is an exemption to this rule. Once the exception condition is bound to happen, it is going to be very hard to determine or troubleshoot without the need to go out to the equipment’s HMI. This is the local human-machine interface to identify the issue. 

With this in mind, this kind of interference can increase the batch cycle time, can lessen the equipment utilization and it can decrease the overall efficiency of the operations. The only solution to this dilemma is to combine a slave OEM system inside the overall master processing system by following these four simple guidelines: 

Distribute the operating modes 

Standard operating states should be followed 

Identify the status feedback definition 

Have communications standardized 

The only thing that can solve this problem is to have tow different pieces of the equipment synchronized by identifying the agreed methodological set of interactions. The flexible batch solution should have an isolation happening between different set of functions. 

1. Distribute the operating modes 

The different operating modes of the remote equipment is a little bit complicated because the boundaries are not well defined. Should an operator implement changes to the local equipment once the controlled variables have been given instructions remotely coming from an overall recipe? Is the recipe will go to the “hold” state when a specified operating status is bound to change? These are the sample few questions that has to be considered when remote systems are to be integrated. The operating philosophy and interface should over rule. This happens between the master and the salve system and should be identified to continually give a uniformed interface between two different systems. 

2. Standard operating states should be followed 

Standard operating states should be followed to enable a mechanism to handle the hardest part of a batch. With this in mind, this is the exception condition. This is identified as a mechanism behavior that exists in the outside of the usual normal or desired behavior of the system process. The critical elements of the batch production includes the handling, processing, and recovering from these types of systematic operations.  

4 Effective Ways on Achieving Successful Skid Integration in Batching Operations Part 3

  1. Engineers Should Define the Status Feedback

Status feedback is part of many things, but it is an essential part of operations to make it more efficient and is between two systems. The information structured for status feedback is constructed for different modes, error in conditions, and operating states as well. The representation of a status feedback presented through standard modes and states are popular among all equipment but there is one catch. Every error in conditions should be specific to each equipment. The information specific to the equipment will better provide the engineers of a better view for the error in the condition of the machine. The information transmitted from a machine can also help the engineers prevent any further damage of the equipment and this will help them utilize it even better. This will contribute to overall efficiency of the whole operating system.

2. Status Feedbacks help in the standardization of communication status

The communication between different systems are attainable in a very good and efficient manner by using the single integer value designations in status feedback. The communication that are happening can be very simple and just by using one word as a command. The word is transmitted to the slave system and this in return gives them a status that comes from the slave system. In addition to this, there should be additional parameters or variables in the system that needs to be written and programmed to the programmable logic controller (PLC) that can result to the overall recipe setting in the main system of the status feedback. Having a good standard on different communication types of remote or 3rd party equipment makes the system feedback more controllable. Because this can be easily maintained and extended over the life-cycle. The different development of several communication standards for remote interfaces should be designed wide enough to be able to fit into different application types, but specific enough to show and display value.

The final solution

The different integration of slave or remote systems can be quite challenging for many engineers. However, the standardization of its’ interfaces can make this process easy to manage. The last two of the four guidelines discussed in this article are clearly set by the ISA 288.01 standards. The status feedback and the communication packaging between different systems can have meaning to cover all the 3rd party solutions. The common interface design between systems can have a unison design that can make the coordination more efficient across several systems. Which makes it to be more easy to maintain and easier to expand. The different integration of these kind of systems (slave or remote systems) is hard for many engineers. With this in mind, the interface’s standardization can make this process easier to manage.

Lastly, the common interface solutions should be well documented in a design that is deliverable. The design should be standardized by the User Requirement Specification (URS) to OEM to meet manufacturing standards. In this way the programming of the remote system is ensured to meet expected quality standards.

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