Recovery of main distributor

May 2019 - Utrecht, The Netherlands

The service technicians of Elektro Internationaal stand for their work. They connect installations on site, perform periodic maintenance and replace or repair distribution systems and controls in the event of an emergency. This was also the case recently in office building Le Mirage in Utrecht. There, a short-circuit took place on 19 April in the main distributor of the 21-storey office complex. This caused the entire building to be without electricity.

Although the cause of the short-circuit in the 3,200Amp distributor could not be determined, it was soon discovered that the compartments containing the different groups for the end users were still in tact, so that an emergency power supply could be installed. Permanent maintenance partner Electriciteitswerken Kronenburg urgently arranged for the installation of a mobile emergency unit with diesel stock from Voet Energy Solutions. The building was supplied with the necessary power again. Voet then quickly came up with a smaller and more cost-effective generator with back-up, which also supplied enough power to keep the power supply working. Although all parties were well-informed about the temporary solution of the problem, the wish was of course to look for a permanent solution as quickly as possible. For this, a new main distributor was initially thought of. A costly matter with a delivery time of at least 3 months. And even more expensive because of the daily costs of the emergency power unit.

Mecano-like

Elektro Internationaal being the original supplier of the panel built in 2007 in Cubic, was contacted by Kronenburg for a new main distributor. However, service manager André de Widt thought it wise to determine on site if there was another solution tot he problem. An inventory on the spot showed that repairing the damaged middle section of the distributor was an option. A major advantage was the Cubic system in which the distributor was built. The ”mecano-like” aspect of this originally Danish system makes it relatively easy to replace parts and components. The middle section could not be replaced as a whole because there was simply not enough room to maneuver. It was decided to restore the middle segment part by part.

Involved

After receiving a go for the on-site repair of the panel, service engineers Mario de Jong and Eric Koudijs dropped a planned personenel outing in order to get the job done in one weekend. The involvement that the engineers have shown is particularly appreciated. Twice for 12 hours, they continued working on the repair of all copper work, the rail supports, the main fuse, the emergency power controls and the incoming power supplies from the transformer. Kronenburg replaced the damaged cabling from the transformer. When members of the management of Le Mirage came to view the work after the repairs were done, nothing of the original damage showed.

Best solution

The entire process from the moment that Elektro Internationaal was informed to determining the damage, the issuing and approval of the quotation, the planning of the work, the ordering of the required new components, the thinking out of new controls, the execution and testing of the controls, was completed within 4 weeks. The repair work has proven to be the best solution for all those involved. It provided the client with the necessary cost effectiveness. And moreover a main ditribution panel that will last for years!

RETURN TO PROJECT OVERVIEW (https://www.elektro-internationaal.com/tp-28933-2/nieuws/project)