Atlas Copco’s first Power Management System (PMS) has been fitted to a three-set installation in Egypt providing prime power for the Wadi Degla Sporting Club, which recently hosted the English FA trophy.

In a first for Egypt, the installation also features Atlas Copco’s Qc4001 control panels in addition to the debut for the PMS. Three Atlas Copco QIX370 generating sets, each de-rated to 289 kVA for prime power duties – operating in high temperatures of above 35 deg C – supplied the electrical demands for the recently-opened Wadi Degla Sports Club complex in Maadi, south of Cairo.
Atlas Copco’s PMS system extends the paralleling functions and applications of the Qc4001 control system to allow automatic start/stop of multiple generating sets according to changes in load demand or pre-programmed sequences.
Together with the Qc4001 control system, the installation ensures that with a single set operating, a second set will automatically start-up once the load reaches 228 kVA, thereby allowing a 60 kW step increase and preventing the sets from tripping out in case of an overload. The control system selects the second unit with the lowest operating hours.
Similarly, if one set operates continuously for 168 hours, the system starts up the set with the least number of hours and shuts down the first, thereby maintaining similar operating times for all three sets.
Says John Pye, Atlas Copco’s after market manager for Egypt: “Whilst the club’s air- conditioning plants provide the largest load, floodlights place a substantial demand with over reactive loading resulting in a reduced power factor.”
The site’s current total power demand is 456 kVA, but with just 20 acres of the 37 acres site completed under Phase 1, all three sets will be used for prime power duties on completion of the second phase. This will then require a fourth Atlas Copco set to provide standby duties.
The installation, according to Pye, is extremely simple using the Qc4001 system, as it requires just two communication cables.
“In the past, fully automatic synchronising operation required extensive cabling,” he says.
The recently-introduced Qc4001 is a top-of-the-range control panel for Atlas Copco’s QIX, QAS and QAC ranges of generating sets. Standard functions include set-to-set synchronisation of up to 16 sets, plus an option for remote monitoring and control via telephone or Internet.
The Wadi Degla application is a ‘stand alone’ prime power installation. Whilst the region has a mains power supply, a nearby quarry operation uses most of the power with large surge demands. The supply also experiences regular failures. Says Pye, extensive studies by both Wadi Degla and Atlas Copco, have shown that the prime power operation is the most ideal and cost-effective solution.
The clubs concept has proven so successful that a second Wadi Degla Sports Club is to open shortly in Heliopolis and there are plans for a third on Cairo’s outskirts on the Alexandria desert road, he adds.