Design of Electrical Distribution for Centralized Monitoring
Port of Seattle | SeaTac, WA
Project Overview
The Port of Seattle was in construction of a new standby generator system that would allow them to island and power the entire airport during a utility failure. It was during the implementation of the system they realized that it would take a maintenance crew many hours traversing the airport to transfer electrical distribution onto this back-up system.
Harris Group was engaged to provide Electrical and Automation Design for a new power distribution control system that affords centralized monitoring and control of all major electrical distribution equipment across the airport. Through use of a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, maintenance staff could remotely operate breakers, reducing the standby switch-over time from hours to minutes.
Scope of Services
- Complete project management
- Architectural design
- Electrical engineering
- Communications system integration
- SCADA implementation
- System Capabilities
The integrated power management solution provides centralized monitoring and remote operation across:
- 2 medium-voltage substations
- 3 medium-voltage switchgear lineups
- 20 low-voltage power centers
- Comprehensive historical data reporting
- Technical Implementation
- Fault-tolerant virtual server architecture
- Development server for testing and configuration
- Custom graphical user interface (GUI) utilizing existing Industrial Control System network
- Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) at all distribution points
- SCADA interface cabinets at each facility
Operational Benefits
- Real-time monitoring of entire airport power distribution system
- Remote control capabilities for all breaker positions
- Seamless power transfer between multiple sources
- Complete visibility of system status with Open/Close/Trip/Service indicators
- Comprehensive historical data reporting across the entire power distribution network
This project demonstrates Harris Group's ability to deliver sophisticated power management solutions for critical infrastructure requiring 24/7 reliability.
