Capital Equipment News August 2015

HEAVY DUTY TRANSPORT

A Scania bus rolls off the assembly line.

Scania gensets are available in two variations to suit installations.

Prime power: For continuous operation and unlimited yearly operation time at varying load. A 10 % overload power can be supplied for one hour in a twelve hour period. These units are available for fuel optimised and EU Stage IIIA compliant gensets. Standby power: This rating is for the supply of continuous electrical power (at variable load) in the event of a reliable utility power failure. No overload on these units is permitted. These units are available for fuel optimised gensets.

Willie van Zyl, managing member of Busco Marketing with Rune Walter, export sales manager: Scania engines and gensets.

The production line sees between 10 and 14 buses a month roll out depending on spec- ification and finishing. All of its production bays are fully accounted for until the end of the year which means any disruptions will be far-reaching in terms of cost. The genset installed in February 2015 at Busco’s production facility produces 280 kVa which, as Van Zyl points out, is probably larger than what is required, but he much prefers a unit that performs well within its capability than one operating under stress – which severely affects fuel consumption. The entire facility can be run off the genset when required including the production line’s biggest power user – the welding section. Van Zyl chose not to electronically automate the switch from supplied power to genset power and rather switch the sources man- ually as this allows for better fuel economy

Genset type Application

SG280 Prime

SG280

Standby 280 kVa 225 kWe 315 kVa 250 kWe 300 kVa 240 kWe

50 Hz, 380-415 V, 200/115 V

250 kVa 200 kWe 280 kVa 225 kWe 270 kVa 215 kWe

60 Hz, 440-480 V

60 Hz, 200/115 V

*Ratings at 0.8 pf

as the unit then only runs when it is required and not every time the power cuts – for in- stance during the night or on a Sunday. “Our genset currently runs for anywhere be- tween six and eight hours a week but we have also required it to run for periods of eight hours straight on the odd occasion. My initial predicative calculations indicated

that it would achieve an efficiency of around 22 litres per hour and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that we are actually achieving a much lower figure of 16 litres per hour,” ex- plains Van Zyl. b

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2015