Active Power Protects Manufacturer From Costly Downtime

Alcan Packaging Selects Active Power Flywheel-Based Backup Power System

Austin, TX - Electrical power disturbances costs U.S. manufacturing companies hundreds of millions of dollars annually in lost productivity. Not only do these businesses face costly downtime, but they also must incur unplanned expenses to reset, service and sometimes even repair equipment damaged by a critical process interruption.

One such manufacturing company, Alcan Packaging, has chosen Active Power's flywheel-based UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system to protect its production process against electrical disturbances. Active Power, Inc., inventor and manufacturer of the most reliable and energy-efficient critical power systems in the world, has deployed a one megawatt CleanSource UPS system at Alcan's operation located in Tulsa, Okla. The system protects the plastic bag manufacturing process and extrusion lines from power disturbances.

"We produce approximately one million plastic bags a week using extremely sensitive manufacturing equipment," said Frank Genay, project engineer at Alcan Packaging. "Power sags, fluctuations and outages can wreak havoc on our extrusion lines bringing them to a halt. In 2006, the facility experienced approximately 30 micro outages, lasting only a few seconds; however, a majority of these caused our extrusion lines to go completely offline. Within the first 30 days of deploying CleanSource, the system recorded approximately 36 events, but with no interruption to the lines. We haven't needed to replace any of our variable frequency drives. The system is a virtual workhorse taking hit after hit while providing seamless and continuous power."

The Active Power system is uniquely suited for industrial applications. The rugged system can be placed right into the manufacturing environment as it operates at a wide range of ambient temperatures. CleanSource UPS also operates at up to 98 percent efficiency, reducing power losses and delivering savings to the operator's bottom line. In fact, Active Power has saved its customers more than $40 million in energy costs due to this extremely high operating efficiency. The company has shipped more than 1,700 flywheels in systems that have generated more than 37 million of hours of runtime in the field.

"Active Power's system is extremely power dense, consuming less than half the space of a conventional battery-based UPS system," said Gary Rackow, vice president of sales, Americas for Active Power. "Because the CleanSource system is so compact, Alcan is able to dedicate more space to revenue-generating manufacturing equipment. This benefit along with the system's high efficiency rating and economically green aspect make it an attractive option for critical manufacturing processes where downtime is not an option."

SOURCE: Active Power