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27. December 2008 by admin.
Shanghai, December 26 (Gasgoo.com) Cummins Power Generation Inc, a division of Cummins Inc, has recently started construction of a diesel generator sets plant in Wuhan, the capital city of Central China’s Hubei province.
With a total investment of $19 million, this new plant with 12,000 square meters of construction area will have an annual capacity of 6,000 diesel generator sets and 30,000 G-Drive engines when it starts operation in July 2009.
The facility is expected to generate annual sales revenue of $170 million by 2013. Diesel generators and related products will be made here both for domestic supply and export.
The Wuhan city is already home to a regional Cummins service center and a $10 million Cummins Fuel Systems plant that opened in April this year.
Cummins Power Generation is a worldwide provider of electrical generators and power generation systems, components and services in standby power, distributed power generation, as well as auxiliary power in mobile applications to meet the needs of a diversified customer base.
Its products include diesel and alternative-fueled electrical generator sets from 2.5 to 2,700 kW, alternators from 0.6 KVA to 30,000 KVA, transfer switches from 40 amps to 3,000 amps, paralleling switchgear and generator set controls.
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24. August 2008 by admin.
Gloom has descended over this Caribbean nation as Dominicans endure blackouts with such frequency and duration that tempers are flaring and the economy is foundering.
With blackouts lasting as long as 18 hours in some areas, angry residents have taken to blocking streets with burning tires and stones in protest, and police have respondent with tear gas that have even hit homes.
Authorities blame the blackouts on maintenance problems while residents blame the electric companies and government for inefficiency.
”This is giving us a real beating,” said Samuel Abreu, who lives in East Santo Domingo.
The electric sector has always suffered from poor maintenance, internal inefficiencies and a lack of operating funds due to negligent bill collection and illegal tapping of electric lines.
But the oil crisis has aggravated the problem: Daily blackouts can now last between 12 to 18 hours, causing disruptions across the nation.
In Maimón, nestled in the hills of the central Cibao region, residents last month tried to burn down the electric company offices after 20 days of 18-hour outages. The province of Monseñor Nouel has been one of the hardest hit by the blackouts, which have unleashed myriad difficulties.
Food has spoiled, stores and workshops are paralyzed and nerves are raw from sleepless nights of suffocating heat and concern about thieves operating in the dark.
Adalgiza Almonte, who owns a small bar, complained that beers aren’t selling.
”Everything is warm, there’s never any electricity and people just aren’t buying,” said Almonte, 28.
Last month, residents of San Francisco de Macorís were terrorized by a gang of 20 youths who went about on scooters attacking everyone they encountered, grabbing cellphones and cash at gunpoint. The government sent in the army to restore order.
Rhadamés Segura, vice president of the governmental body that regulates the electric companies, insists that the blackouts are the result of maintenance problems and that the generators are supplying 85 percent of normal demand.
Most resorts and popular tourist destinations in places such as Punta Cana in the east coast and Puerto Plata in the north are not affected by the blackouts because they have their own generators or purchase energy from privately owned electric companies.
Blackout victims don’t believe government claims that 85 percent of demand is being supplied and suspect some of that energy is instead being sold to tourist establishments.
Meanwhile, the entire economy is suffering.
Schools, including the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, have virtually ground to a halt. It costs more to fertilize farmlands and feed cattle. And small enterprises have no power and cannot function, while the bigger ones must provide their own power and thus watch their profits sucked up by the cost of generators.
While salaries are much lower than those in the States, the family food bill is approaching U.S. levels, gas sells for almost $6 a gallon and more people are forced to consider taking extra measures to ensure their security.
Martín Vásquez Reyes, who owns a welding shop in the small Cibao village of Sonador, has adapted his routine as best he can, working late at night when the lights are on and filling in at a nearby cattle farm.
Vásquez now cannot pay his employees, cover the higher cost of materials or pay the monthly electric bills of more than 1,000 pesos, about $30. And he has to feed a family of five.
They skip breakfast, save up for the all-important midday meal and eat a bit of bread and juice for supper.
”There’s no food,” he said.
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30. June 2008 by admin.
The Bahamas Electricity Corporation said that faulted cables at the Blue Hills Power Station were the cause of an island-wide blackout in New Providence that lasted for more than four hours in some areas on Friday.
According to a press statement released by the corporation late Friday, an 11,000 volt cable within the Blue Hills Power Station compound faulted.
“The force of the cable fault caused a nearby 33,000 volts generator cable to be damaged by a manhole cover,” the press release said. “This resulted in an island-wide outage as all generators tripped offline.”
According to the corporation, around 4:53pm Friday, the first set of customers began to receive power.
However, some areas experienced some delays.
“There were delays in the restoration process as due to safety and technical reasons a number of cables within the Blue Hills compound had to be isolated,” the statement said.
“This isolation restricted the amount of generators that could be put in service until all testing was completed.”
The corporation reported that by 10pm all of the services were restored.
BEC apologized for the inconveniences caused as a result of the outage.
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19. June 2008 by admin.
Saving on fuel isn’t a question of conservation for the military. It’s about saving lives.
The U.S. Army is testing two prototype generators in Iraq that run on garbage, rather than diesel fuel.
The Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery (TGER, pronounced “tiger”), was co-developed with Purdue University and deployed in May at Victory Base camp in Baghdad, where it will be tested until August.
The purpose of the unit is to cut down on the amount of diesel fuel used and to cut down on the amount of garbage that camps generate, which are both security risks.
“Those convoys that carry fuel are also known as targets,” said James Valdes, scientific adviser for biotechnology at the U.S. Army Research, Development & Engineering Command. “Officers say ‘We don’t calculate the cost of fuel in dollars, we calculate it in blood.’”
Handling garbage is a logistical challenge, too, because the Army hires contractors who need to be followed.
Right now, the Army’s trash goes up in smoke by burning it. The problem with incinerators, though, is that they require a lot of energy to run and many people to operate it.
TGER uses a variety of technologies to fuel a standard 60-kilowatt electrical generator.
People put trash into a chute and then the wet waste–like food slop–is separated from the rest. The cardboard, plastic, and other dry trash are crushed and pelletized.
Those pellets are then put into a gasifier, which heats them until they turn into synthetic gas–fuel for the generator.
Developers found that the relatively low-grade fuel from the trash over-heated the generators and maxed output at about 40 kilowatts.
So it created a system to convert the sugar-rich wet wastes (apparently, U.S. soldiers drink a good amount of Kool-Aid) into a form of ethanol. The wet waste is treated with enzymes and then fermented into hydrous ethanol–a mix of 85 percent pure ethanol and water, Valdes explained.
That ethanol is blended in with the synthetic gas, which boosts the generator’s output to 55 kilowatts.
Starting up the contraption takes 6 hours and still requires 5 percent of the diesel the generator usually uses, or about 1 gallon per hour.
Compared to an incinerator, TGER is far more efficient at converting garbage to usable energy, said Valdes, who also said it runs at 90 percent efficiency. And it significantly cuts down on the amount of garbage that needs to be trucked around.
“Ultimately, what we would like to do is have a clean-sheet design so that you could automate it more. So you literally put trash in one end and electricity comes out the other,” Valdes said.
If the TGER units work well in the harsh Baghdad conditions, he envisions the generator will be deployed in smaller camps, where the higher percentage of food waste can improve efficiency.
Valdes said the portable generator could also be used in disaster-relief situations where there is a lot of trash and the need for generators. The U.S. Navy has shown interest in the unit as well.
Trash, as it turns out, is an attractive feedstock. There are several commercial companies developing technologies that use wastes as fuel.
Cellulosic ethanol companies convert agricultural or forestry residues into ethanol, while portable generators use similar feedstock, such as wood chips, to make electricity.
A number of companies are also trying to convert municipal solid waste into ethanol using a range of processes.
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15. June 2008 by admin.
To All Owners of Coleman Powermate Brand Generators:
A national class action lawsuit against Powermate Corporation is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In Coy v. Powermate Corporation, 07 C 6029 (N.D. Ill.), the plaintiff has alleged that Powermate Corporation has and continues to misrepresent the power output of its Coleman Powermate brand electric generators.
The proposed class includes all people who bought a Coleman Powermate brand electric generator after September 2003.
The complaint alleges that Powermate breached its warranty with its customers and violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by misrepresenting the power output of its generators and by refusing to repair or replace the allegedly defective generators. The complaint also alleges that Powermate misrepresented the power output of its generators to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
All owners of Coleman Powermate brand electric generators may contact us for further information.
James Shedden – (312)554-8500
Tony Kim – (312)554-8403
Schad, Diamond & Shedden, PC
332 South Michigan Avenue
Suite 1000
Chicago, IL 60604
Tel: (312)939-6280
Fax: (312)939-4661
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4. June 2008 by admin.
Western Australia has lost up to 30 per cent of its natural gas supply and it’s not known when it will come back on line.
US-based supplier Apache Corporation on Tuesday reported a pipeline rupture and fire at its Varanus Island gas processing plant, near Karratha in WA’s north.
The company said no one had been injured and 153 people were evacuated following the onshore incident involving a pipeline transporting oil and gas from offshore production facilities to the island’s processing facilities.
Varanus Island, about 100km from Karratha in Australia’s Northwest Shelf gas production area, handles approximately 30 per cent of WA’s domestic natural gas requirements.
Apache’s president and chief executive officer, G Steven Farris, said that supply had been cut completely, while 13 people remained on the island to monitor the situation.
“Our priorities are the safety of our personnel, securing the facilities, assuring that the environmental impact is limited to the island and resuming throughput of oil and gas production,” Mr Farris said from Houston, Texas, on the company’s website.
“No one was injured, all personnel are safe, and the rupture and fire appear to be contained on the island.
“We will begin working as soon as possible to resume production in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
“We have notified government authorities and also gas customers who will be affected by the disruption in gas supply.
“At this time, we cannot estimate when throughput will be resumed.”
WA Energy Minister Fran Logan urged West Australians to conserve energy during the disruption, but he said it was unlikely to affect residential energy supplies.
Major industrial customers would be the hardest hit, Mr Logan said.
“They (Apache) don’t supply it to the mums and dads and they don’t supply it to the government electricity generator (Verve),” he told ABC Radio.
“They do supply it to some very big industrial customers though and it has had a very significant impact on them.”
Mr Logan said aluminum manufacturer Alcoa depended heavily on the gas and would switch to diesel to keep going in the interim.
WA’s largest gas supplier Alinta, which is a client of Apache, said the company was doing what it could to ensure supply.
Spokesman Tim Larkham said residential gas demands should not be affected.
“However, we request that customers be mindful of their gas use during this period,” Mr Larkham said.
Premier Alan Carpenter admits a more competitive domestic gas supply market could help alleviate problems such as those caused by the fire.
More competition in the domestic gas market would help, he added.
“It would, but that’s determined to some extent by the market and at the moment the market is attracted to LNG,” he told reporters in Perth.
“And if it was economically viable to have some other more diverse networks of gas inputs, then it would happen.
“Domestic consumers are pretty well protected at the moment so that’s good.”
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2. June 2008 by admin.
Thursday 9.30am - THE electricity blackout which affected thousands of homes across the Wolds this week has made the national news.
As we reported, 23,000 homes and businesses were left without power on Tuesday morning for around 20 minutes.
The Times has explained the power cut across the Louth area was part of a bigger blackout across the country - caused by seven power stations shutting down.
The article says: “After two power stations suddenly shut down within minutes of one another, nine ‘generating units’ also shut, and at least four other power stations suffered failures throughout the day. Wholesale electricity prices soared 35 per cent to £95 per megawatt hour, a new record, immediately after the cuts.
“The unscheduled stoppages were regarded as an unprecedented sign of the fragility of Britain’s power infrastructure.
“Operations were cancelled, people were stuck in lifts, traffic lights failed and fire engines were sent out on false alarms.
“Householders were unable to use any appliances or make phonecalls as the blackouts hit areas including Cleveland, Cheshire, Lincolnshire and London.
“In and around the Lincolnshire towns of Market Rasen and Louth, 23,000 homes were affected. “It was unclear last night why the power stations had failed. As the cuts escalated, the National Grid was forced to issue the most serious possible warning — ‘demand control imminent’ — and urged suppliers to provide lower-voltage electricity to meet demand.
“Energy suppliers affected by the shutdown, including British Energy and EON, said that they could not reveal the reasons for the cuts, nor would they say when some disrupted stations might resume service, because disclosure could affect the wholesale price of electricity.”
A spokesman for the National Grid has said the number of shutdowns was highly unusual.
One power company insider is reported to have said such an incident had not happened in the past ten years.
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2. June 2008 by admin.
A FARM’S 10,000-litre diesel tank was raided by thieves amid fears rising fuel prices are creating a black market.
And police have urged farmers to be on guard after the theft at Huntley Gate Farm, Whalley Road, Samlesbury. After making off, the raiders left the tank’s tap running, causing thousands of litres to spill onto the land. Now a massive clear-up operation is taking place in a bid to avert an environmental disaster.
Farmer Eddie Cowpe, who runs the Huntley’s of Samlesbury farm shop, told of his anger after revealing he expected to be left with a clean-up bill of up to £70,000. It is unclear how much diesel was stolen. Mr Cowpe said: “It is the first time something like this has happened to us. “The problem is whoever did this could have just filled up a 25 litre drum and made off, yet it has cost me thousands.
“It is a complete act of stupidity and vandalism.”Mr Cowpe said the raid took place some time between 8pm on Monday and 7am last Tuesday.Police confirmed they were investigating and Environment Agency chiefs said they were working closely with Mr Cowpe to minimise the environmental impact.
Red diesel is sold to farmers without any VAT added on to it. It costs around 60p per litre and is treated with a liquid red dye which makes illegal use simple to uncover.
The diesel tank targeted is at the back of the newly opened food hall which forms part of the farm shop. The shop was set up during the foot and mouth crisis of 2001 and Mr Cowpe still farms 350 acres across five separate farms in the area. Mr Cowpe said the tank, which is used to power a large generator that provides electricity for the site, was almost full at the time of the theft and he believes that with rising fuel prices more should be done by police to make sure similar incidents do not happen more often. He said: “There should be stronger deterrents from the police but there is not. “If they catch these people they might get an ASBO when, in reality, they should be sent to jail for life.”
Much of the diesel has leaked on to ground at the back of the food hall which is covered in hardcore and rubble. It has then seeped in to the soil below the rubble and flowed in to an old field drain which leads directly to a stream at the bottom of a nearby field.
While no crops have been damaged as a result of the spill, there is a threat to wildlife in the stream and Mr Cowpe has moved to limit the damage by digging a 10ft deep trench close to the water in which he has located the field drain.
Oil and diesel from the drain is now flowing in to the pit and is being pumped out in to nearby containers away from the water. Any clean water from underneath the oil - which has floated to the surface - is being fed back in to the stream.
He said: “The rubble around the tank had to be taken to a toxic waste depot in Skelmersdale. There was 10 loads of it at £1,350-a-load so that’s cost me £13,500 already.
“I am trying to turn a disaster in to a positive and am doing my best to reduce the contamination.
“The pit we have dug is acting as an emergency interceptor for the oil. I’ve even had a team in from Manchester who have used spill mats to soak up any oil from the brook.”
Mr Cowpe believes that more than £5,000-worth was leaked out in to soil.
He is now planning to put a security fence around the tank in order to stop similar incidents happening again.
An Environment Agency spokesman said it was too early to assess the damage to the environment.
He added: “It is quite a significant leakage. Our officers were on the scene immediately. “
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1. June 2008 by admin.
000
WTNT31 KNHC 012045
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
TROPICAL DEPRESSION ARTHUR ADVISORY NUMBER 6
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL012008
400 PM CDT SUN JUN 01 2008
…SLOW-MOVING ARTHUR STILL PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS OVER PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AMERICA AND SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO…
AT 400 PM CDT…2100Z…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION ARTHUR WAS
LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.7 NORTH…LONGITUDE 91.1 WEST…OR NEAR THE
BORDER BETWEEN GUATEMALA AND MEXICO ABOUT 80 MILES…130 KM…
SOUTHEAST OF CIUDAD DEL CARMEN MEXICO.
THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-SOUTHWEST NEAR 6 MPH…AND
THIS GENERAL MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE
OF DAYS. ON THIS FORECAST TRACK…THE CENTER OF ARTHUR IS EXPECTED
TO REMAIN INLAND OVER SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 35 MPH…55 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. THESE WINDS ARE PRIMARILY LOCATED OVER THE NORTHWESTERN
CARIBBEAN SEA EAST OF THE CENTER. WEAKENING IS FORECAST DURING THE
NEXT 24 HOURS AND ARTHUR COULD DEGENERATE INTO A REMNANT LOW LATER
TONIGHT.
ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 1006 MB…29.71 INCHES.
ARTHUR IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAIN ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10
INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF BELIZE…GUATEMALA…AND SOUTHEASTERN MEXICO
WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 15 INCHES. THESE RAINS COULD CAUSE
LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOODS AND MUD SLIDES…ESPECIALLY IN
MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.
REPEATING THE 400 PM CDT POSITION…17.7 N…91.1 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST-SOUTHWEST NEAR 6 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…35
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…1006 MB.
THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT
1000 PM CDT.
$
FORECASTER RHOME/BEVEN
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30. May 2008 by admin.
Need a Generator? Visit www.EmergencyPower.com
IN Karachi, the ongoing power crisis has gone beyond the control of the authorities. There were times when loadshedding would only be carried out in summers, but now it is an all-season phenomenon with no respite in the horizon.
Karachiites have, therefore, resigned to their fate and learnt to live with frequent power outages. Subjected to night vigils and the resulting day debilities under sizzling conditions, a large number of citizens — businessmen and shopkeepers in particular — have found answers in power generators and un-interrupted power supply (UPS) units.
The lack of trust in the KESC has jacked up the sales of power-generating machines. As a result, their prices have also scaled new heights. Traders in major markets of generators and UPS units are busier than the normal due to a rush of consumers.
“My business is flourishing thanks to KESC,” says Altaf, the owner of a generator shop, having electricity-starved customers left, right and centre. While businessmen, in general, are hurling accusations at the KESC for playing havoc with their commercial activities, those dealing in generators and UPS units must be the only ones to be showering the corporation bosses with praise.
“Everything sells — whether made in China, Japan or Korea,” Altaf quips gleefully. Whether fuelled by gas or patrol or diesel they are in more demand than the UPS because of cheaper costs and greater efficiency.
However, a UPS dealer contradicts, saying that a majority of domestic consumers, particularly women, prefer UPS as it starts functioning automatically when the power breaks down. “Against this, a generator has to be started manually and needs regular maintenance. It also creates a lot of noise,” he adds.
A market survey revealed that the sale of both generators and UPS units has more than doubled due to a rising demand, having an obvious upward effect on the prices too. A Chinese petrol generator, meant for domestic use, is currently available for Rs5,000 while it was easily available for Rs3,500 a few months back. Same is the case with UPS units, whose prices range from Rs7,000 to Rs14,000 as against Rs6,000 to Rs12,000 earlier.
Confident of the KESC’s inability to provide relief to its consumers, the dealers of power-generating equipment expect further surge in sales right through the long summer season. Given an ever-persisting shortage of electricity and a crumbling power infrastructure in the city, one has all the reasons to believe in the optimism of dealers about a perky season ahead.
Looking forward to the KESC for improvement in the situation is like expecting the unexpected. So it is better to rush for a generator or UPS before they get even costlier in coming days as the authorities are predicting the present power crisis to haunt the hapless consumers for several years.
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