Posts Tagged ‘manufacturing’

The End of an Era

Tuesday, November 14th, 2017

Since 1946, a Minnesota manufacturing facility has relied on the same two synchronous motors to power its plant. But now, after 70 years, the time has come to get an upgrade. Egan provided its expertise in constructing the electrical installation of two, newer, more modern squirrel cage motors at the manufacturing plant.

“Given the age of the motors, the price to replace instead of repair them was actually more cost effective,” said Paul Meier, Egan Company Project Manager.

Facts about the motors:

  • The synchronous motors had a voltage rating of 2300 volts and ran at a constant rate of 200rpm. These have now been replaced with modernized conventional motors that can function up to a rate of 1800rpm.
  • In addition, the new motors have a voltage rating of 480 volts. With the help of gear reduction, they can still maintain the desired rate of 200rpm while providing much less stress on the machine.
  • The horsepower of the synchronous motors was 350hp and 500hp while the new motors are each 400hp.
  • Lastly, the new motors are half the size! The synchronous motors towered at seven feet high while the squirrel cage motors stand around three feet.

 

 

 

 

Pictured above: old synchronous motors (left) and new squirrel cage motors (right)

Egan’s team provided all pre-installation wiring of distribution gear and soft starters for the project. The soft starters temporarily reduce the load and torque of the power and electrical surge of a motor during start-up. In turn, this reduces the mechanical stress on the motor and shaft, which extends the lifespan of the system.

“The soft starters for these motors are an important piece to this project,” said Meier. “These will be a big factor in the longevity of the new systems.”

In addition, Egan helped coordinate the facility shut downs to install each of the motors. This included the logistics and functionality of allowing the facility to run off of one old motor and one new motor congruently in-between the two shutdown periods.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Project Spotlight | Comments Closed

Mechanical Shops Expansion

Wednesday, June 8th, 2016

Over 70 years ago, Egan Company began as a plumbing and heating contractor. The sheet metal trade was added in 1958. Since this era, Egan has invested in its fabrication shops to provide fast delivery of custom-built mechanical systems to its customers.
With the advent of Virtual Construction practices, investment in fabrication shops has become even more important to the industry. When properly implemented by the entire project team, Virtual Construction allows Egan to “manufacture” piping, plumbing, and sheet metal components in its shops-under ideal conditions and with great efficiency. These components can be stored away from the jobsite and delivered just-in-time for field erection. The result: a lower cost building built over a shorter schedule.MechShop_0047

With the recent relocation of the warehouse and service garage functions to its new Champlin facility, Egan acted on the opportunity to expand and renovate its mechanical fabrication shops for increased productivity while also creating a safer environment for employees.

“Any task we can perform in our facility, under controlled conditions rather than on the jobsite, is a win for our customers,” said Mark Habermann, Egan Company Manufacturing Manager. “We’ve expanded our shops with the purpose of integrating all shops into one . . . we opened walls to promote the sharing of resources and foster collaboration across all trades.”

Trades served by the expanded shop space include sheet metal, piping, plumbing, and millwrights.

MECHANICAL FABRICATION UPGRADES:

  • Expansion to 50,000 square feet of production space
  • New Stinger pipe cutting machine
  • New Jimmy Jammer semi-automatic pipe welding system
  • Five (5) new jib cranes for safer material handling
  • Two (2) new hydraulic lift tables
  • New Axxair stainless steel pipe cutting machine
  • New cast iron pipe cutter
  • Rearranged equipment for improved production flow
  • Additional space for storage of fabricated components away from the jobsite

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Compass Newsletter, Services | Comments Closed