You’re the plant electrical engineer, attending a staff meeting held by the plant manager. She notes that the air conditioning didn’t keep up very well for several weeks this summer and asks the plant engineer for a verbal report on how he’s going to solve this.
The plant engineer says, “Well, the compressor units have power so there’s no reason to involve our electrical folks.” Everyone laughs but you.
The plant engineer goes on to describe the plan to check and seal the building envelope, how roof curbing leaks will be discovered and repaired, and where the possibility of adding duct insulation exists.
When you pull him aside to explain the electrical issues, what will you say?
There could be voltage imbalance, low voltage, low power factor, excess harmonic distortion, waveform anomalies, and other power quality issues that can cause the compressors and condenser fans to underperform or fail.
Additionally, the branch and feeder circuits could fail when the AC is most needed. So, during the upcoming holiday break, you want to perform the recommended electrical testing to determine the condition of the supply conductors.
Summer storms produce lightning, so you want to protect the HVAC equipment with a well-engineered transient voltage suppression system (TVSS), inspect the lightning protection system, inspect the service ground, and ensure the integrity of the equipment grounding conductor and equipment bonding for the entire plant.
