Unitronics distributor, MSI Tec, was put to the task of designing a panel to control natural gas engines at the City of Tucson’s (population >500,000) well pumps.
The control panels would need to be installed at 43 sites around the city. The cost per engine and shaft can be greater than $400,000. Rapid changes in RPM can cause a large column of water to shift up and down quickly and become a very expensive jackhammer, so the importance of a robust and reliable controller for these control panels was a necessity.
The previous controllers that were used had screens that became increasingly difficult to read after a couple of years, which is why they needed to be replaced with a controller that had improved readability. Other necessary requirements were the ability to remotely connect to the customer’s SCADA system, historical data availability- to diagnose possible causes of any issues that may arise- and an easy to use interface.
