Wind, locust and deadline: how we built the power substation
My colleagues asked me to tell you about how we built the substation at a car factory in the southern region. Below are all the horrors of our town, including the domestic auto industry and interaction with Chinese and Korean contractors.
Why is this all interesting? Because the approaches to construction are not at all the same as in the development of an IT product. There were many meetings: you arrive at 6 in the morning, report on what was done overnight, because the last meeting was at 21:00 yesterday. 8-9 people are listening to you. The chief power engineer, the chief engineer, and there are many, many more ... executive director, technical director. It happens that you do not have time to run across the whole territory, even remove all the information, and you already have to go to a new meeting.
There was a time when they worked in cold and wind, which took the car off the track. We assembled, and there the wind blew, turned over the Matiz and dropped several billboards on the track to Elista. You go - you generally blows with might and main. Winter workwear did not save. Even the "gazelle" at the end lay on its side.
Task
The domestic auto industry (almost) decided in 2012 to build a plant in the south. The model was this: you need not to engage in the implementation, and collect cars. The automotive business system is built like this: they collect, then everything is stored in their parking lots in the form of an almost finished product. That is, the collected cars are, and then the Chinese take them where they want. Can to Europe, can back to Asia. Now such a field of cars has appeared in our country and, one can say, has become a testing ground for China, Chinese cars. That is, not all the cars assembled here remain in Russia. This is a fundamental leap, which gives a lot to the region and the market.
Initially, they wanted to build a substation and an energy center. Substation as a source of reliable power supply, and the energy center as cheap electricity. Power centers with trigeneration, we do, and there are a lot of IT stuffing. They wanted to use mainly the power center (gas-piston machines were planned there), and at the peak - an external network. However, at some stage they abandoned the idea of building a power center. Due to the fact that we had been working on this issue for quite a long time (we went there as specialists on power centers), we were offered to participate in the tender for the construction of a substation.
As a result, we won the tender in 2014. Received 110/10 kV substation. There was only a place for accommodation PS. We did not have a spread of 40 hectares, so we chose a place where we do. A little further there was a project on the TP on the territory and in the shops (and cable) in 2015.
Since we still provide energy supplies to the data centers, we had a big plus on the skills and implemented projects on food stability. It turned out that this is extremely important: the factory has a special workshop where they paint the buildings. There is a bath with cataphoresis primer, a car is plopped there, then special technological magic is made and the car is removed. If you turn off the power, then this shop will rise. If food does not return in 30–40 minutes, the ground will harden. If it hardens, then several tens of millions of investments will be required to restart the process. Specifically - the entire line of cataphoresis.
One more thing. Their automatics is very sensitive to overshoot. They have robots (the hand “walks” and sprays paint). As soon as a voltage drop occurs, their control unit goes crazy and they color everything. Therefore, the power requirements are almost the same as for the data center.
We began to design. By the way, passed the examination of the project faster than the plant. That's how it all began:
The meaning of the substation is that electricity comes to the plant by high-voltage power lines, that is, a large voltage. The greater the voltage, the less the loss during transport. Then you need to carefully reduce the voltage for spreading power to small substations (boards) at the plant near specific consumers, and there it will drop again (already to 0.4 kV) and will be fed to direct consumers.
Two inputs come from the city, there is a further desolation to our PS. Our 110kV substation is worth downgrading to 10 kV, they are distributed throughout the plant. These are ordinary transformers. Simple project. No frills. Backup processes - their diesel engines on the machines and lines, rather than general shop.
Clearly, for this you need to know where and what equipment will stand. At least approximately.
Now, about the evil guys. In general, about subcontractors, or good, or nothing. Therefore, about Korean colleagues, I will not say anything. After dozens of variations, they had a final version on the arrangement of consumers (equipment). We exhaled and began to do, but then we rolled out a thing that breaks the engineer’s whole brain at all - final version 2. We started to remake and got absolutely final version. In total there were 20 versions of the general plan, and in one day one process technology could move 6 times. It was a quantum-indefinite plant. In fact, a high-tech country - Hyundai, KIA - and here the subcontractors did not know the load of their equipment, changed them many times, and so on.
After AFV, an amendment appeared to the last creation of an unrecognized genius. Here we were just incredibly happy that we abandoned 0.4 kV.
The project was personally supervised by the general director of the plant, was present at the construction site and in the snow and cold, without leaving the site. It was effective, but somehow very uncomfortable.
Thanks to the story with absolutely final versions of the general plan / placement of consumers, we shifted the cable several times and it was necessary to have time to dig and lay the cable before asphalting. If in the case of the canteen, the administrative building and the storage department, no problems were foreseen, in other places — in welding, assembly, painting, and so on — changing the location of the machines greatly influences everything at once.
We received a specification from IDGC for a certain power, which will be a PS for 2 transformers for 16 MVA. Next, we have already chosen TP ratings, that is, the ratings of transformers, which are installed in transformer substations - shop and throughout the territory. That is a 16x2 spacing on TP (1, 2, well 3), so that this power, not more. Therefore, TPs are designed for a certain power that will come from consumers. What they need so much. Well, we ordered transformers, made a TPShka. As a result, for example, in the project it was indicated that 5 cables come, and we have 7. And they are of a different denomination. For example, more. We say: “Guys, where are you going? Our TPs are not designed for such capacities, that is, we don’t pull transformers of such power, plus the machines for which you were going to hang your cables, we simply don’t have them. ” They threw power between the TP, and we had to remove our machines from this TP and transfer them here, search for free space and somehow plant their cable. Building agyle, however.
Photo
Installation of the ZRU building:
Installation of the ZRU:
Installation of the switchgear and ice melting:
Installation of the portals:
Installation of the foundation for ice melting:
Installation of the shields:
Implementation
“From February everything will be fine, in March everyone is wearing shorts,” the locals told us.
In March, -15 was struck and that terrible wind blew. In April, we walked ankle-deep in the snow. “Anomalous spring,” said the locals and shrugged their shoulders.
What does it mean? That the work on the switchings acquired a special atmosphere. Do you know how your frostbitten fingers smell? No Seriously, until you warm your nose and fingers. People in the field disconnect small cables need 200-250 cables vyzvonit. Even at –5 you are checking and there is a strong wind from behind the mountain. As a result, we made special teplushki and anti-wind devices. It was very difficult to work purely physically.
Still need to dry the oil on the transformer process technology. Try to do it in the field in this weather. The oil comes in barrels, through the separator it is necessary to remove air and moisture. I had to warm up and make a tricky decision so that everything could be implemented in the field.
But I can say that, despite the excesses, there was an ideal discipline at the launch. Everyone worked without question, I rarely see this.
Then, when the frost ended, the locust came. No one thought these creatures crawled so well. Short circuits - just go. When the first machine gun burnt out, we decided to protect the shields. But they didn’t have time to finish - they hacked from the field to heat directly into the equipment. As they climbed, we do not know. The forces of nature were not at all on our side.
As a result, we did everything in a very short time, because we were able to purchase equipment for the contract before the arrival of money. If it were a smaller structure than the CRIC, then it probably would not have happened. And yes, I'm glad the project is over. Highly.