CRITICAL EQUIPMENT REGISTER
While planning for the December 2022 recess period, the Department of Facilities Management initiated a process to identify the critical standby generators. This was to reduce the engine running hours and diesel consumption during the recess period. The feedback received from the various departments indicated that 64 of the 76 units, 84%, were identified as critical. These units remained operational during the recess period, even though in some instances only a small electrical load needed to be energised during load shedding.
Based on the December 2022 results, a decision was taken to initiate a process to identify the actual equipment that was deemed critical per building. With this information the electrical load of the critical equipment can be quantified, and the location of the loads established. Thus an informed decision can be made on the solutions to be implemented.
To assist in identifying a critical load the following questions should be asked:
-
Can the activity carried out by the equipment be moved to another time outside of load shedding?
-
Can the equipment experience complete power loss, and when power is restored, be restarted safely, with no adverse effect on the result of the activity being carried out by the equipment?
-
Is the equipment performing non-research related work?
If the answer to these questions is yes, then the equipment should not be added to the critical equipment load register.
The details required to register the equipment will be limited to the user contact details, equipment name and equipment location (Campus, Building and Room). The line manager of the user of the equipment will need to approve each entry. The registration and approval period of the equipment will start on 3 April 2023 and end on 28 April 2023.
The second phase is a technical audit to confirm the electrical load and point of supply for the registered equipment. Once the audit is completed, the electrical load of the critical equipment will be quantified and the location of the loads established to provide a complete picture of the critical load distribution. This data will drive the decision as to which solution is most suitable per building or area.
The third phase three will be to reconfigure the electrical reticulation to create “critical areas” and / or install alternative solutions to accommodate the critical loads during load shedding. Phase three will have a considerable financial impact and has not been funded.
Enquiries: Sebastian George
Approved by:
Prof Susan Adendorff
Director: Facilities Management
31 March 2023
Virtual Campus
Get Social With Us
Download the UP Mobile App