To help our customers, PBE has provided brochures tailored to your industry, the types of BES & equipment power quality problems that typically occur & why you should engage PBE to identify, solve & prevent them.
Treatment of wastewater and reclamation of water while meeting EPA requirements is vital to sustaining community water supplies. Very large loads under soft starter VFD control must operate reliably and predictably in the same electrical environments as critical electronic controls. System and equipment malfunction, damage, and failure risks are high, especially when other electrical threats like lightning and transmission/distribution voltage quality problems are at play. PBE’s wide variety of experience in investigating, identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in these facilities and on these campuses has benefited city and county governments across the US.
A/V systems rely on how a facility’s electrical system responds to voltage problems from the grid and those generated internally to the facility. Unwanted disturbances can hit the AC input. Unwanted noise, which is caused by the operation of other equipment, can be coupled into A/V cables. A/V systems, now highly digital, are much more sensitive to facility wiring grounding problems. Their life and performance depend on how well the system protects the A/V equipment. Contact PBE to identify existing and hidden problems that put your customers and equipment at risk.
Real estate properties often serve many tenants during their life. Each tenant’s specific business often requires a specific electrical system to power specific equipment. Facility electrical systems harbor existing problems that will impact tenant safety and equipment performance–moreover, the financial performance of their business. Systems aren’t typically capable of protecting downstream electronic loads. Lack of system protection can place tenants and their customers under safety risks and risk of malfunction and damage to electronic equipment. Real estate agencies and property managers can benefit from having their facilities evaluated to resolve existing wiring and grounding problems before signing the next tenant.
With every package under multiple levels of electronic control on a tight schedule, distribution centers can’t afford to experience problems with their facility’s electrical systems and electronic equipment. Their facility’s electrical systems must be hardened to endure grid disturbances and disturbances generated by the operation of internal electrical and electronic loads. They must also be free of wiring grounding problems. Systems that keep packages moving are very sensitive to grounding problems. PBE’s evaluation of a center’s wiring and grounding system will identify hidden problems that keep the risk of system and equipment malfunctions and failures too high to manage risks.
Frequent charging is required to operate electric vehicles (EVs). End users depend on continuous and reliable charging. Interruption of the charging process can delay drivers and cause major inconveniences. Common everyday electrical disturbances can lock up chargers, preventing the vehicle from reaching full charge. Banks of some chargers can also cause overheating of facility electrical system components, placing the system at a higher risk of failure. EV chargers must be able to operate in all types of challenging electrical environments. PBE’s unique understanding of power quality problems and EV technologies allows us to find the causes of EV charger problems before vehicle owners experience issues.
Food safety starts with raw materials and extends through manufacturing processes to distribution. Preservation, recipes, mixture, cooking, cooling, packaging, storage, and transportation are all critical to ensuring food is safe for consumers. Food plants use many servo VFDs sensitive to wiring and grounding problems and disturbances caused by grid operations, internal operations, and switching of large loads. Finding hidden wiring and grounding problems and upgrading these systems using the best power quality engineering practices will significantly reduce safety, financial, system, and equipment risks. PBE’s extensive understanding of how external and internal power quality impacts food manufacturing plants will improve safety plant performance and help sustain profits.
Safety is paramount in the entertainment industry. Safety depends on the quality of voltage currents, facility performance, park wiring, and grounding systems. Entertainment equipment must remain reliable and operable in challenging electrical environments. Safety systems depend on the integrity of power quality at the equipment’s input. Many pieces of entertainment equipment are disturbance-causing loads and threaten the reliability of control systems. Protection of systems and equipment is vital to ensuring equipment performs as expected. PBE’s in-depth understanding of how to protect systems equipment and ensure safety systems are protected will significantly lower the risk of malfunctions failures.
Providing a high-quality shopping environment for customers is critical to sustaining profits. The performance of lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, and point-of-sale equipment must always be reliable. Maintaining light levels, temperatures, and the flow of customers through checkout lines keeps customers happy. These large retail facilities must be operable around the clock to ensure customers have products available when shopping. Grid, as well as internal electrical disturbances, can cause severe disruption to business. PBE’s unique problem-finding techniques can rid your facilities of harmful power quality problems without impacting store hours.
Operating large disturbance-generating electrical and electronic loads on typical facility electrical systems elevates the risks of system and equipment malfunctions and failures. Power quality problems, which impact financial performance, also increase stress on wiring and grounding systems, further increasing the risks of system and equipment problems. PBE’s unique problem-finding techniques allow the identification of hidden electrical problems that otherwise go unfound. Specification, installation, and custom setup of permanent power quality monitors allow PBE to identify disturbances that cause plant downtime. Monitoring and expert data analysis over the critical evaluation period allows our engineers to get to the bottom of disturbance causes. The PBE evaluation results of your wiring and grounding system and monitoring will significantly reduce risks and improve financial performance.
Electrical contractors are often the face of the customer when facility electrical system equipment problems occur. They often know their customers’ systems and equipment almost as well as their customers do. Power quality engineering experts like PBE have the vast experience to help contractors and customers understand why problems occur. We are also experts in identifying, solving, and helping customers avoid future problems. The background in customer electrical systems and equipment combined with PBE’s in-depth knowledge of finding and preventing problems make a great team to help customers trying to operate a business with electronic equipment.
Automotive assembly plants depend on correct parts and systems from their parts suppliers to assemble vehicles correctly and on time. Delay of any parts or systems can interrupt the vehicle assembly process, possibly causing delays in shipping vehicles to dealers. Assembly plants also use large electronic loads to assemble vehicles, increasing the risks of equipment malfunctions, damage, and failures. PBE’s extensive experience in investigating power quality problems in assembly plants will identify problem causes so we can specify design-in solutions to prevent them. Our processes have saved these plants millions of dollars.
Patient safety and outcomes, financial performance, and energy savings are critical to the sustainability of healthcare facilities. These depend on the power quality performance of facility electrical systems and electronic equipment. These also impact JCAHO’s performance and standing. Critical spaces and equipment used to diagnose, treat, and perform procedures on patients must be highly reliable and cannot malfunction or fail. PBE’s extensive experience in finding power-related problems in healthcare facilities can eliminate these problems and improve the performance of the facility, its equipment, and the services it provides to patients.
Facilities and equipment used for lodging must be working and available at all times to help ensure a safe, comfortable, convenient, and pleasurable experience for guests. Many guests can be affected when facility electrical systems and equipment are malfunctioning or out of service. Guests expect equipment to be operable and available during their stays. Such problems can have a high impact on the facility’s financial performance. PBE’s experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power-related problems in these facilities extends across the US and other countries.
End users rely more on online orders. Increased shipments of parcels demand that shipping companies keep packages moving efficiently without delay. Malfunctioning failing machines used in scanning, weighing, routing, and loading parcels means backup delays. Building equipment–lighting, HVAC, and door openers/closers are also critical loads. Downed equipment equates to lost revenue and higher operating and maintenance costs. PBE’s advanced investigative techniques find the problems in facility electrical systems and identify the causes of equipment sensitivities. Our techniques allow systems and equipment to be upgraded, eliminating these power quality problems.
Customers depend heavily on indoor air comfort and quality. HVAC chiller systems are sensitive to common everyday grid disturbances generated on customer facility electrical systems. Electronic systems across a facility must be operable to help ensure temperatures and humidity levels meet end-user requirements. When directly served by AC power or VFDs, motors and compressors are vital in keeping systems operating. PBE’s in-depth knowledge of how poor power quality impacts the performance and reliability of these systems is vital to helping customers identify problem causes and determine install solutions to avoid failure and improve system performance.
Higher-resolution images require faster processors and higher imaging system power. Increased use of electronic loads such as higher power VFDs and electric vehicle chargers increases disturbance activity in healthcare and imaging suite electrical systems. New disturbance signatures threaten the performance of all modalities, increasing risks to manufacturers and healthcare users. PBE’s extensive experience in disturbance analysis designing power quality immunity tests will identify unknown power quality performance issues with imaging system equipment components. Moreover, PBE’s in-depth knowledge of how to improve power quality immunity performance will improve the hardening of your systems to ever-changing power quality threats in facilities mobile trailers.
Plastic and metal parts and assemblies used in assembling vehicles must arrive as designed and on time. Incorrect or late shipments cause serious assembly delays and fines to suppliers. Suppliers often deal with defective parts, lost labor, delivery fines, and wasted materials caused by grid-related and internally generated power quality problems. Assemblers have nowhere to store incomplete vehicles. Delayed assembly causes delays and shortages to vehicle sellers. PBE’s extensive experience evaluating vehicle parts manufacturers has put a huge dent in O&M costs while improving plant performance. With changing parts and assembly markets, increasing the performance of new production lines is paramount to the changing vehicle industry.
Car wash facilities use various electronic equipment to wash, rinse, coat, and dry vehicles in an assembly-line fashion. Moving parts under digital control processes can place them at risk of damage if they malfunction, experience unknown damage, or fail. Car wash facilities are often in mixed electrical environments where electrical threats vary. PBE’s experience in investigating the causes of facility shutdowns and equipment damage has helped car wash companies ensure safe environments for their customers, sustain profits and extend the life of car wash equipment.
Food and public safety are paramount at restaurants. Equipment used to prepare, store, and serve food as well as host the public is operated by electronic equipment. Restaurants use standard building electrical systems (BESs) to power this equipment. Customers expect efficient and safe services and comfortable, enjoyable, pleasant environments. Power quality problems, whether caused by the grid or internal to the restaurant, can interrupt customer service and cost food establishments money. With restaurants embedded in challenging electrical environments in urban and rural areas, their BES equipment is often impacted. PBE’s tenured experience in identifying, solving, and preventing PQ problems for food establishment companies can also reduce risks and save money.
Changing electrical environments in healthcare facilities poses new threats to medical imaging systems. Adding EV chargers and solar PV systems further aggravates facility and imaging suite electrical systems. New higher power and resolution imaging systems are more digital and faster, bringing more in-depth images to healthcare professionals. Such systems are also more susceptible to grid and internally generated electrical disturbances. Waining electrical systems also increases safety and performance risks that facility and maintenance engineers and managers must deal with. PBE’s extensive experience in dealing with power quality problems in healthcare facilities eliminates these problems for these critical customers.
Rapid and reliable unloading, preparing, identifying, scanning, routing, and loading products and packages is vital to online order fulfillment facilities’ customer satisfaction and financial performance. One downed piece of equipment can interrupt the entire facility. Frequent power equipment problems can back up processes for hours. Maintaining facility performance statistics is critical to the life of the facility and its staff. Motion-control-related equipment used in these facilities is extremely sensitive to wiring and grounding problems and voltage quality problems, whether grid-related or internally generated. PBE’s has identified, solved, and prevented many complex power quality problems that have saved these companies millions of dollars.
Outdoor electrical environments are the most challenging for LED lighting. Proper illuminance, color, and lighting control are critical for safety and companies that rely on outdoor advertisements. LED lighting is much more digital and susceptible to everyday electrical disturbances from the grid and other threats in customer environments. Grounding and voltage quality are critical to ensuring predictable and repeatable lighting system performance. PBE’s in-depth experience with electronic LED lighting systems can be used to resolve complex manufacturer-customer problems. Engaging PBE in your LED lighting and PQ problems will reduce risks and save you money.
Pumping, processing, storing, and delivering petroleum products require safety and reliable control systems. Large electronic loads combined with sensitive process control operating in challenging outdoor electrical environments increase the risks of safety violations, employee safety, financial performance, and product availability. Petroleum products must be available 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. Availability is a key factor in petroleum economics. Equipment downtime must be minimized to ensure the available flow of products. PBE’s extensive experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in petroleum processing facilities is key to the success of petroleum companies.
Manufacturing raw materials and drugs is a sensitive process. Critical parameters for large batch processes must be precision controlled to ensure the correct, safe outcomes before delivering them to those who administer them. Delayed productions might mean delayed or lost treatment opportunities for patients. Ensuring voltage quality across pharmaceutical processing plants is a must to ensure flawless processes. Several batch processing plants might depend on one raw materials plant. Common everyday grid disturbances internally generated can pose serious interruptions in these processes. PBE’s extensive investigative experience has identified, solved, and prevented serious power quality problems in pharmaceutical plants.
Preserving moments of worship in places of worship is vital to the human experience. Places of worship are using more digital equipment, which is powered by traditional older electrical systems. Many facilities upgrade their lighting and HVAC systems without considering the power quality of their building electrical systems. Places of worship require stable electrical systems to protect facilities and equipment in often challenging environments where electrical threats are higher than average. PBE’s long history of conducting power quality investigations in places of worship has identified, solved, and prevented system and equipment problems across the US.
Quality of life is important to people who occupy residential facilities. Malfunctioning and failed equipment often present problems to occupants. Facilities range from single-family dwellings to multi-million-dollar homes, high rises, and mixed-use facilities. Power quality-related equipment problems can be limited to one piece of equipment, the same piece of equipment in a large facility, and every room in a facility. Regardless of the situation, occupants and owners want the facility’s electrical system and equipment problems resolved as soon as possible. PBE’s in-depth experience in identifying, solving, and preventing these problems has helped thousands of occupant owners.
Semiconductor fabrication equipment, tool systems, and plants must be compatible with their plant electrical systems (PESs), the grid, and their electrical environments to ensure reliable and repeatable production. Individual pieces of equipment on a tool system interfering with each other or susceptible to voltage disturbances can pose serious problems for equipment manufacturers, tool builders, and fabrication plants. PBE has extensive experience in low- and high-frequency power quality and electromagnetic compatibility phenomena and has identified, solved, and prevented problems for multiple clients in this industry. Specialized experience in designing and applying custom solutions has solved complex problems.
Sensitive electronic equipment must be able to endure the high energy disturbances generated by large non-linear loads operating in these plants. Precision compatibility between large loads and plant electrical systems (PESs) is paramount to preserving voltage and current quality across the plant to power sensitive electronic equipment. Sensitive electronic equipment is used in the control of large loads, as well as equipment used to fabricate metal components. Disturbances such as sags, swells, transients, and steady-state phenomena such as harmonics can cause serious electrical problems in these plants. PBE’s extensive investigative experience has identified, solved, and prevented these problems in a host of plants across the US.
Airports must operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. When power quality problems strike airports, delays and cancellations impact passenger travel and airport financials. Airports are vulnerable to incoming voltage quality problems and internally generated power quality problems from operating electrical and electronic loads inside airport facilities. Electronic equipment spread across the airport is susceptible to malfunction, damage, and failure from these problems. Lightning is also an electrical threat of concern to airport equipment operations. PBE’s extensive experience with airport power quality problems benefits small and large airports everywhere.
Aquatic centers and swimming pools must provide safe and reliable operations in wet environments. Most centers and facilities utilize electronic equipment for lighting, security, HVAC, water treatment, and pumping water. The use of electronic equipment in today’s building electrical systems (BESs) increases safety risks and the risk of equipment malfunctions, damage, and failures. Every factor involving safety and equipment performance must be considered to provide safe environments for patrons. PBE’s in-depth experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems, improving safety, and saving clients money.
A&E firms provide designs and specific equipment for their clients. Clients expect these designs to be bulletproof and be able to endure anything the electrical environment can throw at them. However, today’s building electrical systems are based on the National Electrical Code (NEC)–written by insurance companies to reduce fire and shock–not to improve equipment performance or provide power quality inside the facility. A&E firms are often faced with answering client questions about why they are having problems with their BESs and electronic equipment. PBE’s extensive experience in serving all customer sectors regarding power quality places us in a unique position to help A&E firms address clients’ requests for help.
Loading, unloading, and moving thousands of people through cities daily requires reliable and predictable operation of electronic equipment for safety, signaling, communications, train power, control, and braking. Such electronic systems are increasingly susceptible to power quality problems as trains move through different areas where problems occur. Exposure to lightning is also a concern, as well as exposure to disturbances in utility transmission and distribution systems. PBE’s extensive experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems with subways and rapid area transit systems has improved system safety and performance and saved cities millions of dollars in equipment repairs and delayed trains.
The educational and instructional process is increasingly dependent on the use of electronic equipment. School administrators, teachers, teacher’s assistants, coaches, and guidance counselors use electronic devices more every year to increase student success. Students rely on the Intranet and rely on it to carry out assignments and conduct research. Achievement records are digital-based for easy access to teachers, students, and parents. Electronic equipment has also improved the in-school experience and enhanced comfort for faculty, staff, and students. Digital devices are finding more applications in classrooms. Temperature and lighting are also controlled more precisely using electronic devices. PBE’s in-depth experience in identifying, solving, and preventing facility electrical system and equipment problems for energy managers, principals, and maintenance staff. Addressing power quality problems, whether caused by incoming voltage quality or internal to the electrical system, has saved school systems hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in equipment replacement, repairs, and service calls.
Aside from online shopping, customers still desire to physically shop so they can view and touch the products they purchase. Providing a comfortable and pleasant shopping experience for in-store customers requires operating a lot of electrical and electronic equipment. The increased usage of digital equipment increases equipment susceptibility to problems caused by electrical disturbances, whether they originate from the grid or from internal operations of electrical and electronic loads inside store and mall buildings. PBE’s in-depth experience in identifying, solving, and preventing equipment problems has saved retailers and mall owners hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales and shrinkage.
Millions of dollars of perishable inventory are at stake while under electronic control. Large refrigeration loads operated with soft starters and VFDs combined with many other VFDs and electronic controls for alarms, temperature, humidity, and motion must be reliable and predictable, even when other electrical threats are at play, when a piece of equipment or system malfunctions, one part of an order, an entire order, or an entire cold storage area may be at risk of spoilage. Equipment malfunctions can also cause spaces to be inaccessible, placing suppliers in situations where their products aren’t available and can’t be stored for distribution. PBE’s in-depth experience in investigating, identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in these facilities positions us to help companies all over the globe.
Data center designs are among the most robust facilities with some redundancy in power availability, having to house expensive servers and telecom equipment. Despite their designs, they experience power quality problems that can render their servers inaccessible to Internet users. Data centers utilize large electrical and electronic loads, which increase their risks of internal power quality problems, causing equipment malfunction, damage, and failure. Data centers are also vulnerable to incoming voltage quality problems. PBE’s extensive experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems for data centers benefits those experiencing such problems.
Electronic lighting is fast replacing filament discharge lighting in all customer segments. Electronic LED lighting is quickly replacing all other forms of electronic lighting: fluorescent, HID, and induction. The advancement of digital devices has allowed LED driver manufacturers to design digital controls throughout the drivers. Although this improves lighting control and driver efficiency, it significantly increases the susceptibility of the drivers to malfunction, damage, and failure from power quality problems from incoming power and disturbances generated inside customer facilities. PBE’s broad experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems impacting driver and LED performance.
Electronics are increasingly used to control exercise equipment and measure data from exercisers. VFDs are also widely used in rotational exercise equipment. Exercise facilities are either stand-alone facilities or embedded in healthcare facilities. Stand-alone facilities are subjected to distribution power quality problems and those from adjoining businesses. Those embedded in healthcare facilities are exposed to voltage quality problems caused by large electrical and electronic loads and grounding problems. PBE’s in-depth experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in exercise facilities saves O&M costs and improves equipment performance and facility ratings.
Moving massive trains loaded with millions of pounds of freight through communities across the countryside requires careful planning and system control. Mechanical systems integral to trains must be monitored at all times. Signals and gate controls must always be operable to ensure public safety when trains are operating. Rail systems are also under above-normal exposure to electrical threats from lightning transmission/distribution disturbances. Electronic loads spread across railroad systems are also vulnerable to malfunction, damage, and failure from these threats. PBE’s in-depth experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in railroad systems has saved these companies millions of dollars in delays and safety issues.
Movement of extremely large and heavy objects in electrical environments of high exposure to harsh electrical threats requires carefully managed power quality to port electrical systems and internal to port operations. Many electronic equipment is used in safety systems, high-power motor control, lighting, security, fire protection, and other devices. Managing voltage and current quality in medium- and low-voltage systems is vital to all systems’ reliable and predictable performance. PBE’s extensive experience in investigating, identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in seaports is beneficial to port operators across the globe.
Colleges and universities conduct important research and educate students using a vast array of electrical and electronic equipment installed in various buildings across large campuses. Malfunctions, damage, failure of facility electrical systems, or electronic loads can place them at high risk of interrupting research or the educational process. Such facilities are located in various electrical environments with varying exposure levels. PBE’s extensive experience in identifying, solving, and preventing power quality problems in university and college facilities has saved such organizations significant money.
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