[39677] in Hotline Meeting
FW: BUILDING 56- GENERATOR TESTING
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Neil Tomlinson)
Fri Sep 19 11:25:01 1997
From: Neil Tomlinson <NTomlins@PLANT.MIT.EDU>
To: mbj@MIT.EDU, juliec@MIT.EDU, crha@MIT.EDU, shutdowns@MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 11:23:25 -0400
----------
From: Neil Tomlinson
Sent: Friday, September 19, 1997 8:10 AM
To: ,mbj@mit.edu; bmalone@mit.edu; claudia@mit.edu; crha@mit.edu;
jiliec@mit.edu; jmganno@mit.edu; lindlore@mit.edu; loudib@mit.edu;
micheled@mit.edu; mparker@mit.edu; pguyer@mit.edu; schedule@mit.edu;
shutdowns@mit.ed
Cc: Chris Salter; Howard Harrison; Neil Tomlinson; Patrick O'Toole;
Peter Cooper; Tom Reynolds; William Wohlfarth
Subject: BUILDING 56- GENERATOR TESTING
To all occupants of Building 16- and 56- ,
With a successful commissioning process of the new emergency generator
serving power to both buildings 16- and 56-, the Repair and Maintenance
Department of Physical Plant is now charged with the responsibility of
performing testing. This testing is mandated by the National Electrical
Code (NEC ) Article 700, 701 and 702 and National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) Article 90 and 110 , requiring weekly testing
of emergency generators under full building load to insure that all
components of the system are in full working order, and continue to be
in a state of readiness in the event of an electrical power failure.
This is accomplished by simulating a power outage ( by using a test
switch at the automatic transfer switch ) which will cause the generator
to start and run. When the generator reaches its design voltage and
frequency the automatic transfer switch operates and transfers from its
normal source of power to the emergency generator.
The effect that the occupants of the building will notice is a short
duration loss of power to all electrical loads that are fed by emergency
power. This includes : corridor lighting, stairwell lighting, exit
signs, selected mechanical equipment ( air compressors, sump pumps,
critical fans, etc.... ) and the "red" electrical outlets that are in
certain labs. Depending on how the test is initiated this duration will
be either : 1. Less than one second 2. Up to, but not exceeding 10
seconds . The longer duration outage is a result of opening the normal
power circuit breaker that supplies the emergency loads, as opposed to
using the test switch on the transfer switch, to initiate the test. Our
normal procedure is to test the system by opening the normal power
circuit breaker the first week of each month to check all critical
components of the system, and to test it with the test switch for the
remaining weeks of the month so as to minimize disruption to the
occupants of the building.
The intent of this message is to inform the people who would be called
for notification of a shutdown in building 56-. Please forward this
message to other members of your department so that they can be aware of
this testing also. We plan to begin the testing on Thursday, October
2nd, 1997, and each Thursday thereafter. The schedule is to complete the
testing by 9:00AM, however, if we are unable to do so, we will move it
to the next day (Friday ) before 9:00AM.
Again, this message is for informational purposes, but we are certainly
open to constructive suggestions and feedback. Do not hesitate to reply
back to me if you have any questions concerning this testing procedure.
Thank you in advance for your support,
Neil Tomlinson , Utility Team
8-9174
ntomlins@plant.mit.edu
