Continuity in the production of medical instruments is ensured with backup power

Elinex delivered a Powercontainer at Applied Medical Europe in Amersfoort.

On March 21, 2023, the first champagne cork found its way up in the atrium of Applied Medical Europe's office in Amersfoort. Delegations from Applied Medical and ELINEX Power Solutions jointly raised their glasses to celebrate the completion of the new backup power supply. Xander van Rootselaar, Commercial Manager at ELINEX, welcomed all attendees and explained the reason for the toast: the ELINEX Powercontainer containing a 500 kW backup power generator and a Centiel UPS system equipped with innovative batteries, BACS (Battery Analyze & Care System), an ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch), and cooling. "A complete solution that will easily serve Applied Medical for the next 15 years," said Xander. With the presentation of flowers and a magnificent artwork to Ralf Slag, Program Manager at Applied Medical and project leader for the backup power supply, the handover of the system was officially completed.

'Emergency power supply is really necessary here'

"All our requirements have been met, and together we went through about 5 design revisions to ultimately arrive at this configuration. It fully meets our needs, and everything went according to schedule.

The emergency power supply also meets the size requirements set by Applied Medical. This installation can support the entire building. We can now guarantee continuous delivery to our customers."

The necessity of the emergency power installation becomes evident during the tour provided by Ralf Slag and his colleague Freddy Botterblom, the purchaser at Applied Medical. Applied Medical Europe is part of the American parent company and manufactures medical instruments used in operating rooms in the Netherlands. Applied Medical has an innovative sterilization line. After the products are sterilized, they are allowed into our warehouse."

The process must not be interrupted.

That the medical products must be very reliable is clear. Therefore, the process must also be kept running," Ralf explains. "A pallet is in the sterilization line for about 24 hours. In case of a power outage, you have 36 pallets of products stuck in the sterilization line, which you would have to discard afterward. Emergency power is therefore vital, and thanks to the configuration including ATS, we seamlessly switch to emergency power in case of emergencies."

There is a difference between the initial request to ELINEX and the final design, as it turns out. "Our initial request only considered the controlled termination of a cycle. Ultimately, we chose to be able to provide the entire building with emergency power. We now work risk-free and continuously."

Powercontainer with NSA and UPS

The ELINEX Power containers are compactly located between the company's warehouses and have become truly customized in terms of size. Ralf Slag says, "Due to changes in the building design, there was less space available than originally planned. As a result, the design of the Power container had to be adjusted somewhat. Both containers were delivered in our company colors, so in terms of appearance, these containers become part of the architectural design on the premises." Frank Kragten, project manager at ELINEX, talks about the backup power configuration: "The backup power generator is located in the lower container, including an easily accessible fuel tank. On top of that, accessible via a robust system of stairs, is the container with a 360 kW UPS. The system is modular, so it can be expanded. The batteries are monitored via BACS, the ATS ensures a seamless transition from the electrical grid to backup power. Additionally, the space housing the electronics is equipped with air conditioning. Everything is self-supporting." Finally, Xander explains that Applied Medical handles the monitoring themselves, and ELINEX comes into play annually for maintenance. "Of course, we also collect all the data during maintenance for extra control and to keep statistics so that we can always work proactively."

Tekst: Draeckensteijn Media
Foto: Lysmedia