Following a highly successful installation of four resistive-reactive loadbanks at Cummins’ manufacturing plant in Fridley, Minnesota, US, Crestchic has been awarded preferred status to partner in testing its products worldwide.
Cummins designs, manufactures, sells and services diesel engines and related technology. It initially approached Crestchic, leading loadbank manufacturer, in March 2013 to design a bespoke 3.0MVA loadbank for an integrated test cell project.
Four new loadbanks, with a combined capacity of 6400kVa, were installed. They will which operate seamlessly with a Crestchic-designed automatic step-down transformer package. The loadbank test cell has the capacity for testing 190V 50Hz to 60Hz up to 14,000 50Hz to 60Hz.
The large voltage range will be selected and adapted automatically via Cummins’ PLC-based controls, meaning there is no requirement for human contact when reconfiguring voltages and capturing performance data. This will be accomplished with Crestchic’s sophisticated software and hardware engineering integration with Cummins’ control and monitoring architecture.
Crestchic is one of the world’s leading specialist manufacturers of loadbanks that are used in the testing of power supplies in the most demanding climatic and environmental conditions across seven continents.
Crestchic US sales manager John Dutch said: "This multi-million dollar order demonstrates Cummins’ trust in Crestchic’s approach, technical capability and pedigree in load testing solutions.
"We are extremely proud to be working with such a well-respected organisation in the power generation sector."
Image: Cummins designs, manufactures, sells and services diesel engines and related technology. Photo: courtesy of Crestchic.