Sandow Power Plant Installs “Drop In” Convection-Cooled Rectifier Bridges for Existing Alterrex Water-Cooled Bridges

Published By Basler Electric

• Published January 2007
• 4 Page(s)

Redundancy of the bridges was a must in the event of failed power semiconductors or water leaks that could otherwise cause a forced outage. Today the water-cooled bridges are experiencing major plumbing issues as worn piping and corrosive water has cause bothersome water leaks. The Sandow Power Plant had an additional concern. A turbine and generator upgrade required higher output capacity, hence requiring more field excitation for the rotor at rated load. The problem, however, was the existing watercooled rectifier bridges had an electrical limitation of 3600 amps with no redundancy. In order to achieve their goals, the Sandow Plant would require an expensive replacement of the rotating exciter for a static exciter that would cost substantial dollars.