ASEE Fuel Distribution Control System

Fairfield Control Systems were contracted by Aiden Strain Electrical Engineering (ASEE) for the supply of a control and automation system for the Fuel Distribution System at the Equinix MA05 Data Centre in Manchester. The control solution proposed was a dual redundant Schneider Modicon M580 PLC platform, including Schneider Modicon X80 remote I/O, Schneider Altivar VSD’s.

The MA05 Fuel Distribution System provided fuel to the required Generator Day Tank. The Fuel Distribution System consisted of 2 Bulk Fuel Storage Tanks that fed 2 Fuel Distribution Pumps that supplied fuel to 4 Generator Days. The operation of the Fuel Distribution Pumps was dictated by the operation and status of the generators and associated day tanks.

The control application was configured to carry out the automatic sequencing and continuous control to facilitate the transfer of fuel from the Tank Filling/Tanker Offloading Station, through the Bulk Storage Tanks onto the ring main, and finally into the Generator Day Tanks. The software was designed and configured in a way so that the code could be easily expanded for future expansion of the Fuel Distribution System.

The control system also communicated with the Building Management System (BMS) already installed on-site to allow the status and alarm conditions of the Fuel Distribution System to be monitored.