As part of a new 11-story expansion, Mercy Health Muskegon installed a backup power system on its hospital campus in West Michigan that includes the use of onboard controls to parallel four new Cat® C32 diesel generator sets, supplied by Cat dealer Michigan Cat.
Paralleling gensets helps ensure efficient load sharing and load response within a network. The onboard controls eliminate the need for traditional paralleling switchgear, allowing the system to have a smaller footprint and lower project capital cost.
During commissioning, Michigan Cat conducted a load bank test with all four generators paralleled at once. They were tested at 100% load (4000 kW) for four hours and met National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 110 regulations without any problems.
“The decision to use onboard paralleling and forego traditional paralleling switchgear was driven by limited space in Mercy Health’s new power building,” said Jerry Booth, the environmental care leader.
“By choosing to go with onboard paralleling, it means we were able to fit these gensets into a building where space was at an absolute premium,” Booth says. “Having the new Cat generators has just been a huge load off of our shoulders. We’ve had it for a year and a half now and it works great, we’ve had no issues. Onboard paralleling of the generators has been awesome and was the right decision.”
