Companies - Page 201

Landscaping firm gives back by celebrating Arbor Day

The annual Arbor Day encourages groups to plant and care for trees in their communities. Bluegrass Lawncare LLC has taken this to heart by offering to plant a free tree at commercial businesses. The St. Louis-based full-service landscape company has teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation to celebrate this annual event, which falls on April 29, the last Friday in April, throughout much of the country.

Over the next several weeks, Bluegrass will plant a Colorado blue spruce for businesses and commercial property owners that contact the company. Besides planting these hearty trees, Bluegrass will spread mulch to help retain moisture for the sapling and place a protective barrier so the sapling can grow. Once mature, a Colorado blue spruce grows to a height of 50 feet to 70 feet, with a spread of 10 feet to 20 feet.

“We understand the value of trees to our environment,” said Chris Darnell, head of marketing and business development for Bluegrass Lawn. “Trees are an enormous resource in combatting climate change, cleaning our air, conserving energy, preserving water, beautifying our community and so much more. It’s our way of giving back to the businesses that we serve and to the community in which we live.”

Any business or commercial property owner in the St. Louis region only needs to call Darnell at Bluegrass Lawn for a free tree. He can be reached at (314) 383-7099.

About Bluegrass Lawn

Founded in 1982, Bluegrass Lawn is a full-service landscape and maintenance company. Based in Bridgeton, MO, the company’s commercial services include design and installation of landscaping, hardscapes and stone walls; maintenance with irrigation, shrub and tree care, aeration, lawn care, irrigation, and soil and mulch; and snow and ice removal. It also offers residential lawn care service.

Submitted by CK Power

Northern Power Systems Corp., a next generation renewable energy technology company, today announced the release of a new product that enables developers and end-users to acquire a fully integrated energy storage system tailored to their needs in terms of power and energy.

The Northern Power ESS (Energy Storage Solution) features the advanced FP2000 FlexPhase power conversion system that has been featured in multiple technologies and applications. The system has a wide range of DC voltage optimization, able to be effective with Flow, Lithium, lead Acid or any other chemical battery, as well as mechanical storage options such as flywheels. Northern Power leverages its abilities and experience in grid integration and renewable optimization in order to deliver the best solution for the customer’s needs.

Diego M. Tebaldi, VP of Global Business Development for Northern Power Systems, commented “This is a great step forward—responding to market demand where customers are requiring a fully integrated solution.” He continued, “We are proud to partner with key providers across the spectrum of the main components, using our multi-year experience to select components that provide the better technical solution for the application required, and offer the market an easier to deploy standard and pre-configured solution.”

Northern Power Systems offers integrated Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) configurable for a range of applications. NPS ESS can be packaged into containers, shelters, trailers, or buildings with an output power range of 125 kVA – 2,000 kVA. The duration of rated power can be configured from 15 minutes to 4 hours.

Key Applications of this solution include:

• Utility Grid Support – frequency regulation, VAR support/power quality, peak shaving/load shifting, sub-station resiliency, renewable integration
• Behind-the-Meter – demand management, time-of-use, back-up power, critical load support
• Hybrid Microgrids – remote/islanded operation, black start, renewables utilization/reduced fuel consumption

Northern Power is featuring this announcement at the Energy Storage Association industry conference in Charlotte, NC from 25^th April 2016 – 27^th April 2016 and will have a presence in booth #327.

For more information please reach out to Info@NorthernPower.com 

About Northern Power Systems

Northern Power Systems designs, manufactures, and sells wind turbines and power technology products, and provides engineering development services and technology licenses for energy applications, into the global marketplace from its US headquarters and European offices.

Submitted by CK Power

Light loading responsibly

While it’s not advisable to run generators below their optimal workload-to-fuel- consumption level, the reality on job sites and in emergency situations sometimes demands it. If this happens to be the case, regularly scheduled and preventative maintenance regimens become even more crucial for maintaining the health of the power system. Generators regularly expected to run on light loads should be subject to more rigorous maintenance regimens to ensure there’s no excessive wear or deposit buildup.

If generators must be run at light load for a period of time, then in general they should afterwards be run under an increased load. This raises the temperature and pressure within the generator’s cylinders, which helps to clean off deposits in the combustion chamber.

Light loading should be even more limited for natural gas generator sets. It’s recommended that they be run at a 0 to 30 percent load level only for half and hour, and from 31 to 50 percent load level for only two hours. All light loading should be followed by at least two hours of running at no less than a 70 percent load level.

Scheduled and preventative maintenance

Scheduled and preventative generator maintenance plans are a must for users looking to prolong the life of their generator equipment. For generators in critical applications, such as standby generators at hospitals, data centers and laboratories, generator maintenance plans are an absolute must.

Some components of a scheduled maintenance plan may be as simple as the user making sure generator exercisers are in place and working properly. These kick on the generator at set intervals to verify that everything is working properly.

Load bank testing is another critical element in a preventative generator maintenance plan. This test artificially boosts the load placed on the generator, usually to about the height of the generator’s output capacity. This helps to erase any effects of wet stacking or other buildup, and to verify that a generator is actually capable of performing at its peak output rate. It is generally recommended that load bank testing be conducted at least once per year.

The ambient conditions in which a generator operates will also have an effect on how often it should be serviced. Dust, moisture, salinity, altitude and extreme temperatures will all have a bearing on how often routine generator maintenance should be conducted.

In general, regularly scheduled “lifecycle” maintenance can save time and money by preventing downtime, allowing for small issues to be addressed before they become large ones and by prolonging the service life of the generator.

DIESEL GENERATOR EFFICIENCY AND TIER 4

As is the case in many sectors of the power generation industry, the EPA’s final Tier 4 regulations are shaking up the way we buy and maintain diesel generators. Many of the diesel generators designed to meet Tier 4’s new emission standards are even less tolerant to light loading than previous models were. This is largely due to the fact that the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) components, which were introduced to reduce NOx emissions, must operate within a very narrow temperature range.

It’s also important to realize that final Tier 4 diesel generators cannot be operated without the additive diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). DEF is a non-hazardous solution that’s sprayed into the exhaust stream of diesel engines to help to reduce NOx emissions. In addition to verifying a Tier 4 diesel generator is running with the proper levels of DEF, it’s also key to verify beforehand that a particular type of DEF is approved for use with the specific generator model.

Final Tier 4 engine standards are tweaking best practices for running diesel generators efficiently. While some of the effects are new to all of us, it’s always best to consult experienced engineers who know how this type of machinery will function with new components and additives. Consulting a professional before any adverse effects of inefficient operation have time to add up will help to prolong the life of final Tier 4 generator equipment.

A joint venture team of Kwame Building Group, Inc. and HR Green (KWAME/HR Green) has begun work on a $7 million taxiway reconstruction project at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The reconstruction of the taxiways known as Foxtrot and Juliet began this month and is scheduled for completion in July 2016. KWAME/HR Green is providing construction management services. The general contractor is Millstone Weber. The consulting engineer is Crawford, Murphy & Tilly.

The project includes the removal of 26,000 square yards of existing PCC pavement and replacement with new concrete pavement. The concrete removed from the old taxiway, originally constructed in 1979, will be recycled and reused as the base course cap and sub-base layer.

Also included in the project are new drainage systems, 6,700 tons of asphalt shoulders, asphalt service road, security fencing, airfield lighting, airfield directional signage and pavement markings. To avoid disruption of normal operations at the airport, portions of the work will be performed at night and on weekends.

KWAME/HR Green completed work on the $9 million reconstruction of the taxiways known as Delta, Echo and November in Fall 2014; and the $9.2 million reconstruction of the taxiway known as Echo and the north apron in Fall 2015.

KWAME also was the project manager for Lambert’s $62 million Airport Experience renovation project as well as the restoration of Concourse C and other areas following the EF4 tornado that hit the airport in 2011. The Airport Experience project won the 2015 “ENR Midwest Best Project of the Year Award: Airports/Transit.”

Kwame Building Group, Inc. (KWAME) is one of the nation’s top 15 pure construction management firms, dedicating 100 percent of its resources to project management services.