The new Intelligent Power Management (IPM) feature from ITW GSE is a smart solution for airports wanting to grow capacity at an aircraft parking position without investing in more infrastructure, or for airports planning a new terminal or a new stand.
With Intelligent Power Management, airports can exploit the available power in an intelligent way. It reduces the complexity and leads to less expensive installations, in case of a new terminal.
Traditionally, GSE like 400 Hz Power units, cable retrievers, PCA units or other equipment at the aircraft parking position are all supplied from a distribution board. There is no monitoring nor sharing of the installed power at all.
With the launch of the Intelligent Power Management system, ITW GSE says good-bye to traditional thinking. The intelligent ITW GSE 3400 PCA is key player in the shift. The PCA monitors all connected equipment and ensures that the aircraft requirements never exceeds the installed power capacity at the gate. Should the GPUs, which are the most critical connections during flight preparations, require maximum power for a short period of time, the PCA smoothly adjusts its own consumption to stay below the pre-set limit of the total system.
Many airports around the world are at their power capacity limits. For those, the advantages of going from the traditional to the innovative IPM solution are obvious. The IPM solution enables them to add another GPU, one more PCA or other equipment without heavy investments. Also in case of new terminal constructions, the advantages of the Intelligent Power Management are at sight.
The Intelligent 3400 PCA manages and shares the installed power without compromising the power nor the fresh air requirements of the aircraft. The airport gets a simpler installation that is easier to maintain and takes up less space. This is much in line with ITW GSE’s philosophy of doing things as simple as possible to increase liability.
The ITW GSE 3400 PCA
More than 10 years ago, ITW GSE introduced its PCA. Right from the start, a smart and intelligent product incorporating great features beside the main purpose: that of supplying fresh air into parked aircraft. Due to the variable frequency drive technology, the PCA provides step-less and smooth regulation of the discharge temperature. This means that the intelligent PCA delivers exactly the amount of cold air required and not more. Therefore, it uses much less energy than other PCAs that are designed for peak load conditions which may only happen a few days per year.
Over the years, ITW GSE has designed and commissioned many airport projects including PCAs and 400 Hz equipment. Those installations have made it very clear that most electrical installations hide large, free power potentials, because they are designed to cover the power needs in a worst case scenario and not just to cater for the actual power consumption. The surplus may be rather considerable, approximately 30-50 percent. Airports are always looking for extra power, so engineers at ITW GSE considered exploiting these resources in a better way. They designed the new IPM feature to their PCA that can benefit a lot of customers, says ITW GSE VP sales and marketing Poul Elvstrøm.
ITW GSE is committed to supplying the aviation industry with the cleanest, most reliable and cost-efficient GSE systems available. The new IPM solutions is definitely proof of concept and a demonstration of the company’s capacity.
