A Northwest customer approached Process Solutions to design and build a new control panel for the Powerhouse of an existing Hydroelectric dam. Construction of the dam was completed in 1959, which meant the existing powerhouse had legacy control technology mixed with new technology that had been added throughout the years.
One of the design challenges was that the hallway leading into the control room was only 50 inches wide and each section of the new control panel needed to fit within these constraints. To overcome this challenge, Process Solutions designed a modular, (14) section walk-through control panel that could be assembled on-site and fit inside the control room.
Each of the (14) sections of the new control panel were constructed in Process Solutions’ 15,000 sq. ft. manufacturing space in Stanwood, WA. The sections were then fully assembled, wired and tested prior to being transported and installed at the Dam.
Once customer FAT testing was complete, the control panel sections were completely disassembled and crated for transportation to the hydroelectric dam. Once on-site, the 14 sections were separately lowered by crane into the powerhouse, and subsequently moved into the control room to be re-assembled and commissioned by Process Solutions engineers.