TRP conducts customer acceptance testing for four large marine generator sets in large-format environmental chambers at our Columbus, Indiana facility.
Recently, our TRP Columbus, IN facility was approached for Customer Acceptance Testing on four large marine generator sets with 250L diesel engines. Due to logistical limitations, the client decided to team up with an external partner. We invited them to tour our Columbus, IN lab and explore our advanced large-format environmental chambers since the customer typically performs these tests outdoors. After the visit, it was obvious that TRP was the right choice to partner with to perform this testing.
“Our customer requested rush testing on four 150,000-pound, 13′ x 35′ generator sets. We had a lot of hurdles to jump but knew our team and TRP’s large-format environmental test chambers could handle the challenge. And we delivered – ahead of schedule.”
– Ryan Hyslop, Operations Manager, TRP
This project came with its share of challenges. First, the timeline: the units weren’t immediately available, and the testing window was tight. The customer needed rapid testing to meet delivery deadlines and avoid penalties for delays. Then came logistical hurdles — due to the massive size of these generators, transporting them required overweight permits and police escorts. Cooling was another major consideration. These generator sets demand substantial cooling, typically handled by a seawater heat exchanger. In this case, a 1,000-ton cooling tower was necessary to maintain proper temperatures while running at 4.4 megawatts. Next, simulating the required power posed a unique obstacle. Since there wasn’t a cruise ship available to consume the output, load banks were used to replicate the energy requirements of a large vessel. The voltage output also posed a challenge. With the marine standard of 6,600 volts (far exceeding typical generator sets), additional assistance was required to properly and safely manage the output loads.
Thanks to our outstanding team of experts at TRP Labs and the assistance of key partners, we successfully overcame every challenge this project presented — and even delivered ahead of schedule. We’d like to extend our gratitude to the customer for trusting us with such a critical task, and to recognize our dedicated employees and vendors who made this project a success.
Special thanks to:
- TRP Team in Columbus, IN
- Thomas Plastic Machinery Inc. for loading and unloading the 150,000-pound genset
- United Rentals for providing the 4-megawatt resistive/reactive load banks
- MacAllister Rentals for supplying the 1,000-ton cooling tower and pumps
- Horner Industrial for handling the high-voltage electrical connections and inspections
