Power Outage ATL Ground Stop
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 780
Likes: 89
From: Seattle
Utility power redundancy isn't subject to the same kind of regulations that aircraft systems are. It's cheaper to provide backup at the systems identified as being critical (comms, ILS, ATC, terminal fire suppression, etc.)
It's possible to build in redundancy, if you are willing to pay for it. But even then, unlike aircraft power systems, there are too many engineering and operations groups involved (local utility, regional power agency, terminal landlord and customer) to properly communicate the failure modes and effects back and forth through a design process..
It's possible to build in redundancy, if you are willing to pay for it. But even then, unlike aircraft power systems, there are too many engineering and operations groups involved (local utility, regional power agency, terminal landlord and customer) to properly communicate the failure modes and effects back and forth through a design process..
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 125
Likes: 6
From: Republic of Texas
I am a nuke engineer, working in the electronics field, but I have to disagree that it's too complex or difficult to engineer a redundant grid support for an airport, including all the various feeds to various users.
We design things like this for nuclear power plants regularly. Also, for NYSE, CBT, and other financial institutions that are pretty much guaranteed zero electrical outage. We've had data lockouts, and network interruptions, but I can't recall the last time NYSE was affected by an actual power outage.
Sure it's a big calculus, and sure it's costly, but the alternative is staggering costs on failure. I work regularly with shunt battery backups, and motor gen systems that ensure way over five 9s reliability. It's also in hospitals.
Staged load shedding would include - commercial retail services in terminal, air cond/handlers(because they suck a ton of watts), lighting, etc. The critical path equipment like the network gear, computers, reservation systems would all be on local battery backups with generators behind them.
Taking out all the power from the whole structure in an airport by SPOF is pretty bad systems design. Wondering if our other massive hubs suffer the same limitations?
We design things like this for nuclear power plants regularly. Also, for NYSE, CBT, and other financial institutions that are pretty much guaranteed zero electrical outage. We've had data lockouts, and network interruptions, but I can't recall the last time NYSE was affected by an actual power outage.
Sure it's a big calculus, and sure it's costly, but the alternative is staggering costs on failure. I work regularly with shunt battery backups, and motor gen systems that ensure way over five 9s reliability. It's also in hospitals.
Staged load shedding would include - commercial retail services in terminal, air cond/handlers(because they suck a ton of watts), lighting, etc. The critical path equipment like the network gear, computers, reservation systems would all be on local battery backups with generators behind them.
Taking out all the power from the whole structure in an airport by SPOF is pretty bad systems design. Wondering if our other massive hubs suffer the same limitations?
