NEW IPD SELAMA COMPLEX

Recently, work has started to constrcuct a brand new and modern office complex at Ibu Pejabat Daerah Selama, Perak.
The works awarded to a contractor from Ipoh consists of consruction of new buildings over the existing ones. This entails the shifting of equipment to a temporary buildings for operational continuity.

Yesterday, the demolishing of existing quarters block was undrway and the hob'c risk is high.

COMMISSIONING OF 11-KV SUPPLY

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) formerly known as Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia (KUIM) main campus is located at Bandar Baru Nilai, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
The campus initially received its 11-kV supply from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) in 2005 via Stesen Suis Utama (SSU) No. 2, located just about 100 meters from USIM Main Entrance. This is because TNB was not ready to deliver its supply via its 132/33-kV Main Intake located to the North-Eastern tip of USIM Campus.

However, as the new buildings are being added to the campus, the initial supply of about 3 MW is expected to be exceeded by the new faculties buildings demand. As such, on the 11th. November, 2007 TNB has commissioned its two new 11-kV supply to USIM Main Intake Sub-station. TNB supply is fed via two 11-kV Overhead Lines circuits.

Thus, on the 11th November, 2007, 11-kV supply from TNB was safely transferred from SSU 2 to USIM Main Intake Sub-station. Intricate switching procedures were planned and carried out successfully without any accident. Live-phasing Test on 11-kV Test supply from two sets of TNB Incoming Feeders was carried out using Live-Phasing Sticks. The test was carried out by Syed Abdul Hadi (SAFF Testing Engineer) and me.

Alhamdulillah, at last a more stabilised and sizeable electricity supply system has been established and commisioned to USIM to ensure all its activities are not interrupted.

Bandar Baru Nilai

KOMTAR JB .. DI MANA WAJAH BARU MU ...?

The project sign board and demolishing works of podium floors

Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (KOMTAR) is the first high-rise building being constructd at Johor Bahru. It was constructed in 1970. Being the first high rise building constructed about 40 years ago, the building does not has all the modern Building Automation System (BAS) or BMS facilities to control and monitor its amenities to the users. Nevertheless, it has served its occupants well without any unto wards accident happened.

Project Team in a deep discussion while site work continues ..

The planning for KOMTAR Podium Commercial Complex at Jalan Wong Ah Fook/Jalan Tun Razak, Johor Bahru has started way back in 1995. It was put off several times due to several unforseen circumstances and reasons. At last, in January this year (2008) the upgrading works was awarded to a building contractor; Taqi Holdings Sdn. Bhd. The RM50++ million works is to be completed by September 2009 which will change the image of 1970s KOMTAR to a new modern and vibrant Shopping Complex in the city of Johor Bahru.

Clearing work at car park area for new lift core & loading bay ..

With its new facelift and new means of internal transportation system (travelator, escalator, bubble lift, goods lift, passenger lifts), bigger and wider atrium, ample parking space, pre-paid metering, new air-conditioning system, performance-based fire fighting system, wireless internet access and other modern amenities available at modern shopping and commercial complexes will bring up KOMTAR to be at par with other similar premises.

Main Concourse of KOMTAR and view of podium from Jln Tun Razak

So, hopefully, a long wait by the consultants, contrarctors, the users and the public will be paid off once the new KOMTAR is open next year.

Some of familiar faces from project team members.
View of temporary Kebayan Food Courts

To those in the Project Management Team, be steadfast in carrying out the tasks and try to give your level best to accomplish the mission ... May all our sincere effort to make the project a success be rewarded by Allah SWT...Ameen...

JBahru.

PROJECT SITE VISIT - SMKPP MUAR

The site for Sek. Men. Keb. Persisiran Perdana (SMKPPP) is located at Tanjung Agas, Muar, Johor. The construction of this secondary project was awarded to the contractor sometime in December, 2006 and expected to be completed by September, 2008. However, based on current progress of th project, it is envisaged that the project could not be completed on time.

The electrical contractor was appointed around April, 2008 this year and had since been working on the project. Today's inspection, visit and meeting on the project had given me an opportunity to meet with the contractors and site staff. Informal discussion was held at the Canteen while watching the contractor working.

As for TNB sub-station building, it needs to be handed over to TNB in a good condition and as per TNB requirement. The photographs below show the existing sub-station building and cable trenches which need to be completed and tidy-up.

Among items that the cointractor needs to prepare are :
1. Corrugated HDPE TNB cable pipes shall be made up of solid HDPE 150mm diameter;
2. To repair/make good cable trench inside Transformer Room;
3. Vermin-proof netting size shall be SWG23 Mesh 10;
4. To repair leaks at ceiling slab inside Low Voltage Room;
5. To replace DANGER and NO ENTRY notices at sub-station doors with standard notices;
6. To clean up cable trenches;
7. To pump out water from cable trench;
8. To paint TNB logo on sub-station building;

Factory Acceptance Test (FAT)

Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) is one of the important processes in Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) System installation during the construction phase of a project. In every M&E works, FAT is carried out after the approval of Shop Drawings by the project M&E Consultant, signifying that the manufacturing process of the switchboard or equipment could be carried out based on the Approved Shop Drawings.
FAT must be witnessed by the Consultant (designer) and the Superintending Officer and often accompanied by the Client to ensure that the products are manufactured in accordance to the tender specification. The various tests which have been specified in the Tender Specifications are to be carried out and witnessed by theproject team. The tested values obtained during the FAT must be as specified by the contractor in the tender submission (with standard tolerances allowed for by IEC standards).
Last Tuesday, I had a chance to attend a FAT on Chiller Switchboard of one of our projects. The FAT was carried out at the Energy Commission-approved Switchboard Manufacturer in Serdang.

The following Factory Inspections/Checks were carried out :
1. Physical Inspection of the switchboard (Type of switchboard, thickness, Form of Segregation, etc.);
2. The specification of the accessories (MCCB sizes (normal rating, kA-rating, class), type and cable sizes, Ammeter, Voltmeter, Digital Power Meter (DPM), protection relays (OC, EF, ELR), CTs (ratios, class & burden), Voltage Surge Suppressor (VSS);
3. Grounding bar inside the switchboard (50mm x 3mm);
4. Size of Main Busbar (R, Y, B & N) where current density < 1.5A/sq. mm. 5. Functional Tests on the Circuit Breakers, Contactors, Relays, etc. 6. Dielectric Test on Busbars (Pressture Test using 2000Vdc for 1 minutes between Phase-Neutral, Phase-Earth).
5. Checking the operation of Power Factor Regulator and verify the sizes of capacitors installed;
6. Checking the Current Transformers (Ratio, Class, Burden);
7. Ensure that the labelling at each MCCB is correct

Upon completion of all tests, the test certificates were signed by parties witnessing the FAT.

Taman Serdang Baru, Serdang, Selangor.

Electrical Installation at Golf Resort - A Case Study

Golf and Holiday Resorts have grown quite considerably fast in the last 15 years. This may be due to the economic boom experienced by the country and the world as a whole during those period.

As many resorts have been opened, competition to obtain membership to sustain the operating costs of the resorts get stiffer. Subsequently, Resort Managers had been forced to keep the maintenance costs to a minimum to keep the business alive. As the competition continues, one of the the easiest way to keep the operating cost low is by reducing the maintenance budget. This ‘hidden cost’ is very subjective and always fell victim to the resort managers as it is only known to those people who are directly involved in the maintenance activities.

There have been cases whereby Resort Managers had reduced the maintenance budget so much that has resulted in the quality of services offered by the resorts had tumbled dramatically. This has brought bad reputation to the resort.

Kukup Golf Resort (KGR) was one of our clients for a year between 2005 to 2006. We had carried out monthly Electrical Safety Inspection on its 11-kV and 415V systems during the 1-year period which ended suddenly due to Management Take-Over.
KGR is one of the four golf resorts in the country where we had offered our Safety Inspection Services for the past 10 years. The other three golf resorts under our list are in Selangor (1), Terengganu (1) and in Johor (1).

In my opinion, I believe Resort Manager had not put much emphasis on the requirement of Malaysia Electricity Acts 1990 (Act 447) and Malaysia Electricity Regulations 1994 when managing their respective resorts. The management has been iformed by their respective ‘Competent Person’ that failing to comply with the Act and Regulations, they are liable to be charged (penalty) for RM10,000 and RM1,000 per day for every day of non-compliance. In a real term, if this was to be calculated, a resort which has been operating for the past 5 years without complying to the Act 447 shall be penalised to pay an amount equal to RM10,000.00 plus RM(5 x 365 x 1,000) = RM 1.835 million !!!!

Some of the most common non-compliances by the Golf Resort’s Management are :

1. Does not employ the right category of Competent Person;

2. The registration of installation (including Generator Set) has expired;

3. Protection Relays re-calibration was not carried out;

4. Illegal wiring carried out by non-Competent Person;

5. Switch Rooms have been converted to Temporary Stores;

6. No as-built drawings to be referred to during power failures or break-down;

7. Switch Rooms are not kept locked at all times;

8. House-keeping of switch rooms are hardly or never carried out at all;

9. No testing at a five-year interval has ever been carried out ;

10. Provision of tools to maintenance staff is inadequate.

The above general remarks are equally true to most of the golf resorts and other installations (factories, ware-houses, complexes, etc.) inspected monthly by our Competent Electrical Engineers. Those are similar remarks written monthly inside Form I which were sent to the Energy Commission of Malaysia for record and further action.

I sincerely hope that all managers of any premises (golf resorts, factories, installations, etc.) to take note and treat the requirement of the Act 447 is equally important to the provision of the best facilities to your clients. Please take note that all hard works done by your F&B and Marketing departments will render useless once the electrical installation at your premises experiences a major break-down or fault due to poor maintenance caused by very low maintenance budget.

Examples of electrical accidents happened to KGR two years ago (shown in the photographs below) should be a lesson to all other resorts.

The after-effects were :

1. Cancellation of functions (loss in revenue);

2. Bad reputation to the resorts

3. Damage to perishable food stuffs;

4. Penalty to be paid to the Energy Commission (Suruhanjaya Tenaga) for non-compliance of the Act 447 and Electricity Regulations 1994;

5. Injury to personnel/staff

So, since money is not everything in life or business, the quality of electrical installation must be taken care of by the right Competent Person required by the law to ensure that the facilities at the resorts is well-taken care off and are always in a good operational condition.

Further details on facilities available at KGF could be obtained from the following web-site : http://www.kukupgolfresort.com.my/facilities.html

Transformer Oil Dielectric Test

This is one of the tests carried out on oil-immersed transformer (Oil Natural or ON). The mineral oil used acts as a coolant and insulator to transformer windings.
The dielectric test is carried out to check whether the dielectric strength of the oil is still within telerable limit i.e more than 30-kV after six (6) times voltage injection across 2.5mm gap (as per IEC standard).
The procedures to carry out the tests are as follows :
1. make sure the transformer oil temperature is relatively cool (about room temperature);
2. identify the location of sampling valve;
3. open the outer protective valve cap;
4. loosen the screw (valve) slowly until droplet of oil appears to flow out;
5. wet the inside beaker with oil by letting the oil flow into the beaker (rotating the beaker);
6. after the flow of oil into the beaker is constant and the beaker is about 20% full; throw away the initial oil;
7. slowly start the oil sampling by letting small jet of oil to flow into the beaker through the side wall;
8. make sure that the flow is smooth and no bubble is collected;
9. collect enough volume of oil into the beaker (at least 50% full)
10. once the sampling oil is adequate, wipe the outside beaker with clean rug/cloth
11. insert the beaker into the test compartment of the Oil Test Set
12. switch on the oil test set
13. select the desired standart of oil test
14. press the start button

The oil test will be carried out automatically by the set. The test is carried out by :
a. stirring the oil inside the beaker for 5 minutes;
b. slowly increase the voltage across the gap until the flash-over occurs
c. the voltage at which flash-over occured is the dielectric break-down voltage
d. after the flash-over, voltage will be cut-off
e. the fan will stir up the oil again for 2 mintes;
f. after 2 minutes has been reached, the voltage will be increased again until flash-over ocuur again;
g. this will be the second break-down voltage;
h. the 2-minute stirring and voltage injection test is repeated for another four (4) times;
i. after a total of 6 tests have been carried out, the average value is taken.

If the average break-down or flash-over voltage value is > 30-kV, the Oil has PASSED the test and likewise if the average break-down voltage is less than 30-kV, the oil has FAILED the test.
If the oil test fail, the oil can still be saved by carrying out Oil Filtration process. This service could be engaged from Electrical Service Contractor who has an Oil Filtration Machine.