POWER January 2014 - 16

Upgrading a Wired Public
Address System with a
Wireless Option
The management at a 1,094-MW coal-fired
power plant in the Midwest sought to augment
their hardwired public-address (PA)
system. With hundreds of employees working
in varied conditions, a means of communicating
messages to everyone on site
was needed, whether their normal daily
activities were limited to a few blocks or
if they traversed the entire 200 acres and
multiple buildings. What the plant found
was a wireless PA system so effective that
it actually supplanted the original model.
A Mixed Bag
Communications in this facility, as in
many plants where components are added
over the years, was a mixed bag. There
was a hardwired PA system in place, but
the staff wanted to supplement it with a
system that could interface with it. The
new system had to be loud enough to be
heard by employees wearing hearing protection,
but soft enough for those working
in confined areas like trailers or offices.
Messaging had to be broadcast throughout
the 200-acre facility, even reaching
employees who might be traversing decommissioned
areas of the plant. Additionally,
many (though not all) employees
carry portable radios, which needed to
be integrated into the new system. As
an added wrinkle, the plant was planning
to upgrade to a digital radio system and
wanted the ability to integrate the new
radios into the supplementary PA system.
Given the many nuances of the " messaging
footprint, " coupled with installation
concerns and pricing questions, the project
was neither routine nor easy.
Site officials contacted Cardinal Wireless,
which supplied a demonstrator model
of a Ritron LoudMouth wireless PA system
to test at the facility. Plant and Cardinal
Wireless representatives toured the site,
stopping in areas where communications
were a concern-like those with high ambient
noise, elevated temperatures, and
the decommissioned areas. After the demonstration,
the company decided to proceed
with the system.
Installation Benefits of a Wireless
System
Installation of the wireless PA system was
far simpler than for a traditional hardwired
16
www.powermag.com
POWER | January 2014
PA and was accomplished at a fraction of
the price. Still, one challenging aspect
was finding suitable mounting surfaces.
Though the facility has abundant Ibeams
and catwalks, it was not replete
with flat mounting surfaces. So installation
crews from the local electrical
contractor used beam clamps and other
innovative methods to secure the wireless
speakers (Figure 1). Each installation, in
the absence of a difficult mounting surface,
took about 30 minutes.
Significant time was saved due to the
wireless nature of the product, which avoided
trenching and re-wiring the entire facility.
Installation costs were reduced by eliminating
the need for thousands of feet of copper
wiring and the labor required to install it.
Can You Hear Me Now?
The wireless system did not sacrifice sound
volume or clarity. Recall that many of the
employees are equipped with two-way radios,
so it could be argued that reaching
these personnel would be more effective
with a radio broadcast than with a traditional
PA announcement.
Areas with high ambient noise posed
additional problems because employees in
these areas wear foam ear inserts to protect
their hearing. Again, the wireless nature of
the system makes it easy to add additional
speakers to ensure that messages are clearly
audible even when employees are wearing
hearing protection (Figure 2).
1. Public address speakers mounted
on an I-beam. Courtesy: Ritron Inc.
Wireless PA Speeds Response
Time
Another advantage is that the LoudMouth
allows faster response times because of its
ability to make announcements through
the two-way radios from a nonspecific location.
Previously, personnel would have
had to travel to one of the PA stations
to make an announcement. With the wireless
system, any radio-equipped employee
can make an announcement, eliminating
travel time and allowing emergency messaging
to occur in real time.
Flexibility Yields Additional
Benefits
Because portions of this plant built in the
1920s, many areas posed a challenge for
locating PA speakers. There were portions
of the plant that had been decommissioned
but through which personnel routinely
travel, so these were included in the
messaging footprint.
Certain areas of the cavernous facility
were where the flexibility of the speaker
installation really came into play.
Some of the zones had large open areas
where speakers needed to be located.
In some instances, installers were able
to locate speakers on alternate floors
and still achieve adequate coverage. In
other cases, there were rooms within
rooms, so they had to deal with each
area individually.
2. Public address speakers mounted
in a high-noise area. Courtesy: Ritron
Inc.
http://www.powermag.com

POWER January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER January 2014

Contents
POWER January 2014 - Cover1
POWER January 2014 - Cover2
POWER January 2014 - Contents
POWER January 2014 - 2
POWER January 2014 - 3
POWER January 2014 - 4
POWER January 2014 - 5
POWER January 2014 - 6
POWER January 2014 - 7
POWER January 2014 - 8
POWER January 2014 - 9
POWER January 2014 - 10
POWER January 2014 - 11
POWER January 2014 - 12
POWER January 2014 - 13
POWER January 2014 - 14
POWER January 2014 - 15
POWER January 2014 - 16
POWER January 2014 - 17
POWER January 2014 - 18
POWER January 2014 - 19
POWER January 2014 - 20
POWER January 2014 - 21
POWER January 2014 - 22
POWER January 2014 - 23
POWER January 2014 - 24
POWER January 2014 - 25
POWER January 2014 - 26
POWER January 2014 - 27
POWER January 2014 - 28
POWER January 2014 - 29
POWER January 2014 - 30
POWER January 2014 - 31
POWER January 2014 - 32
POWER January 2014 - 33
POWER January 2014 - 34
POWER January 2014 - 35
POWER January 2014 - 36
POWER January 2014 - 37
POWER January 2014 - 38
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POWER January 2014 - Cover3
POWER January 2014 - Cover4
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