New Orleans Pumps 2

[unclesyd]

I caught the tail end of an interview where it was mentioned that the electric motors that run the drainage pumps are 50 cycle and they have to have a special power plant up and running. I have a lot of information on the drainage system but no mention of the type motors except that the last pump installed had a synchronous motor.
I was just wandering if this true.

This is curious as my home near coal and ore mines and steel mills had a lot of 50 cycle equipment. In fact the company towns around the mines and mills had 50 cycle power, free, so everything electrical had to came from the company store.

 

[itsmoked]

Ahh!!! Yes that makes good sense!! Thanks for the thought. There, we can reduce the damage estimate by a million bucks!

 

[rmw]

I remember thinking that it was a junkyard when I saw it, but I couldn't find the dog.

I think it will be interesting to see how many functional cars that could have carried people to safety will now have to be added to this junkyard because of flood damage.

rmw

 

[electricpete]

A little closer to home for the motor forum is this photo:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/p...S0110&ArtNo=509090806&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=19

Caption reads: "Terry Cox, an employee with General Electric from Atlanta, uses a high pressure hose Friday, Sept. 9, 2005, on the edge of New Orleans to clean an electric pump motor that normally keeps the city dry. This was one of a number of motors partially flooded, making them inoperable."

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[MikeHalloran]

I wonder if a modern motor would survive that?



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[electricpete]

NEMA MG-1 has provisions for a submersion test including wetting agents. I think most modern epoxy VPI systems would have a pretty good chance to survive flooding.

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[itsmoked]

Wow! Talk about water in the windings... That sprayer is even stripping the paint off. This would certainly be a case for a low voltage winding heat up/dry out.

In our town there was a flood in "55". Our main street ran along next to the local river, so naturally the "downtown" got the major brunt of it. Several days after the flooding ceased a friend was called to come down and analyse something that was disturbing a lot of people. Downtown, he was lead down some 3 or 4 stairs that then disappeared into the usual flooded basement soup. There was a wavering blue glow and an unrecognized noise. After pondering this he figured out it was repulsion induction motor with brushes merrily pumping away. Being afraid to touch the water it was left running. It never failed and wasn't removed from service until its sump pump function was no longer required.

Could this motor have been run in water?

 

[loudvegas]

Since this appears to be the leading thread on this subject I thought I would chime in. When the first reports came out that said the city's pumps were offline due to power and some being submerged I had a thought.

Last year while visiting home I was on one of the levees of the Mississippi around the Greenvilel Ms area. They were pumping water from pits being used for fill dirt to raise the height of the levee.

Anyway, there was a MONSTER pump on a flat bed semi trailer with a very large diesel power head. Maybe even a low rpm engine in the 1000 HP range. I was just thinking that since the COE has access to these things, why cant they be used? I could not find specs for one of the units I saw but they have to be impressive. Or maybe not?

 

[MikeHalloran]

If it fits on a flatbed that can travel without special permits, it can't be more than 8 feet in its smallest dimension, maybe 10-1/2 feet in its next smallest.

The Wood pumps in NO are 12 and 14 feet in their smallest dimension, the suction and discharge pipe size. Their maximum head capacity may not be great, but the flow numbers are huge; between 1/4 and 1/2 _million_ gpm for the small ones, and most of 1 million gpm for the big ones.

I assume they've already commandeered all of the big portable pumps they can find or reasonably emplace, but getting the Wood pumps into service would be a higher priority, in my parallel universe.







Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[unclesyd]

It looks like they are getting underway. There is a chart of what's going on as to the number of pumps and capacity.
On 09/13/05 it was at 14,000 ft³/s or as they are putting out 9,000,000,000 gals/day.

http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/hurricane/chr.php

 

[loudvegas]

I am especially interested in the Diesel units and the diesel-electric units. Cant find footage/pics anywhere.