ITL – one of the Key Players on Transformers market

The instrument transformers market is always changing. The next four years look bright for the industry. According to this analysis the market will grow at a CAGR of 7.81% during the period 2016-2020. This is obviously great news for all the players in the industry. But first, let’s take a look at why.

Modernisation of the Grid

One of ITL Split core units!

One of the main reasons for this growth is investments in the grids. There is an increased demand for new transformers as governments are funding schemes to improve power transmission and distribution. A great example is India with their APDRP scheme (Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme). The trend is to find more effective and reliable solutions for grids to minimise waste of energy during long range transmission and avoid outages as much as possible.

Transformers play a significant role to support this movement. We understand that and focus on providing the perfect product for every project. Our units are well known in the industry for their longevity (see image below) and our engineers have the knowledge to solve almost any obstacles. That is why we are the “go to” guys when an unusual solution is needed. Sometimes it tends to go like this: “I need the CT to do this and it needs to fit here, make it happen”. Luckily, custom transformers are our specialty and words like "Magicians" & "Wizards" are regularly referred to our talented transformer design & manufacturing teams.

More than 20 years old. A bit weathered but still going strong!

All these points plus our dedication to provide the best service to our customers means we have been listed as one of the key players in the Transformers industry by RnR Market Research last month. You can read all about it here. It is obviously great to receive a recognition like this as it is a reflection on the attitude of our whole team.

You’ve been Screwed !

Headline caught your attention? Don't worry, we just wanted to grab you and tell you about a recent, project, so please read on. ITL has just completed another successful G59 commissioning project, this time for the Achranich Bridge Hydro Scheme, Ardornish Estate, Morvern.

Our highly qualified engineers, predominately work on Wind Turbine & Photo Voltaic projects, the Archimedean Screw technology used in renewable energy generation is a first for us.

The Archimedean screw hydro turbine is a relative newcomer to the small-scale hydro world having only arrived on the scene over the last ten years. However, they have been around for many decades as pumps where tens-of-thousands have been installed worldwide, particularly in sewage treatment works. The same manufacturers that dominate the pump market are now the main suppliers into the hydro-power market as well.

As the name suggests, Archimedes is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the screw back in 250 BC, though the credit has been wrongly attributed because they were actually in use in Egypt many years before then. Historically they were used in irrigation to lift water to a higher level and were generally powered by oxen, or even humans on smaller versions. The basic principle of an Archimedean screw pump is shown in the diagram above.

Basic-layout-of-an-Archimedean-screw-pump

If the handle at the top was turned in an anti-clockwise direction it would draw the water up from the lower level to the top.

When used as a hydro turbine the principle is the same but acts in reverse. The water enters the screw at the top and the weight of the water pushes on the helical flights, allowing the water to fall to the lower level and causing the screw to rotate. This rotational energy can then be extracted by an electrical generator connected to the main shaft of the screw.

Archimedean screws for hydro-power are used on low head/high flow sites. They can work efficiently on heads as low as 1 metre, though are not generally used on heads less than 1.5 m (more for economic reasons than technical ones). Single screws can work on heads up to 8 metres, but above this multiple screws are generally used, though in many cases for

heads above 8 metres there may be more appropriate turbines available with much smaller footprints.

The maximum flow rate through an Archimedean screw is determined by the screw diameter. The smallest screws are just 1 metre diameter and can pass 250 litres/second, then they increase in 250 mm steps all of the way up to 5 metres in diameter with a maximum flow rate of around 14.5 m3/s. The 5 metre maximum is really based on practical delivery restrictions, and in many cases 3 metres is the maximum diameter that can be delivered to a site. If there is more flow available, multiple screws can be installed in parallel.

In terms of power output, the very smallest Archimedean screws can produce as little as 5 kW, and the largest 500 kW.

The main parts of an Archimedean screw used as a hydro generator are shown below. The actual screw is below the upper bearing. The helical screw or ‘flights’ are made from rolled flat steel plate that is then welded to a central steel core. Most Archimedean screws have three flights, or three separate helices winding around the central core.

Archimedean screws typically rotate at around 26 rpm, so the top of the screw connects to a gearbox to increase the rotational speed to between 750 and 1500 rpm to make it compatible with standard generators. Even though they rotate relatively slowly Archimedean screws can splash water around, though this is reduced significantly by the use of a splash guard shown running down the left-hand side of the screw as shown below.

ITL continues to work with contractors throughout the UK, commissioning & testing G59 as well as traditional switchgear Protection Relays from leading manufactures Schneider Electric, ABB, Siemens, CEE.

Article Source: Renewables First (click to read full article)

Survey results 2015

ITL is a very customer oriented company. We always strive to align our goals with our clients’ own and to offer the best product and support. To be able to do exactly that, we need to know what our customers want, what they like, don’t like, and figure out how to further improve ourselves.

So we rolled out a customer survey in January.

Knowing that online surveys are vastly unpopular we did not expect a lot of participation. Imagine how surprised we were that in just three days after sending it out we used up all 100 responses which are allowed by SurveyMonkey (yep, we used the free version, mistake on our part). However, even the 100 responses gave us some insight and showed us where we should improve.

As for every manufacturer, the quality of our products is of a great importance for us. We asked our customers how our transformers do compared to our competition. The results you can see below are a credit to our talented team of designers, the experience and knowledge we have in the field, and the aim to provide the perfect product for every project. The results are quite a bit in our favour, however we do not want to lie on our laurels and we are still improving in any way we can, be it a new material, process, or service to complement our CTs and VTs.

Everyone who works or worked in our industry knows that, unfortunately, not everything always goes as smooth as planned. It is necessary to be able to react quickly and resolve any issues asap (yep, time is money). We added online chat to our websites which is another channel for our customers to get in touch with us. According to the survey, we usually provide great support and help (our intent is to change the word usually to always). And this is what we want to do. Obviously, priority is to avoid these situations completely, however, when something goes awry we must go out of our ways and do everything we can to make situation as easy as it can get. The professional and quick help, the willingness to go the extra mile. Those are the factors that make our customers happy and encourage them to stay with us.

And lastly, we asked our customers to give us the constructive criticism. What is the one change that would improve our products the most? Well, the responses were fairly straight forward. Shorten your lead time! Over 50% of respondents asked us to deliver our products quicker. We got the message and already took measures to improve our processes. With help from SMAS (Scottish Advisory Manufacturing Service) we embraced Lean Manufacturing and aim to shorten our lead times by at least 1 week.

The survey was very enlightening for us and we would like to thank everyone who took part in it. It is important to us that our customers stay informed of our innovations and the easiest way is through social media, so if you want to stay in the loop, please follow (or like) us on one of our pages.

ITL to the Rescue!

As we mentioned many times before, sometimes it is necessary to choose great quality, reliable product and make the smart investment.

As it happens, one of our new customers has seen the error of his ways when dealing with inferior quality products. ITL has been approached to replace a set of current transformers for a Hydro Electric project that is experiencing continued problems with their existing current transformers (see image above).

Our highly skilled engineers used their knowledge and experience, reviewed the problem and have offered an ITL solution. Our robust multi-core resin encapsulated current transformer complete with IP65 terminal box suitable for outdoor use, mounted on 120x5mm resin coated copper bar will definitely do the trick for the customer.

The Hydro Electric project is crucial for infrastructure and we understood the solution has to be swift. So we added significantly compressed lead time to the equation. The ability to deliver great results in a swift manner shows why our customers value ITL’s bespoke engineering & Scottish innovation.

Thinking ahead and educating the next generation

The time is relentlessly going forward and it is necessary for any successful business to think ahead. Otherwise you can find yourself in a seriously difficult position, as many utility companies can tell (link). We certainly want to avoid the black hole of generation skill gap in the future. So we believe in giving a chance to young, talented people who are eager to show what they are capable of. It can be a perilous task sometimes, for sure. It takes a lot of time, effort, money, and in some cases, patience. In the long run however, this is the best investment any company can make for the future.

As ITL was growing through the years we experienced an increasing number of enquiries coming our way and to ensure the same level of customer service we took a young technical designer on board. Kevin is with us for more than two years now, learning from our senior designers, getting experience in the field and growing with the business.

We continue moving forward and want to grow our business which means looking for new opportunities, different approaches and possible new markets. With help of Scotgrad we found an International Marketing Graduate to help us with market research and our online presence among other things.

It is a part of business to pass the experience and knowledge onto the next generation and develop young people in ways that are beneficial for both future business and the career of the individual. We make sure we offer great opportunities in a growing company operating in always evolving industry.