“More Power” for Mayday Sand Mine, Valdosta, Georgia

Do you remember the catch phrase “More power!” from the old sitcom “Home Improvement”? That is what Single Phase Power Solutions, LLC (SPPS) and a Georgia electrical utility is bringing to the Mayday Sand Mine, a division of Rountree Materials, Inc., near Valdosta, GA.

The local power company was faced with a dilemma: How to supply three-phase power to a sand mine moving into their service area when the nearest three-phase line was many miles away. SPPS was excited to offer a turnkey engineered solution to this unique problem, providing a win for both the utility and their customer. SPPS will install two 100 HP Written-Pole® 1-to-3™ Power Source units at the mine.

The Rountree Materials’ mine at a previous location was served with three-phase power, but the mining operation was running out of sand, and had to move to a new location where only single-phase power was available. This posed unusual challenges for them and their utility supplier. Bringing in three-phase service to the new location was cost prohibitive and a diesel generator would have huge ongoing costs of fuel and maintenance.  The power company decided to investigate the use of single phase to three phase power converters for the motors.

Three phase motors pull 5 to 6 times their full load amperage (FLA) at start-up and, making matters worse, that large current has a very bad power factor. The sand mine has several three phase motors in the 10HP to 30HP range and the largest motor is 40 HP. The power company’s long, single phase line could experience significant flicker issues using conventional phase conversion technology.

Engineers at the utility reached out to SPPS. Working in concert with them, the SPPS engineering team designed and tested a system to meet the specific needs the Mayday Sand Mine presented. A SPPS Written-Pole® 1-to-3™ Power Source incorporates a 100 HP Single-Phase Written-Pole electric motor on the input side with a rugged three-phase Mecc Alte generator on the output side. The 100HP Written Pole single phase motor starts with only 1.7 times FLA and at a great power factor which avoids flicker issues on the single phase line. The Mecc Alte three phase generator provides the customer with a true, balanced, three-phase supply voltage. The power company’s single phase line is isolated from the startup current of the sand mines motors and only experiences the load of the 100hp motor at unity power factor. In the SPPS Written-Pole® 1-to-3™ Power Source, a large flywheel provides additional energy during start-up of the three-phase motor load for this demanding application. In actual lab tests, the unit with optional flywheel could start a 50 HP three-phase motor and additional smaller motors up to rated horsepower of the Written-Pole single-phase motor-driver.

SPPS offered a single source turn-key solution to the power company providing engineering, testing, and contracting services as well as the equipment. Our SPPS Written-Pole® 1-to-3™ Power Source equipment package offers total electrical isolation, unity power factor, and low harmonics down the line while delivering high efficiency and isolated three-phase motor starting from the single-phase line.

The time has come to bring “more power” to Rountree Materials, Inc. SPPS Written-Pole® 1-to-3™ Power Source will do just that!

Let SPPS help you with your single-phase power solutions. For additional product information, please visit our website www.sppowersolutions.com or call us at 877-430-5634.

At the 1-to-3 install site at Mayday Sand Mine, Rountree Materials, Valdosta Georgia. From L to R, Ronn Barber, SPPS Chief Consulting Engineer, Drew Abbott, SPPS President, Mark Goettler, SPPS Technical Specialist