In today’s digital technology-driven age, downtime isn’t an option. Because of this, choosing to work with a team of industrial electrical subcontractors is paramount for securing reliability, resilience, and cost-effectiveness. Even just a few minutes of a power outage can wreak havoc on data centers in Houston, causing systems to fail and millions of dollars to go down the drain. Consider this blog your guide to understanding the precision required to ensure mission-critical data center success, regardless of surges or environmental hazards. At RUS Industrial, we prioritize understanding our projects from the inside out, enabling us to identify and create tailored solutions for our clients.
Most data centers require the same amount of power as a small city. Because of this, the infrastructure must be able to handle massive amounts of system stress while delivering consistent, high-quality power. This demands a skill set much more specialized than that of a residential electrician. Here at RUS Industrial in Houston, our team of industrial electrical subcontractors is experts in the mission-critical data center anatomy, making our team a key asset to your project.
The Industrial Electrical Subcontractor’s Domain: Primary Power and Medium Voltage Infrastructure
The primary role of industrial electrical contractors is to build the foundational infrastructure for the electrical system, ensuring the facility’s power is reliable and consistent from the ground up. At RUS Industrial, we begin this by coordinating and installing the layers of infrastructure, layer by layer. Starting with the service entrance and main switch gears, which require careful and meticulous utility coordination. This is a vital first step for ensuring the rest of the system is able to function properly. Within this phase, we work to properly size and scale the switchgear for the center, using our professional-grade materials and manufacturers for increased performance.
Another key component of the foundational layer of your data center’s electrical infrastructure is the transformer. This can pose a large problem if stepping down the voltage isn’t prioritized. Stepping down voltage is how transformers convert a utility or medium voltage power supply into a form of energy that can be used for both service equipment and support systems within your facility. This allows the transformer to turn massive loads of incoming voltage into bite-sized, usable voltage that is more appropriate for your data center’s support system infrastructure.
By ensuring that the transformers are properly stepped down and utility companies are able to accurately supply your power, our team at RUS Industrial can make a lasting difference on both the reliability of your operation as well as the overall cost of running it.
How Electrical Infrastructure Impacts Financial Payoffs and Efficiency
Using low-loss transformers, such as a K-rated or high-efficiency, dry-classification, can make a huge impact on minimizing the heat being created during operations. This leads to lower cooling costs, as well as higher performance quality. By working with RUS Industrial, you can be confident that your Power Usage Effectiveness score will increase, saving your company millions in power usage.
Additionally, power outages in data centers can lead to widespread downtime, costing you massive amounts of capital in lost time and replacements. We work meticulously to ensure that there is no single point that will result in a complete shutdown. This can be done skillfully and meticulously by separating the A and B side feeds, allowing you to have remarkably reliable failsafes.
An Uninterruptible Power Supply: How Your Subcontractor Ensures Fail-Proof Electrical Backups
The mission control data center’s primary goal is to avoid power failures at all times. The solution isn’t just a giant generator; it’s the uninterruptible power supply within the center. This system operates as a lightning-quick defense system that keeps any issues from reaching the primary source of power. This requires expert skills and knowledge of the system, as well as battery choices for your data center’s unique needs. Because of this, working with RUS Industrial is a non-negotiable for a durable backup power system in your Houston data center.
This system has two main functions: bridging the power gap and cleaning the power.
- Bridging the power gap: Your facility’s Uninterruptible Power System is what makes power snap back on in a single instant when typical utility service fails. What makes this system unique is that it can power the entire facility for the vital nanoseconds before your backups kick in. This keeps operations running smoothly without dangerous surges.
- Power conditioning: The Uninterruptible Power System also plays a key role in continuously cleaning up any impure utility power that could contain dips and surges. This helps to ensure that your data center’s power is continuous and smooth at all times.
Battery strings are also something your industrial electrical subcontractor can offer key insight into. These work by helping convert stored Direct Current power into Alternating Current energy through the Uninterruptible Power Systems inverters during a power outage. This is a critical aspect of backup systems and your data center’s electrical infrastructure.
Industrial Electrical Heavyweights: Energy Power Generation
In the case of severe, historic-level outages, when your Uninterruptible Power Systems fail, the final line of defense is your data center’s web of generators. While many Houstonians might be more familiar with generators than the average person, data centers demand a supersized, incredibly powerful system of generators for when disaster strikes. This is one of the most intricate aspects of the role of an industrial electrical subcontractor, as the sizing, installation, and synchronization of these units are incredibly complex and sensitive.
The sizing of the generators is vital, as it determines not just their power output but also their successful cooling. The major factors that go into the sizing process include:
- Average temperature and altitude of the site to prevent derating
- Non-linear Uninterruptible Power System loads
- Complete fuel system and cooling chiller power systems
Perfect and consistent synchronization is also essential to handle a massive, fluctuating power load during a shutdown. When it comes to your mission-critical data center, your team of industrial electrical subcontractors can help you decide if diesel or natural gas is better for your unique risk factor. At RUS Industrial, we specialize in subcontractors for data center electrical systems, so not only will your system be reliable when you partner with us, but we will also ensure that you understand its needs inside and out.
Lastly, automatic transfer switches are a vital aspect of the last line of defense against a power outage. These automatically start the generators when a failure is detected. This is especially important for preventing dips and surges that could drastically degrade power quality. Data centers require not only relentless power flow, but also intentional protection against spikes and dips during outages.
Creating a Blueprint for Resilience With Your Industrial Electrical Subcontractor
Mission-critical data centers require much more than just simple utility power. From the large-scale utility feed, down to every individual server rack, each layer of the infrastructure is essential for ensuring resilience and reliability. At RUS Industrial, we create durable, powerful electrical systems for mission-critical data centers. Let us help you create a system that can withstand the spikes, surges, and dips that the future may hold. Contact us today for a free estimate for industrial electrical subcontracting for your data center project.