ASCO Releases new Critical Power Management System
July 10, 2019
ASCO Power Technologies, a provider of critical power solutions, releases the third generation of its Critical Power Management System (CPMS 3.0). This platform uses ASCO’s most advanced hardware and software to monitor and manage mission critical power equipment.
The ASCO CPMS provides a comprehensive scalable solution for monitoring and assessing data from utility transformers, engine-generators, transfer switches, switchgear, circuit breakers, load banks, surge protection systems, and more. It monitors power conditions and events, and then provides alarms and notifications via email and text according to user-defined settings. The CPMS sends information to local or remote displays, and to common building management systems via BACnet, Modbus, and SNMP.
The CPMS provides for direct control and testing of ASCO transfer switches and load banks. It can also directly control engine generators from major manufacturers, including Caterpillar, Cummins, MTU, Generac, and Kohler. Monitoring and control is provided through a single, intuitive user interface, eliminating the need to train personnel on monitoring and control systems from multiple manufacturers.
The CPMS provides sophisticated tools for assessing power conditions and usage, tracking power trends, and optimizing equipment performance. The platform works with power equipment from both ASCO and other major manufacturers. When used with ASCO’s power meters and high-resolution power quality meters, users can conduct in-depth analyses of power characteristics to enhance reliability and efficiency. When combined with the platform’s sequential event log and new visual playback feature, users can conduct forensic assessment of events and conditions with unprecedented speed and ease.
“The new CPMS playback feature is a game-changer,” says Mario Ibrahim, ASCO’s Director of Product Development and Innovation. “Engineers, managers, and technicians can see events transpire directly on one-line diagrams of their critical power systems. Utility power, engine-generator, transfer switch, and circuit breaker operations are shown sequentially with actual power metrics in a single view. This tool is the quickest way to evaluate reliability issues and optimize responding action. It makes the collection and evaluation of data from separate devices as easy as watching a video of mission-critical power events.”
To reduce the burden of regulatory and industry compliance, the newest CPMS provides extensive capabilities for automating the generation and distribution of power-related reports. The CPMS uses event log information to produce a variety of documents, including: (1) Utility Outage and Test Reports that comply with Joint Commission, CALEA, NFPA and CMS requirements; (2) Energy Usage Reports for benchmarking demand and complying with ASHRAE requirements; and (3) Power Quality Reports that support forensic assessment and EN 50160 compliance. The newest CPMS also automatically generates and distributes Alarm Summary, Transfer Switch Settings, User Activity, Historical Alarm, ITIC, and Sequence of Event reports.
“Our newest reporting capabilities have generated a great deal of interest,” says Ibrahim. “Power facility managers especially understand the amount of work associated with compliance reporting. Automating this burden makes facility personnel available for other important tasks.”
The CPMS platform is supported by a comprehensive suite of hardware that can be configured to meet virtually any critical power monitoring and management need. ASCO offers a full range of CPMS servers that provide optimized performance for systems of every scale. In addition, ASCO connectivity products accept direct IO, Ethernet, and RS485 inputs from power devices, and transmits them over copper or fiber Ethernet networks for distances of up to one mile. ASCO connectivity units can be installed as repeaters to extend networks farther when necessary.
“That’s the beauty of CPMS 3.0 … it’s so scalable.” says Adrian Ramkelawan, ASCO’s CPMS Product Manager. “We can customize solutions for almost anything a customer might need — custom one-line diagrams and floor plans, redundant servers, extended event log capabilities — yet provide cost-effective solutions for straightforward systems requiring only essential functions.”
The CPMS utilizes the latest power management innovations from ASCO’s PowerQuest® product lineup, which provides a broad range of solutions for managing device, system, facility, and multi-site power assets. ASCO expects the CPMS to serve facilities in a variety of industries, and has noted special interest by decision makers in the healthcare, data center, telecom, and commercial sectors.
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