Replacing an end of life UPS with our third generation transformerless Sentryum helps Belfast International Airport reach new heights.
The airport is Northern Ireland’s biggest and is also the second busiest on the island of Ireland.
Located 13 miles northwest of Belfast near Aldergrove village, more than 6.2 million passengers used its services during 2018. This ranks Belfast International Airport in the top 10 of all UK airports.
Operators such as easyJet, Jet2.com and Ryanair use the airport to fly to UK mainland sites and several popular holiday destinations including Alicante, Amsterdam, Faro and Malaga.
Belfast International Airport opened in 1917, originally as a Royal Air Force base in the First World War. It was reopened by HRH Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother as a civil airport in October 1963 and has catered for tens of millions of passengers.
On 30 November 1995, the iconic Air Force One landed at the airport transporting Bill and Hilary Clinton on the first-ever visit to Northern Ireland by a serving US President.
UPS Replacement Required
As a mission-critical site, Belfast International Airport has several uninterruptible power supplies installed to backup crucial IT and operational systems.
Any loss of power would lead to huge disruption and damaging delays for passengers. The financial and reputational costs to the airport could be huge.
“One of our main IT UPS systems was coming to the end of its lifecycle and needed to be replaced. The UPS in question supports critical IT infrastructure at the airport.
“Whilst we have many redundant systems in place, it is very important all our UPS systems are fully-functional to avoid any power loss and possible disruption to the airport’s IT systems.”
– Chris McGarry, IT Manager for Belfast International Airport
Project Partners
Riello UPS certified reseller and service partner Ashdale Engineering Ltd has worked for Belfast International Airport for more than 20 years.
The Belfast-based electrical engineering company has supplied and maintained several UPS systems at the airport and also carry the stringent accreditations that BIA requires for all vendors.
When it came to replacing the existing end of life 10 kVA UPS in this case study, Ashdale Engineering Ltd identified an obvious choice.
“Riello UPS’s new transformerless range the Sentryum was the ideal replacement for the existing UPS system.
“In this case, we supplied a 15 kVA single-phase input and output UPS with internal batteries providing a runtime of five minutes.”
– Colin Simms, Operations Director for Ashdale Engineering Ltd
Sentryum Solution
Available in 10, 15 and 20 kVA versions, the Sentryum delivers unity power factor and exceptional efficiency of up to 96.5% in online mode.
The range is Riello UPS’s third generation of transformerless uninterruptible power supplies and is easier and more cost-effective to maintain than previous models.
It also comes with three different cabinet sizes, which offers end-users a choice depending on their available floorspace and required battery autonomy.
For the Belfast International Airport installation, the Compact (CPT) cabinet took up a footprint of less than 0.25m2 in its main IT communications room.
The installation involved single-phase input and output, although the Sentryum does offer the versatility of three-phase input, single-phase output or three-phase input and output too.
Pass With Flying Colours
The system upgrade also saw an external wrap around bypass fitted with the Sentryum wired to it. This enabled the load and supply cables from the existing setup to feed into the new bypass arrangement.
“We already have several Riello UPS systems onsite and are satisfied with their reliability and features. We monitor them over IP and found the NetMan 204 communications card very easy to install and set up.
“So we were delighted when Ashdale Engineering Ltd recommended Riello UPS’s latest transformerless unit for this project.
“We’re very pleased with the project. Ashdale Engineering Ltd was able to manage the UPS changeover with the minimum of disruption.
“As much work as possible was done during normal hours, with final connections made out of hours at a time that suited the airport, resulting in the least downtime possible.”
– Chris McGarry, IT Manager for Belfast International Airport
