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Managing Energy Use at an Amusement Park
Challenge
An amusement park uses large air compressors to controls many of the rides throughout the park.
In the mornings when the compressors were turned on, maintenance workers would have to wait for air pressure to build up to operating levels, about 30 minutes, before they could perform their maintenance duties on the rides.
If someone forgot to turn off the compressors, they would remain running overnight after the park closed down, wasting energy.
Solution
To automatically turn on and off these compressors, SureCross MultiHop radios, with repeaters, were installed to control the compressors. Each compressor used a slave radio, a repeater radio was installed on a tall structure in the middle of the park, and the master radio was installed in a control booth connected to an HMI system.
The HMI system was programmed to automatically send a signal to each slave installed with an air compressor to turn on the compressor 30 minutes before the maintenance crew’s shift began, eliminating the time spent waiting for air pressure to build up.
The HMI system also signaled when each air compressor should shut down for the evening so that the equipment was not running overnight or shut down during the day when the compressor was not needed.
Shutting down the equipment when it was not needed reduced energy use and saved the amusement park energy costs. Turning on the equipment prior to the start of the maintenance crew’s shift also eliminated the time normally spent waiting for the air pressure to build up to operating levels, allowing personnel to be more productive.
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