The Swartz Power Control Rooms designs are inspired by a feedback loop, which is a way in which the electrical current of a circuit can be measured and controlled. The monitoring room, or main control area, comprises two types of spaces: the lower circular zone with an overhead dome and the vertical zone with an exposed steel shell.
Both zones are illuminated through the use of linear lighting units that create both shadows and light relief. Whereas the lower zone is used to monitor and record, the vertical zone serves as a control room. The lower zone of the control room is designed as a circular space, illuminated by linear lighting strips.
It contains all the necessary equipment for monitoring and recording the electrical current in the circuit to be compared to a reference value set at regular intervals, such as every 100 ms. The vertical zone contains equipment that enables devising optimal power flow structures on operational and technical levels. These optimal structures are then superimposed on the space-time pattern of the current that is being recorded.
The geometric arrangement of equipment in the vertical zone also creates an open and transparent spatial structure, linking the monitoring room and the control room together; the two rooms are connected via a staircase.
In order to keep as much of the machine visible as possible, all electrical machines, in this case, have been designed with a pentagonal form factor. This means that the power plant is kept as visible as possible.
The district heating power plant is designed to be used for various applications, such as district heating, biomass production, peak usage in the summertime, or temporary storage. In order to allow more flexibility in the operation of the plant, the cogeneration module consists of three smaller modules that can be combined to generate a total of 50 MWh per year. The total annual output of the power plant is therefore 200 MWh.
Due to the fact that Swartz Power Control Rooms are designed in such a way that they can be used as a district heating system, the three cogeneration modules are positioned on three different levels. The upper module generates electricity, while the middle module acts as an intermediate heat exchanger. The lower module contains two steam pipes that lead to the water heating grid.
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