Well it’s that time of the year for us at Macquarie Island, the season is drawing to an end and we have to complete two necessary tasks so we can hand over to the 77th crew.
For the Mechanical team [middle class Mike], we get to attempt the annual power house shut at the Emergency Power House [EPH] and the Main Power House [MPH]. These tasks require assistance from the plumbing team [Dingo Dan] and the electrical team [Scotty the Shang and Bunge].
The EPH was first task so we unwinterized the Cat 3306 engines ready for testing. This power house is old school analogue, all circuits and sensors were tested for accuracy before we load tested the engines to find their limits. The load test result was pretty impressive for these engines they still deliver a good result.
We shifted the electricity generation over to the EPH so we could carry out the next task the MPH annual shut.
The MPH is the power hose we run on for 98% of the season, it houses two Generators driven by Cat C9 engines which to date have performed well. This annual task is to check and confirm all electrical circuits are working as they should, load test the engines, check the site services heat exchangers, pumps and lastly check the fog suppression system is operational. After a clean-up we will run on this power house till the end of the season.
A big thanks to the trades involved that assisted with consistent banter and smooth running of these tasks, it’s been fun.
Cheers Mike [Dieso]
