The Power Plant

I just thought I'd put a few pictures of the South Pole power plant on here and include some technical specs and a quick rundown of what it is, exactly, that I'm doing here. The plant consists of three Caterpillar 3512B generators with a nameplate rating of 1015kW (derated to 750kW for altitude). These engines are twin turbocharged, aftercooled, mechanical/electronic unit fuel injected. They have a 6.7" bore and a 7.5" stroke with a total displacement of 3158 cubic inches (51.8L).

Here is one of the 3512B generators

There is also a Caterpillar 3406 ("peaker") in the plant. Normally, only one of the big engines is running, and if demand goes above 675kW for one hour, the "peaker" will start to carry part of the load. With one running, one can be in backup mode and the other down for maintenance..which is where I come in. Myself and two other people provide 24 hour/day coverage in the plant and perform any preventive or corrective maintenance on the engines. We also perform checks of the engines and heating systems every two hours. The engine coolant is routed through a heat exchanger which provides heat to the station, so we keep an eye on all of the engine cooling/station heating systems in addition to electricity production.

Inside the Power Plant

Pictured above and below are the individual "heat rejection skids" for the engines and various other station heating piping

Below is the switchgear for one of the generators, each one has its own and there is a master controller in the "control room" (of all places)

Pole

Well, I've been at the South Pole for about a week now and settling in. The physical elevation here is 9,300 ft, add to that the effect of being at the end of the earth...all the air is forced towards the equator by the spinning of the earth, and the physiological elevation can be quite high...currently floating around the 10,900 ft. mark. I've been short of breath and I had a maddening headache for the first day or so that I was here, but I'm feeling fairly well now. I'm really excited about the new job. Something about being around big engines excites me. I am working midnight to 8 am (or 10 am some days) and will be just about the only person on nights after Friday. Friday is the last day for flights out of here until late October or early November...so if I can just hang on until Friday...they can't even fire me :) When I got here, it was -45 and has gotten colder, that's probably the warmest I will see until I leave.

More to follow