Augustus Oils manufactures and sells a range of essential oils, aromatherapy oils, botanical extracts and fragrance specialities. Produced in their modern, well-equipped facility in Alton, Hampshire, their processes include blending, analysis and distillation. These require an environment of unparalleled control of quality in order to produce innovative ranges of natural ingredients.
Augustus Oils approached KOHLER Uninterruptible Power with a requirement for a UPS and generator to provide backup power to their Alton facility. The building houses IT equipment, process equipment and analysis equipment, and the processes involved in manufacturing the products are both sensitive and expensive. As Mark Lister, IT Manager for Augustus Oils explains:
“The consequences of a power failure for the business would be extreme. As an example, the process for making one of the ingredients we work with, Agarwood essential oil, involves steaming 70Kg of wood for 8 hours in order to produce just 20ml of oil. This makes it extremely expensive – that 20ml would be worth around £400-£500 – and the oil may then be blended with precise amounts of similarly expensive ingredients. In the event of a power failure the process would have to be aborted and as a result, the batch would be ruined. That would mean having to let down our customers and miss deadlines, and of course a significant financial loss to Augustus Oils.”
In order to support a full building load of 250 kVA, KUP recommended a KOHLER PW 8000DPA 180kVA three-phase modular UPS, which was installed in February 2022. Designed to be one of the most reliable uninterruptible power supply systems in the industry, the KOHLER PW 8000DPA offers 24/7 six-nines availability and low total cost of ownership, with pay-as-you-grow flexibility. The UPS was installed in combination with a 200kVA standby generator, fuelled by cutting-edge sustainable HVO (hydro-treated vegetable oil).
The project was challenging since there was limited space available within the building to house the UPS and batteries. KUP overcame this issue by providing a temperature-controlled GRP enclosure outside the building.
KOHLER Uninterruptible Power, located in nearby Hook, Hampshire, was the obvious choice for Augustus Oils. Location and KUP’s unrivalled service support were noted as of high importance to the client, alongside 5 star customer reviews.
Mark Lister adds “We used to experience flickering lights and frequency variations of up to 10Hz due to our proximity to Alton’s main substation. Now with the installation of the PW 8000DPA UPS, we no longer experience any issues. The investment in the UPS and generator has given us peace of mind knowing that we can safely continue production and meet promised deadlines. I would highly recommend KUP.”
Learn more about how UPS and generators work together in this free On Demand Webinar: Sibling Harmony – Using Generators with UPS
In this CPD accredited webinar by KOHLER Uninterruptible Power and supported by KOHLER Power Systems, the reasons for deploying a generator as well as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system will be discussed along with the various considerations for specifying and installing a back-up generator.
In addition to looking at fault clearance and neutral-earth referencing, areas that experience shows can often be problematic when using these sibling technologies together, it will also highlight what information and questions to have ready when approaching a potential supplier.
