DeDad Consulting can provide the following on-site seminars and online webinars:

Business

Claim Litigation: Strengthening Your Case Through Good Project Management

Course Synopsis: As a project manager, you may run into undesirable and/or unplanned working conditions that are beyond your control. But when these conditions cause the cost of installation to increase beyond the scope of your contract, you must take measures to retrieve those costs by developing a claim against the Owner, Architect, Engineer, and/or Construction Manager. This course helps build a case for reimbursement by showing the following:

• How productivity decreases in overtime with an accelerated schedule.
• How to justify additional engineering costs for extra work.
• Hot to evaluate and justify extended overhead and job expenses.
• How borrowing capital affects project financing.
• How joint occupancy with other construction forces can negatively affect productivity.
• How to address liquidated damage clauses and requests for time extension.

Good Project Management: Improving the Bottom Line

Course Synopsis: The work of a project manager begins way before the first worker shows up at the construction site. And arguably, the project manager’s most important task is to get the project started. Basically, the project manager is preparing the work for the field. There are many important factors of the contracted work that are outside the control of the field crew. Yet, these factors can have a significant bearing on the financial success of the construction project. So, it’s the project manager’s responsibility to try to address these factors while supporting the field crew on a continuing basis to ensure smooth operations. This course covers the following:

• Paperwork preparation and job setup
• Engineering design
• Material scheduling
• Tool scheduling
• Estimate evaluation

Poor Working Drawings: The Construction Industry’s Prevailing Problem

Course Synopsis: The problem of poor working drawings has not diminished and continues to plague consulting engineers and installing contractors. The problem stems from a number of factors and sources. Owners and end-users are not educated on the value of investing the required funds upfront for a complete and accurate set of installation plans. The same goes for architects who search for the low bidder-consulting engineer to be a member of the design team. A complete and accurate design results in cost savings because fewer extras are submitted and claim submissions are reduced. This course discusses the role of each participant in the construction process, the perception of each by their counterparts, and provides suggestions on how to diminish the severity of the problem.

Electrical Power Engineering: Industry Shortcomings and Possible Solutions

Course Synopsis: The combination of continued growth and a shrinking labor force could spell disaster for the electrical construction industry. Of specific concern is the continued reduction in student graduating with an engineering degree. In fact, the supply of engineers is falling short of demand. This course discusses this critical problem in detail and points out what companies can do with current and future employees. Included are discussions on the following:

• Perceptions of the construction industry on graduating engineers.
• Investments in training and education.
• The use of multimedia tools.

Medium Voltage Power Cable: Construction and Testing

Shielded medium-voltage (MV) power cable (5kV to 35kV) has long been considered a commodity product, with little differentiation between competing product offerings. The basic construction and physical and electrical performance properties of this type of cable are very similar from one make to another. However, you have a choice of insulations, metallic shields, and jackets, all of which depend on the specific power system requirements, installation rigors, service conditions, and environmental factors. This course details each of the components in an MV power cable, their respective functions, and variations available. It also discusses factory, acceptance, and field proof testing. Also, the course compares the two types of field testing (high-potential and partial discharge).

Medium Voltage Power Cable: Pulling Factors and Calculations

Pulling medium-voltage (MV) power cable is a difficult task. If the installation does not follow proper procedures, the task becomes even more difficult and pointless if the power cable fails because of damage caused by the pull. Even the slightest oversights in determining the maximum allowable pulling tension can cause problems. Pulling MV cable is not just about slopping on a lubricant and applying brute force. An MV cable is like a piece of sophisticated switchgear, having various components that interact with one another to safely handle voltage and current. Damage to any one of these components during the pull can cause the power cable to fail. This course provides a step-by-step approach to cable pulling, including how to calculate pulling tensions based on raceway design and configuration.

Technical

MV Power Cable Shielding: Verifying Ground-Fault Coordination

Course synopsis: The metallic shielding in a medium-voltage (MV) cable provides the necessary uniform electric field within the cable’s insulation. What is not as well known is its other equally important function: Carrying a portion of the return ground fault current. This course provides information on how to determine the magnitude of ground-fault current carried by the metallic shields of a feeder, in respect to its cable/raceway configuration. It also shows how to determine if the circular mil area of a specific metallic shield is sufficient to carry the calculated ground-fault currents within the operational time frame of ground-fault relays and other protective devices.

Ground Fault Currents: Problems and Solutions

Course Synopsis: This course shows that when designing ground-fault protection (GFP) for a power distribution system, it is very important to consider the nature of the power source, especially if it is from a separately derived system. It is here that certain rules and guidelines must be followed so that the ground fault protection will work properly and protect the system. Per the National Electrical Code (NEC), an engine generator set is a separately derived system. The effect of a generator set and its transfer switch on the operation of GFP equipment requires close attention, mainly because of the multiple neutral-to-ground connections. This course provides information on NEC issues and problems associated with multiple neutral-to-ground connections.

Mitigating Harmonics In Commercial Environments

Course Synopsis: With the ever-increasing population of single-phase nonlinear loads, such as equipment with switch mode power supplies, electronic lighting ballasts, and single-phase motor drives, the problems associated with triplen harmonics in commercial environments has increased significantly. Overheated transformers and shared neutral conductors in 4-wire branch circuits have resulted in office partition failures and power failures. This course discusses the basics of harmonics, how nonlinear loads generate them, symptoms associated with the presence of triplen harmonics, the resulting voltage distortion, and equipment and wiring methods to cope with or mitigate harmonic currents.

Voltage Sag: Causes, Equipment Susceptibility, and Product Solutions

Course Synopsis: Voltage sag is a power quality problem resulting from faults in the power distribution system and switching actions to isolate faulted sections. Utilities are faced with increasing numbers of complaints about the quality of power due to sags as well as interruptions. This is because customers in all sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional) have more susceptible loads. This course covers the various causes of voltage sag, industry studies such the System Average RMS Variation Frequency Index (SARFI) that characterize and quantify voltage sags, equipment susceptibility performance based on CBEMA and ITIC, and solutions to the voltage sag problem at the end user level.

Conducting a Power Quality Site Analysis: A Step-By-Step Approach

Course Synopsis: You’ve been asked to do a power quality site analysis and you’re confronted with complex feeder and branch distribution systems. Furthermore, all you have to work with are vague indications of symptoms. Where do you begin? This course provides information on preliminary actions, suggested initial and advanced testing, and waveform analysis, along with tips on what type of test and measurement equipment to use.

Distributed Generation: Products, Trends, and Benefits

Course Synopsis: Whether driven by the need for additional base load, peaking power, or being afflicted with power quality concerns, distributed generation (DG) is increasingly a viable solution to solve energy needs. Distributed generation offers many perceived benefits, the most promising of which is the easing of the strain on today’s transmission and distribution networks, which are already being pushed to their limits and face even greater pressure in the coming years. This course details the currently available technologies (reciprocating engines, turbines, micro-turbines, fuel cells, photovoltaics, wind turbines), along with their key characteristics and applications.

Power Outages: Preventive Electrical Designs and Product Solutions

Course Synopsis: Past large-scale power outages and momentary power glitches, as well as their negative effect on businesses, have brought to mind the importance of good power distribution design concepts, with emphasis on reliability, flexibility, expandability, and ease of maintenance. Also, proper equipment selection, with emphasis on the types of possible problems, the anticipated interaction with susceptible electronic equipment, the degree of reliability required, and the amount of required kVA to satisfy the critical loads, come into play. This course details the varying electrical distribution design concepts, their advantages and disadvantages, and the application of distribution equipment.

Short-Term, Long-Term Energy Storage Methods For Standby Electric Power Systems

Course Synopsis: Not long ago, power quality was a technical issue that interested only a few highly specialized experts. However, the rapid rise of digital technology has made it a widespread concern. Today we have production lines that are vulnerable to small power quality disturbances because they rely on digital controls. Even a drop of 30 percent in voltage that lasts just a few cycles can close down an entire plant. To make matter worse, recovery from outages can take several hours, making a power quality event very costly to a facility. Because the majority of power quality events are so short in duration, the most likely choice for combating these problems is an energy storage device. This course discusses the various technologies available, including batteries, flywheels, fuel cells, ultracapacitors, and superconductivity magnetic energy storage (SMES).

Custom training courses are available upon request. Please contact us for a detailed discussion of topics, format, logistics, etc.