ETEC SuperCharge™ Bridge Power Manager Field Validation

ETEC - Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation
Kevin Morrow

By Kevin Morrow, Vice President, ETEC - Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation

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John F. Kennedy Airport along with other New York airports such as LaGuardia, Islip, Westchester County, and Albany International are known to be a considerable point source of air pollution in the state.

A major source of air pollution identified at these airports comes from ground support equipment (GSE) used on the airport airside. GSE includes everything from baggage tractors, belt loaders to the lavatory carts and small personnel carriers.

Currently, most of this equipment runs on diesel or gasoline with electric having less than 10% of the market segment. Poor charging technology and typical costs of adding the required electrical infrastructure to each gate, has limited electric GSE (eGSE) from growing in this market segment to make a significant impact. Now, new fast charging techniques developed for the On-road market combined with sophisticated load control allows eGSE to compete successfully with gasoline and diesel GSE on the airport tarmac.

Deploying fast charging for eGSE on the airport tarmac can be accomplished by any of the methods listed below.

  1. Share existing 480V/3PH, 60Hz power that supplies the gate bridge
  2. Share power from existing 400Hz systems that may have additional capacity available
  3. Provide a new dedicated electrical circuit to the charging site on the airport tarmac.

Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (ETEC) along with Delta Airlines and our New York partners, Oxford Airport Technical Services and JC Electrics Service Corporation successfully validated the first option listed above, "Share existing 480V/3PH, 60Hz power that supplies the gate bridge."

Project Scope

In order to validate that it is technically feasible and cost effective to share power with an airport jet bridge, two different Delta jet bridges were selected at JFK Airport where an ETEC SuperCharge(tm) GSE-200SP universal fast charger was installed, each with a companion ETEC Bridge Power Manager(tm) (BPM).

Electric bag tractors were assigned to these gates and were instrumented with data collection equipment, along with additional data loggers on the AC Power supply to the BPM and SuperCharge system. Figures S-1 and S-2 show the installation of an ETEC SuperCharge(tm) GSE-200SP and BPM at Gate 16 and 7 respectfully. Installation cost data was collected and reported herein. Although we believe the installation

Supercharge GSE-200SP and BMP at Gate 16
Fig. S-1- Supercharge GSE-200SP and BMP at Gate 16

Supercharge GCE-200SP and BPM (inset) at Gate 7
Fig. S-2 - Supercharge GCE-200SP and BPM (inset) at Gate 7

cost of $6,347.50 per gate (not including engineering and permitting) to be a reasonable representation of what an airline could expect, considering the research nature of this project, and the fact that only two chargers were installed, we would expect lower installation costs per gate on average where larger systems are deployed due to significant economies in labor costs.

Summary Conclusion

The project was successful in validating the concept of sharing existing Jet Bridge Power without causing any interruption of service to the Jet Bridge. There was adequate available charge time to meet the needs of ramp personnel to effectively keep the electric bag tractors charged. Figures S-3 and S-4 show how the PM managed the SuperCharge system during higher bridge loading without impact to the Jet Bridge operation.

BPM at 50% Power Limiting - Gate 16
Fig. S-3 - BPM at 50% Power Limiting - Gate 16

BPM at 0% Power Limiting - Gate 7
Fig. S-4 - BPM at 0% Power Limiting - Gate 7

Kevin Morrow

Author Information - Kevin Morrow

Vice President

Mr. Morrow holds the position of Vice President at Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (ETEC). In that role Mr. Morrow is responsible for the Marketing and Sales of ETEC's Airport GSE Products and Services.

Prior to Mr. Morrow's position at ETEC, he was responsible for Salt River Project's (SRP) Electric Vehicle Program from it's inception. During the term of Mr. Morrow's control, SRP grew to be known as a leading utility in the electric vehicle industry. He has been involved in all aspects of electric vehicle programs including vehicle research and fleet integration, overseeing EV Marketing programs, public relations and education programs. Mr. Morrow played an active role in the market launch of General Motor's EV1 in Arizona and has lead the development of training and sales materials for commercial charge stations.

Mr. Morrow holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. Mr. Morrow is past Chairman of the Electric Power Research Institute Battery Working Committee, and past member of the National Infrastructure Working Council Steering Committee (IWC). Mr. Morrow is a current member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) AGE-2C Vehicle Maintenance and Aircraft Servicing Committee, and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

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