South Bend, IN

University of Notre Dame – Turbomachinery Lab

For a large university’s new turbomachinery lab, we designed and installed programmable logic controls and human interface screens.

Turbomachinery Lab on the campus of Notre Dame

Value Delivered

For the University of Notre Dame’s (UND) new 25,000-square-foot gas turbine research and development laboratory, Havel helped integrate all the offices, equipment, and machines with programmable controls to meet the demands of their growing infrastructure.

Client Objectives

The laboratory performs research, testing, and workforce development for technologies that are critical to major original equipment manufacturers in the aerospace propulsion and power generation industries. UND needed a process control system and air conditioning solutions for this advanced facility.

Solutions

Havel provided design, specification, fabrication, configuration, programming, and startup services. Our solutions included:

  • Programmable logic controller (PLC) control panel assemblies and schematics
  • PLC input/output and instrumentation
  • PLC primary process control and data storage
  • PLC controls for vacuum blowers, air compressors, closed circuit coolers, air-cooled chiller, and associated pumps
  • Design of human machine interface screens 
  • Installation of four air handling units for space conditioning in offices, test space, and machine rooms 

We also developed a sequence of operation, and tested the operation of systems in a simulation environment. Using a pre-scripted validation-approved process, we performed a system checkpoint and final testing, with documentation, under the guidance of a third-party commissioning team.

Client Background

The University of Notre is a private Catholic research university founded in 1842 and recognized as one of the top universities in the U.S.