Power Cogeneration: System Advantages and Resiliency Benefits

Power cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP), is not only a smart choice for the environment, but it’s also great for the bottom line. It produces electricity and thermal energy on-site, replacing or supplementing electricity provided from the local utility, significantly improving energy efficiency. Incorporating commercially available technology, CHP can provide an immediate solution to pressing energy problems.

Cogeneration solutions represent a proven and effective near-term energy option to help enhance energy efficiency, ensure environmental quality, promote economic growth, and foster a robust, long-term and resilient energy infrastructure. In 2020, energy production in the United States fell to just below 96 quadrillion British thermal units, down more than 5% from 2019’s record high, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In fact, cogeneration is one of the few options in energy alternatives that combines environmental effectiveness with economic viability and improved competitiveness.

Why does cogeneration make sense? 

Simply put: cogeneration lowers demand on the electricity delivery system, frequently reduces stress on traditional energy supplies, makes businesses more competitive by lowering their costs and reduces greenhouse gases. Such CHP technology is quickly deployed, cost-effective and has few limitations on where and how it is established. In fact, The United States Department of Energy has a goal of having CHP constitute 20% of generation capacity by the year 2030. 

Cogeneration is an indictment of and reinforces the critical need for infrastructure investments toward a next-generation energy system. Already used by many large industrial, commercial, and institutional facilities, cogeneration is a proven and effective energy resource, deployable today, that can help address current and future US energy needs. 

Though more widely adopted in Europe, cogeneration has been growing in popularity throughout the past decade in the United States. High electric rates, for example, in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states make these areas of the country among the most beneficial for cogeneration. 

According to Bloomberg, cities like Hoboken, New Jersey, are looking to build self-sustaining cogeneration plants that will in conjunction with other natural energy sources create microgrids for supplying power to residents and businesses. These would deploy utility services when electrical demand rises or is needed, such as during arresting temperatures in the summer and winter months when usage for cooling or heating increases, or after natural disasters such as flooding or winter storms. 

Resilient. Self-reliant. Cost-effective. The list goes on and on, but cogeneration is indeed a more efficient use of energy, because heat from electricity generation that would have been wasted is put to productive use. This is why it is important that factories, power plants and large-scale facilities need to have the right partner when installing a cogeneration network. For more than 15 years, electrical installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), lead by President Hugh R O’Kane; has become a leading specializer in alternative power projects for New York City and its metro area. The company has been upgrading, expanding and installing power sources for a variety of public and private enterprises on a regular basis for over 75 years. 

This institutional expertise Hugh O’Kane is able to provide to private and public entities is paramount in order to design and implement network projects that can successfully expand their service offerings to increase their market share and gain more customers. This lineage and industry expertise has afforded Hugh O’Kane a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of existing networks much more easily. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane is able to take the time required to provide an alternative power infrastructure needed to ensure continuous, robust energy for municipalities, corporations and private enterprises.

It’s About Speed and Bandwidth: CAT6 vs. Fiber

With the profound adoption of wi-fi allowing for seamless, easier access to the internet, it made connecting multiple devices easier and eliminated the need for enterprise networks and also home users to be tethered by cables. But the higher the number of units logging on to the internet arrests data speeds and congests bandwidth for the home user or business proprietor.

This, especially for enterprises, caused serious problems at point-of-sale connections, with administrative transactions and overall reliability for conducting everyday business. Therefore, not only private residences but also commercial establishments continue to seek the fastest and most consistent connection possible. 

In the US, fiber internet service has been available to businesses in almost all parts of the country, including today some of the most remote locations outside of urban centers. At speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second, there is no doubt that fiber internet indeed delivers fast downloads

But which cabling is the best? Cat6 or Fiber?

According to industry analysts, as an example, if broadband download speed is 50Mbps with the average U.S download speeds in 2020 were 54.99 Mbps, downloading a game, 100 songs, a full HD quality movie or 100 photos is up to 20 times faster with a Gigabit fiber connection. In fact, according Bloomberg, about 16% of cable subscribers are connected with fiber optic lines, according to research by Cowen & Co.

Fiber optic cabling works by using light as opposed to electricity for transmitting data. As light is the fastest mode of transferring any type of information, fiber optic cabling remains a solid choice not only for private residences, but especially for enterprises, corporations and companies that cannot afford slower transmissions or congested bandwidth issues.  

In addition, fiber capability is more resilient when it comes to electrical interference, making it immune to electrical interference. The immunity of light to resistance allows fiber to be run over extremely long distances. This means that a multinational corporations with say, headquarters in New York and field offices in Europe, can run countries apart without any need for boosting or cleaning the signal.

On the other hand, a Cat6 cable for computer networks can reach a GB, 1000 Mbps or one Gbps of data transfer speed (DTR) or higher, according to industry averages. Cat 6 cable is also supported by Ethernet networks, including 10BaseT, 100Base-TX, 1000 Base-T and 10 GBase-T. Furthermore, a Cat6 cable runs at up to 250MHz and sometimes uses shielding around the bundle of data-carrying wires to arrest and minimize any external interference. 

In other words, if a company is looking for a faster networking experience and a higher caliber of connectivity, then a Cat6 cable is a much better option, especially for cabling up to 150ft.

For businesses, this is an advantage, because companies can safguard their operations from electromagnetic interference as server rooms and multiple networking connection points throughout a business campus that would otherwise be congested with other cables.

This is why it is important for companies and enterprises to have the right partner when installing a network infrastructure. For more than 30 years, telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), lead by President Hugh R O’Kane; has become a leading telecom network installation and service provider for New York City and its metro area. The company has been upgrading, expanding and installing networks for a variety of public and private enterprises on a regular basis. 

This institutional expertise Hugh O’Kane is able to provide to private and public entities is paramount in order to design and implement network projects that can successfully expand their service offerings to increase their market share and gain more customers. This lineage and industry expertise has afforded Hugh O’Kane a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of existing networks much more easily. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane is able to take the time required to provide an upgraded telecommunications infrastructure needed to ensure continuous, robust connectivity set up municipalities and private enterprises for successful growth.

What Is Fiber Optic Cabling And How Does It Work?

Its strands of pure glass as thin as a human hair keep us connected to the internet, provide a clear telephony link for us to speak with family and friends, and arrest our attention in front of the television screen as we binge-watch our favorite show. That is how integral fiber optic cables are to our daily lives. 

On the business and enterprise side fast data transmissions, thinner, lighter cables and long signal ranges are some additional benefits that make fiber optic a solid choice for corporations.

But What is Fiber Optic Cable, Exactly?

Fiber optic cable (also referred to as optical fiber cable) pulses light that carries data through flexible fibers. This very thin strand acts as a waveguide to transmit anything from telephony, secured data, and video programming, ensuring robust network connectivity across countries and continents.

Fiber optic cable selection offers a variety of types, performance metrics and installation requirements. Based on the need, enterprises should most notably consider the distance and speed of their desired network. Signal transmission distance is dependent on the type of cable, the wavelength and the network itself. 

Telecommunications and Data Networking

There are numerous services that benefit from fiber-optic cables in the telecommunications and data networking sectors. Major telecommunication and data networking service providers use fiber optic cables for their telephony and data transmissions. The fiber optic technology is comparable to that of the coaxial cables, apart from that the optical fibers are able to handle more conversations and data transmissions concurrently. 

With billions of transactions occurring daily across the globe, fiber optic cables are used to connect servers and corporations in a variety of network settings. They help in increasing the accuracy and speed of data transmissions, and are integral in the development, research and testing across applications.  

According to Bloomberg, during the 1990s dot-com boom, phone companies spent more than $20 billion laying fiber-optic lines under the oceans. Today, the undersea cable sector is experiencing a resurgence, with Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google behind about 80% of recent investments in transatlantic links. The tech giants are wanting to tap the growing demand for fast-data transfers used for streaming movies to social messaging and telemedicine. 

How Does Fiber Optic Cable Actually Work?

Light travels through the core of the fiber optic cable by reflecting off of its sides. With the exception of the light source, no power is required to transmit a signal. One of the things that makes fiber optic a stronger choice over conventional coaxal cables is that its light pulses will travel farther distances without weakening and need to be regenerated.

The optic cable is composed of two layers: The core, which carries the light signal, and the cladding, which is a layer of glass surrounding the core. Most fibers operate in pairs: one fiber is used to transmit and the other is used to receive. But it is possible to send both signals over a single strand of fiber optic cable. 

There are two main types of fiber optic cables:  Single Mode Fiber (SMF) and Multi-Mode Fiber (MMF). The difference is in the size of its core. MMF has a much wider core, allowing multiple modes (or “rays”) of light to flow. SMF has a very narrow core which allows only a single mode of light. 

Core size is important in determining how far a signal will travel. In general, the smaller the core, the farther the light will travel. SMF has a small core, which keeps the path of light narrow and allows it to travel up to 100km. 

MMF has a bigger core capable of carrying more data but it is susceptible to signal quality problems over longer distances, making it more suited to premises cabling and short haul networks.

Installation

Fiber optic cable may be installed using several different installation processes. Outdoor cable may be direct buried, pulled or blown into conduit or innerduct, or installed aerially between poles.

This is why having the right partner when installing a fiber optic infrastructure. For more than 30 years, telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), lead by President Hugh R O’Kane; has become a leading telecom network installation and service provider for New York City and its metro area. The company has been upgrading, expanding and installing networks for a variety of public and private enterprises on a regular basis. 

This institutional expertise Hugh O’Kane is able to provide to private and public entities is paramount in order to design and implement network projects that can successfully expand their service offerings to increase their market share and gain more customers. This lineage and industry expertise has afforded Hugh O’Kane a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of existing networks much more easily. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane is able to take the time required to provide an upgraded telecommunications infrastructure needed to ensure continuous, robust connectivity set up municipalities and private enterprises for successful growth.

Designing a Telecommunication Network: 3 Key Considerations

In today’s ever-connected hybrid world of mobile and fixed telecommunications services, planning and design of a robust network demands installation expertise and industry knowledge. A full understanding of the designed service is required, from its inception to the physical connectivity landscape needed to meet the capacity forecast and any network bottlenecks requirements.

According to Bloomberg, wireless providers say they need more airwaves to support booming demand and to prepare for the transition to data-rich 5G signals. But first carriers must focus on delivering 5G services that are compatible with 4G core networks. As demand for advanced 5G services grows, network service providers must update their networks in order to be ready for the more advanced 5G services that are on the horizon.

Aside from market demands, Telecommunications networks also are, by their very nature, quite complex to implement. Numerous factors are at play and each is critical to ensure seamless connectivity is maintained. For many sectors, uninterrupted data flows are paramount, whether they are within a major metropolitan area, or connecting remote locations back to a central hub.

Services and applications that coexist in the same pipeline with a large number of other networks (including legacy networks), is one of the main factors that can arrest its performance and plays a leading role in driving up complexity of its design and rollout. Here are some key parameters to keep in mind when designing, upgrading or expanding a telecommunications network:

Technology

What hardware and software is necessary to connect communication points? Increased use of broadband voice, data, and video services are requiring not only more robust networks with higher throughput but also having an infrastructure that has the ability to scale up to deliver them.

Channel Throughput

With the increased distribution requirements put on information systems, denser volumes of transmission, and the move to more multimedia, the costs of telecommunications are a significant business investment. Industry analysts see multiplexing and signal compression as an indictment for reducing costs. 

Multiplexing is the sharing of a high-capacity link by a number of transmissions. Given the economies of scale inherent in telecommunications systems, multiplexing, or the sharing of a high-capacity link by many transmissions, can lower the unit cost of those transmissions. This is important to keep in mind when establishing or upgrading a network because the right infrastructure has to be installed to enable multiple lower-capacity transmissions to be channeled into a single transmission, which then the network splits at the receiving end. 

Signal compression uses the link more efficiently by removing redundancies. To reduce transmission needs, redundancies can be removed at the sender site, transmit the compressed signal, and then restore the signal at the receiving end. 

Installer Expertise

All telecommunication designs and installations have to comply with all state codes, follow Industry standards, and the best practices as defined and/or interpreted by industry agencies and organizations.

This is why having the right partner when installing or upgrading a telecommunications infrastructure is critical to not only enhance services, but also ensure uninterrupted connectivity coverage for business growth. For more than 30 years, telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), led by President Hugh R O’Kane; has become a leading telecom network installation and service provider for New York City and its metro area. The company has been upgrading, expanding and installing networks for a variety of public and private enterprises on a regular basis. 

This institutional expertise Hugh O’Kane is able to provide to private and public entities is paramount in order to design and implement network projects that can successfully expand their service offerings to increase their market share and gain more customers. This lineage and industry expertise has afforded Hugh O’Kane a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of existing networks much more easily. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane is able to take the time required to provide an upgraded telecommunications infrastructure needed to ensure continuous, robust connectivity set up municipalities and private enterprises for successful growth.