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Project Profile

Environmental Control in the Outback

Industry: Retail, Entertainment and Sports

Overview

Innotech's Genesis II system has been successfully installed in a recently completed museum building at the Qantas Founders Outback Museum in Longreach, Queensland. The new building, represents Stage 2 of a project committed to honouring the original founders of Queensland and Northern Territory Arial Services.

Challenge

Prior to the completion of the Stage 2 building, the museum stored artefacts in the original Qantas hangar. As a heritage building and a key museum attraction, it has been necessary to preserve the hangar's present condition.

As a result, the hangar proved to be an unsuitable curatorial environment in terms of temperature variation, humidity, and intrusion of water and dust.

In order for the museum's new building to be up to its appointed task, it required a versatile control system capable of maintaining a precise environment of 22 degrees temperature and 55% humidity throughout a building almost as big as a football field - despite extreme external conditions and frequent power brownouts in the local area.

Site Logistics

The Qantas Founders Outback Museum is situated on a vast landscaped site in a remote part of outback Western Queensland. The site consists of the original Qantas hangar, built in 1922, adjacent to the 3,200m² Stage 2 building. Within this new museum building is a display consisting of full-sized and model aeroplanes, as well as old photographs and archival documents. The Stage 2 building includes the following facilities:-

Public areas including entrance foyer, restaurant and catering facilities, merchandising outlet and amenities
A theatre with a capacity to hold 60-90 people
Reading and research area, curators store and workshop, administration areas, services area and loading bay
Viewing areas including a 1600m² main museum hall, three 100m² galleries, and a 150m² travelling exhibition area

Solution

The solution to monitoring and controlling conditions within such a vast building was to install three Genesis II Controllers, one Mid Point Controller (MPC) and associated expansion modules in two mechanical switchboards.

The controllers were connected together via the Genesis network, which was then connected to the museum's on-site computer, where standard Genesis User software enables control and monitoring of the entire system. The system includes ten air conditioning units and nine ventilation fans.

The Innotech system is programmed to control internal temperature and humidity, particularly in sections where precious artefacts are stored, as humidity levels in such areas are extremely critical. Additional features of the control system include automatic scheduled control of internal lighting, and control of external lighting dependant on ambient light levels.

To ensure that brown-outs do not cause any power interruptions, the entire system is backed up by several uninterruptable power supplies. The system is programmed to monitor the power supplies and the air conditioning units, and to activate an alarm in case of a fault.

Due to the museum's isolated location, a modem was installed to ensure prompt service and technical backup.

The modem provides 2-way communication between the museum and service contractors AE Smith Mackay, allowing immediate notification via fax or Telstra SMS in the event that a fault alarm is activated.

The modem also enables service staff to remotely monitor conditions within the museum at all times.

Summary

Mr Rick Larsen, Construction Manager of AE Smith Mackay states, "The museum required a control system that can be programmed for numerous and varied routines, whilst remaining user friendly and easy to operate. Due to its remote location, the museum also required a system that would operate reliably under extreme conditions, enabling service staff to monitor and offer technical assistance from a distant location. The Innotech Control System fits the bill on all counts."

Key Functions

Accurate control and monitoring of temperature and humidity
Monitoring of communications room temperature
Monitoring of Uninterruptable Power Supplies
Data logging of critical controlled areas
Automatic scheduled lighting control in key areas
External lighting control dependant on external light levels
Urgent fault alarms for temperature, humidity and air conditioning units in key areas
Many dial-out features in the form of facsimile transmissions in the event of an urgent fault alarm

For more information about this project or if Innotech can help you please contact us.