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Understand how drives work to improve energy efficiency and optimize system performance.
Control motor speed and reduce your utility bill.
Adjustable frequency drives net significant energy savings and cut downtime.
"Approximately one-third of total U.S. delivered energy in 2012, 23.6 quadrillion Btu [British thermal
units], was consumed in the industrial sector, which includes manufacturing, agriculture, construction,
and mining," according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. To put this in perspective, the
average annual energy consumption for a U.S. household is roughly 10.8 megawatt hours (MWh) of
energy. If the total U.S. power consumption for 2012 were split up among every U.S. household, each
household would be using 60 MWh annually, with manufacturing accounting for 20 MWh of this.
Out of all the energy consumed by U.S. manufacturers annually, induction motors make up 50 percent of
the load. Of that 60 MWh aggregate number, motors would account for 10 MWh.
Motor basics
Defining speed
The speed of an induction motor is governed by two attributes: electrical driving frequency and the
number of poles. In the U.S., a motor that is connected directly to the utility will have a driving frequency
of 60 hertz (Hz). With a standard four-pole motor, the revolutions per minute (rpm) are 1800, calculated
with the following formula.
Using a motor at its rated speed results in an efficiency rating close to the manufacturer's specifications.
However, situations arise where an operator would like to change the motor's speed. For example, a
hydraulic pump operator installs a flow-limiting valve to be able to control the flow of water from the pump.
In this case, using the valve is analogous to driving a car with "the pedal to the metal" and varying the
vehicle's speed with the brake. In both cases-driving with the brake on and adjusting a motor's speed
with flow-limiting valve-energy usage is inefficient.A motor's efficiency can be kept at a maximum by
allowing it to turn at its rated speed, which is determined by the equation above. By adjusting the driving
frequency delivered to the motor, the motor speed can be controlled and changed, while avoiding the
use of a valve or mechanical brake. This is precisely what an adjustable frequency drive does.
drive. The inverter uses the switching capabilities of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) to convert
the DC bus voltage into pulses, simulating an AC sine wave. The output frequency and voltage to the
motor is adjusted by varying the duration of each IGBT pulse; this is where the term pulse width
modulation (PWM) comes from.
Finally, the microprocessor (not shown in figure 4) interprets user commands through a keypad,
input/output terminals, or communication protocols and regulates the modulation of the IGBTs. A
simplistic diagram of an AC adjustable frequency drive is shown in figure 4.
Typical NEMA style-B squirrel cage induction motors will draw up to six or seven times the motors FLA.
The inrush of current on larger loads can drain a facility's electrical capacity and create numerous
problems, including contactor dropouts, light sags, and disruption to information technology networks. In
addition, some electrical utilities charge facilities based on peak demand usage. Large inrush currents or
multiple motors starting at once can easily exceed a facility's capacity and lead to excessive peak
demand charges. Furthermore, most drives operate on the linear slope of a motor's torque/speed curve
by matching the electrical and mechanical frequency of the motor. This produces more torque per amp
than an across-the-line starter, thus maximizing the power being used.An exploration of a typical torqueversus-speed curve (figure 5) for a NEMA B motor helps illustrate this. Ideally, the motor operates in the
linear portion of the torque-versus-speed curve. This supports rated torque and efficiency. However,
when a mechanical brake is used, motor performance moves left, out of this high efficiency, linear regionover the maximum torque hump-and into the nonlinear region. This is where the motor draws more amps
for the torque it produces, and the efficiency drops significantly.Adjustable frequency drives shift the
torque-speed curve, so that the motor operates in the linear portion of the curve. Figure 6 depicts how
the drive lowers the frequency and moves the torque-speed curve left, so that the motor consistently
operates at the maximum possible efficiency.
second curve. The third curve shows the power required for a particular flow requirement. For this we
see that energy varies as the cube of speed. Again if we set speed to 50 percent, we have 50 percent
flow at 25 percent pressure, but at only 12.5 percent power. This is where the potential for energy saving
comes. These curves apply only to fan applications where there is no static pressure. There are also
significant savings to be had with pumps; however, the curves are slightly different due to the presence
of static head.
Figure 8. Energy savings from using an adjustable frequency drive versus a throttling valve
Regeneration
Centrifuge applications
Figure 9.
Two centrifuges utilizing regenerative capabilities
Centrifuges can be large and have a very high moment of inertia. These kinds of loads are often used in
food processing applications (e.g., sugar refineries). Although it takes a significant amount of energy to
begin spinning these large inertias, after they begin spinning, it does not take much energy to maintain
rotation. If a facility has two centrifuges that run at opposing times, it will expend a significant amount of
energy spinning one centrifuge up, and then it will simply dissipate energy as the other centrifuge spins
down very slowly. By using two drives with a common DC bus, centrifuge operators can cut their energy
use almost in half.
In figure 9, two centrifuges are connected to their own individual inverter units. The front end feeds
electricity from the utility to power the DC bus. The inverter powering centrifuge 1 draws power from the
DC bus to bring the centrifuge up to full speed. When it is time to stop centrifuge 1 and start centrifuge 2,
centrifuge 1 begins to act like a generator and power the common DC bus. Centrifuge 2 is then able to
spin up using the energy from centrifuge 1. Any extra power that is required to bring centrifuge 2 to full
speed will be provided by the front end to the common DC bus. In this way, energy is recycled by using
an adjustable frequency drive with two inverters and a common DC bus.Figure 9. Two centrifuges
utilizing regenerative capabilities
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