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Energy-saving drives target HVAC and water users
Published:  04 October, 2013

IMO Precision Controls has released its first two ranges of drives that target particular sectors – HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) and the water industry. The new ranges of torque-vector-controlled Jaguar drives share the same hardware and both span power ratings from 0.75–710kW.

Both new ranges incorporate built-in RFI filtering as standard, as well as detachable keypads, and DC line reactors in models up to 90kW. Other shared functions include built-in PLCs, real-time clocks and four PID controllers in each drive, three of which can be used to control external equipment. Each drive can also accommodate up to three option cards to provide extra I/O and to support various communications systems.

The HVAC drive, called the Jaguar VXH, includes functions such as automatic energy-saving, clogged filter detection and cleaning, broken belt detection, a fire mode and a cumulative kWh datalogger. The drive, is available with IP21 or IP55 protection, and supports BACnet MS/TP, Modbus RTU and Metasys N2 as standard, with plug-in option cards available for Lonworks, Ethernet, Profibus, DeviceNet, CANopen and CC-Link. The drive is designed to integrate easily with any BMS system.

The water industry drive, called the Jaguar VXA(Aqua) offers cascading pump control (with three operating modes) and a linearisation function that can reduce terminal pressures during periods of low demand and thus save water by reducing the risk of leakage. It also offers automatic energy-saving, anti-ragging/jamming, limits on the number of starts per hour, dry pump detection, check valve protection, end-of-curve detection, wet-bulb temperature presumption control, and a cumulative kWh datalogger.

IMO's VXA (left) and VXH drives (right) share the same hardware but incorporate software that targets the water industry and HVAC users respectively

IMO now has six models in its drives portfolio. “We have had fan and pump options within our range of general-purpose inverters for many years, but these two models have been designed from the ground up and in consultation with industry experts worldwide, to satisfy the special requirements of the building services sector and the water industry,” says IMO’s drives manager, Andy Gardner.

As with IMO’s other Jaguar drives, the new ranges have a 10-year design life and are covered by a five-year warranty. “Applications within the building services and water industries often see drives operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year and this alone will highlight those drives which have been designed to operate over long periods,” says Gardner. “With many energy-saving applications offering payback periods of between 12–18 months, IMO's five-year warranty means that we are the only drives company in the world to underwrite your energy saving.”