If your facility suffers from flickering lights and overheating cables, the cause could be ghosts – but is more likely to be harmonics. ABB’s George Dodwell explores why harmonics are such a problem, and how drives can be used to solve them.
For applications that require basic logic programming, but where a PLC might be overkill, a drive’s adaptive programming function can provide the answer, as Liam Blackshaw, UK product manager for ABB LV Drives, explains.
Most drives are air-cooled, but liquid-cooled variants can provide greater power densities in smaller spaces for some applications, as Liam Blackshaw, ABB’s UK product manager for LV drives, explains.
Liam Blackshaw, ABB’s product manager for LV drives in the UK, explores how modern drives can use regenerative braking to capture wasted energy and feed it back into the network, improving efficiency and reducing the amount of additional cabinet equipment required.
Clayton Mead, water industry manager for ABB Motion in the UK, explains how to prevent damage and extend the lifespan of pumps by using in-built drive functions to detect and control cavitation.
Drives, like computers, can be vulnerable to cyber-attack if appropriate protections are not put in place. Michael Roebuck, ABB’s digital lead for motion, provides some practical tips on how to improve VSD cybersecurity.
For AHU applications, particularly in facilities such as data centres, electronically commuted fans are held up as an efficient, sustainable method of powering cooling fans. However, efficiency is not the only factor to consider, as Carl Turbitt, ABB’s UK HVAC drives sales manager, explains.
Intro: Modern variable-speed drives (VSDs) allow users to implement a choice of different control philosophies. Liam Blackshaw, ABB’s UK product manager for LV drives, explores some of the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Almost all food and beverage plants need cooling and refrigeration at some point in the process, whether for raw ingredients or finished products. George Dodwell, ABB area sales manager for drives, explains what to consider when installing VSDs for refrigeration applications.
Medium-voltage drives are thought to be more costly and complex than low-voltage drives, and better suited to higher power applications. But, as Alberto Ricci, ABB’s system drives sales manager, explains, modern MV drives are less daunting, more versatile, and can be more cost-effective than LV equivalents.
External PID controllers and PLCs can be expensive or complex to install and operate. Oliver Woolley, ABB’s key account manager for HVAC, explains how a drive’s integrated PID function can help to save energy in HVAC applications.
The heatwaves over the summer were a sober reminder of the risks of fires in buildings. In the event of a fire, modern VSDs can be configured to help clear smoke, keep fire exits clear and preserve life, as Oliver Woolley, ABB’s key account manager for HVAC, explains.
Multi-fan HVAC configurations can help to improve redundancy and reduce reliance on any single fan motor. Oliver Woolley, ABB’s key account manager for HVAC in the UK, explains how VSDs can improve system resilience and reduce wear and tear, while ensuring that a building’s airflow requirements are met.
IE5-efficiency synchronous reluctance motors are becoming the motor of choice for many UK industries, including the water industry, due to their impressive energy savings compared to IE2 or IE3 motors. According to James Thomas, ABB’s UK water industry manager, their lower running temperatures can also help to prolong equipment lives.
It can be difficult to monitor motors operating in potentially explosive atmospheres as easily as standard motors, but there are some simple steps that you can take to make maintenance more predictable and to prolong motor lives, as Steve Hughes, digital lead of ABB’s Motion Business in the UK, explains.
