At this month’s SPS/IPC/Drives show in Germany, the Finnish drives-maker Vacon is unveiling a range of AC drives optimised for fan and pump applications. The Vacon 100 Flow drives – the latest member of the company’s third-generation Vacon 100 product family – will provide flow control for water, wastewater and building automation applications in the power range 0.55–160kW and the voltage range 230–500V.

The new drives (above) offer dedicated flow control functions, as well as improving the efficiency and redundancy of pump systems. Multi-master and multi-follower functions allow several pumps to be controlled simultaneously. Intuitive block programming can be used to tailor the drives for special needs, such as use in retrofit installations.

The drives have multilingual graphical displays, and incorporate configuration wizards that help to simplify set-ups. They support Ethernet-based communication protocols such as EtherNet/IP, Profinet IO and Modbus TCP. A Safe Torque Off function and Atex-certified motor over-temperature protection are built in.

“Pumps, compressors and fans – these applications benefit massively from improvements in energy efficiency and reduced lifecycle costs,” says Heikki Hiltunen, Vacon’s executive vice-president for market operations. “In this respect, we think that Vacon 100 Flow offers much more than any other AC drive on the market today.”