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Where have all the cheap motors gone?
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| 20 months ago I made a prediction. The electric motor market, I said, was about to implode. Prices were hitting such ridiculously low levels, that I could not fathom just how this could be sustained. I explored all avenues but could not find any logical excuse to join the club – without
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What’s wrong with high efficiency motors?
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| High efficiency motors have not really caught on in UK industry. The question is why – after all, there is little point in heating your plant with the energy losses from hundreds of motors, when this power could be put to useful work and help save money. Steve Ruddell, general manager for
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The case for high efficiency motors
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| Few end users appreciate the financial benefits of using high efficiency motors and manufacturers face an uphill struggle convincing a reluctant user base. But powerful forces, such as the European Commission and several governments in Asia and the Pacific, are now joining the argument, which is a
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Running motors with drives in hazardous areas
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| The ATEX directives are now well established and all users of electrical equipment in areas with the potential for an explosion hazard should be aware of their requirements.
Motor use in hazardous areas is well documented but what if the motors are being driven by variable speed drives? What are
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Motion control for high precision applications
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| Motion control drives are used for high precision applications, offering accurate positioning at high speed. Normally, this type of drive is used with special low-inertia motors, but some motion control drives can also be used with standard AC motors. This enables the use of one type of drive for
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More to motors than meets the eye
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| The prices of AC low voltage motors can vary widely between seemingly similar specifications from different manufacturers. So how is this possible? How can one motor cost half (or less) when on paper, they should both be the same? The difference lies well beneath the surface, says Steve Ruddell,
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Using a drive to control energy flow back to the supply
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| As well as controlling the energy supply to a driven load, drives can be used to control the flow of energy back to the supply from a load that is generating. This can help enhance the energy efficiency of any process that involves a reduction in energy level. |
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Empower the engineers and release the energy savings
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| The issue of energy efficiency is slowly making its way to the boardroom table. While it is a positive development that the issue has come this far, it has taken a very long time to get here. What is more, few companies seem to know what to do about it. |
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Electromagnetic Compatibility
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| Electromagnetic compatibility is the ability of electrical and electronic equipment to operate safely in an electromagnetic environment and without disturbing or interfering with nearby equipment. |
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Drives and controls Anniversary issue
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| Two words sum up all the drives developments of the last 20 years – greater reliability! When the oil and gas industry - the most demanding of sectors – is today installing drives without any request for a bypass, then the drive has truly come of age. |
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Drive System Design
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| When choosing an AC motor and drive system it is important to be able to calculate the overall efficiency of the combined system to optimise operational costs and energy consumption. |
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Choose the right fuse or RCD – or pay the consequences
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| On a weak supply, a normal fuse may take two to three seconds to clear, which is ample time to inflict some serious damage on a drive. Semiconductors, such as those used in the rectifiers and inverters of AC drives, are heated rapidly by excess current, so even a short exposure to overload can be
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Cables- the forgotten part of the drive installation
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| The power cable between a drive and a motor should ideally be kept as short as possible, but long motor cables are sometimes inevitable. The definition of "long" varies with the motor rating – it can be 10 metres for very low power systems or more than 200 metres for higher powers. |
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AC drives breathe new life into Severn Trent sewage treatment
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| Over 65% energy saving and a payback of only seven months has been achieved by Severn Trent following the replacement of three, 37kW AC drives on water process pumps.
As a result the water utility has now set up an Energy Saving Project Group to look at replacing and upgrading existing drives as
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Bringing together AC drives and fieldbus technology
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| The growing use of fieldbus technology in AC drive installations is set to save industry considerable costs. But just what are the considerations that you need to make when choosing the right fieldbus for your application? Geoff Brown, Consultant Applications Engineer at ABB, offers some practical
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Back to basics
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| There are very few companies in the world capable of manufacturing both motors and drives. ABB Ltd is one such company with a worldwide leadership in the hardware, software and services associated with variable speed drives, low voltage motors and large machines. |
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