Energy efficiency in motion control

Reliability and increased profitability are among the most important cornerstones of modern motion control. The compact ACOPOSmulti from B&R combines an efficient energy concept and high performance in a single package. As the next logical advancement to the successful ACOPOS series from B&R, it is best suited to meet the special demands of modern Motion Control products

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The active power supply modules with Power Factor Correction ensure a purely sinusoidal power consumption from the mains. This keeps the effective value of the current to a minimum. This fact is described as the Total Power Factor. It is also used for non-sinusoidal values and is defined as the ratio between effective power and apparent power.

The following table shows a comparison of conventional and active power supply modules:

Power supply unit Total Power Factor(TPF) Apparent power[in % of effective power] Passive 6-pulse rectifier 0.55 – 0.68 152% - 171% Passive 6-pulse rectifier with commutation inductor Approx. 0.9 Approx. 111% Active power supply module Approx. 1 Approx. 100%

While conventional inverters with a small a TPF exhibit considerably higher effective power consumption, which leads to unnecessary loss in the supply lines and transformers, the active power supply of the ACOPOSmulti ensures efficient usage of the energy used.

Furthermore, all of the ACOPOSmulti's power supply modules are capable of power regeneration, which prevents kinetic braking energy from converting into heat. Unlike conventional devices, this feature does not exhibit any heat generation caused by braking resistances. The integrated power regeneration system provides an efficient and environmentally-friendly solution for avoiding heat build-up in the switching cabinet which is otherwise generated by braking energy.

Drive effectiveness has continually improved over time by using the latest technologies, but now just as always, this loss and the associated heat build-up still dominate switching cabinet dimensioning. This is somewhat alleviated through the use of the cold plate cooling method. The arising heat dissipation is elegantly transported outside of the switching cabinet with the help of water. In the simplest case, the thermal energy is output to the ambient air or ideally fed into an existing cooling circulation system. This is a swift solution for relieving the production halls of the arising heat dissipation from the drives. This arrangement is far more effective than conventional cooling aggregates, which means greater energy efficiency.