Product category:
Motors and Variable speed drives
News Release from: ABB Automation Tech (Drives and Motors) | Subject: New Food industry drives
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 June 2005
ABB standard drives for easy
installation and use
A range of intuitive standard drives, designed to be sold off-the-shelf with few optional extras, rated from 0.75 to 355 kW, is available for pumps, fans and conveyors in the food and other industries
A range of intuitive standard drives, designed to be sold off-the-shelf with few optional extras, is available from ABB Standard drives are rated from 0.75 to 355 kW, 200 and 400 V
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 6 Aug 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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They are targeted at applications in the food and other industries, such as pumps, fans and conveyors, and have been designed for reliability and ease of use.
The product has a range of innovative user support features, making it "the easiest drive to install, commission and use" according to Gary Busby, industry manager for food and beverage at ABB.
The panel is as easy to handle as a mobile phone and the set-up can be done in seconds.
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The drive has interfaces for all common bus standards and includes many other useful features such as a fault logger and a real-time clock.
"The standard drive is making variable speed control accessible to whole new user groups," Busby says.
"In particular, we are finding strong demand for matched drive and motor packages, where our 30 years of expertise manufacturing both drives and motors ensures we can offer the most appropriate and efficient solution for every application.
We also provide complete drive and motor combinations approved for ATEX.
Our drives and motors have been tested by an approved notified body and we can offer blanket certification on matched pairs." The features of the standard drive include a start-up assistant that guides users through all essential settings without the need to access complex parameter lists.
If a fault occurs, simply pressing the"help" button will suggest ways to fix the fault.
A total of nine different predefined settings are available, covering the vast majority of food industry applications.
If a parameter needs to be altered for the application, this can be done easily.
It is also possible to set up the application manually.
A maintenance assistant keeps track of the running time and gives a signal when maintenance is required, while a real time clock and calendar enables the user to cycle events according to the time of day, week or month.
All the functions are accessed through a new development in control panel technology.
The control panel is similar in look and functionality to a mobile phone and features two soft keys, the function of which changes according to the menu you are in.
A built-in help button and a real-time clock assist in fault diagnosis.
This enables easy commissioning, fast set-up, simple configuration and rapid fault diagnosis.
The harmonic signature of the drive has been reduced by patent pending, swinging DC chokes that suppress harmonics caused by the inverter so that the percentage of total harmonic distortion goes down when the load is reduced.
Normally, total harmonic distortion increases when the load is reduced.
This is because the impedance of a standard DC choke is optimised for a specific throughput, normally that used at full load.
The ABB swinging choke, in contrast, features a variable air gap, giving flexible impedance for a range of different load conditions.
With motor cables up to 30 metres (100 metres for large drives), the drive meets the requirements for the first environment.
With longer cables, it meets the requirements for the second environment.
Other standard features include an integrated braking chopper.
This absorbs braking energy, helping decelerate the load quicker.
The inclusion of a brake chopper saves valuable space, which can be a great advantage particularly in panel building, where space is at a premium.
The drive comes with two built-in motor control platforms.
The default setting is basic scalar control, however if the application requires a higher performance motor control, for instance constant torque loads, the user can select sensorless vector control.
The drive reduces noise levels with a noise optimisation feature, which increases the switching frequency of the drive when the motor load is reduced, thereby lowering motor noise.
Noise is further reduced through the higher switching frequency of the sensorless vector control platform.
A controlled cooling fan, running only when necessary, further reduces drive noise and also improves energy efficiency.
The fan is easily replaceable without disconnecting the drive.
In larger sizes, the fan can be replaced from the front.
The drives come with Modbus as standard.
High performance protocols such as ProfiBus, DeviceNet and LON Works can be added using adapter cards.
Further I/Os can be added the same way.
The drive has been designed in close cooperation with users.
The most important point made by the users during the development work is that drives must become easier to use.
"Engineers in the food and beverage industry are not drive experts but have to cover a wide range of equipment," says Ruddell.
"Most of them just want to fit a drive so that they can turn down the speed of their application and save energy.
The standard drive has been designed to appeal to a wide engineering community".
In keeping with the simple approach to drive selection, a fresh approach has been taken with the documentation.
There is a quick guide for initial power-up; an easy-to-follow User Manual for commissioning; and an extensive Technical Reference Manual aimed at designers and technical support personnel.
The drive has flux optimisation to provide the right motor magnetisation for any given load, saving energy.
Large sizes are fitted using a pedestal arrangement for quick and easy installation.
The cables are first fitted to a base unit and the drive is then simply rolled in and positioned on top of the base.
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