How Variable Speed Drives Protects Your Assets

We all know (or should do) the energy saving and process control benefits of using variable speed drives, but are you aware of how variable speed drives protects your assets? No? Well let us explain, Stuart Ruskin, ABB Area Sales Manager highlights how variable speed drives protects your assets:

Variable speed drives can be used to slowly ramp up the speed of a motor which will reduce stress on all the components.

When a drive is started Direct on line (DOL) it will pull around 6 x the current (Amps) at motor start up, all of this goes through the electrical components (contactors, relays & overloads to name a few) this increased wear is certainly going to severely reduce the components life expectancy.

A motor, when started with a variable speed greatly reduces this to around 2 x the current (Amps). The stress on the shaft can significantly be reduced as you can start the motor slowly and ramp it up to full speed (this can also be done when stopping, IF SAFE TO DO SO). By slowly ramping up and down the speed the stress on the pulleys, belts & drive chains are dramatically reduced.

How Variable speed drives protects assets

1. Smooth start – The fact we can control the start speed of the Drive we can reduce the strain on the shaft of the motor (so that could be direct on a roller, pulleys or belts).
2. The electrical stress on components is dramatically reduced as compared to starting direct on line – the amps will increase by roughly 6x the full load current.
3. Reducing the start up current will increase the life of the motor.
4. Significantly reduce the chance of the V belts slipping and in worst case burning out the belts.

For specific advice on how variable speed drives can help protect your assets, how to save energy or for better process control, contact us on 0115 944 1036 or via email [email protected]