In today’s manufacturing climate, energy efficiency is essential, not optional. Rising energy costs and increasing sustainability goals push businesses to seek innovative solutions to optimise their power consumption in industrial applications. ABB drives, particularly variable speed drives, are key in helping industries reduce energy consumption and improve overall system efficiency.
ABB innovates and pushes the limits of technology to contribute to energy-efficient solutions for consumers, industries, and societies because it stands for productivity in a low-carbon society. Industries can make more economical and environmentally friendly investment decisions with ABB drives and motors. Let’s delve deeper into the impressive energy efficiency features of ABB Drives.
Why Variable Speed Drives Matter
The problem of integrating renewables into industrial applications is that, although renewable energy sources like solar and wind are naturally intermittent, companies need stable power to function dependably. Powerful motors and drives are essential for running heavy industry pumps, fans, belts, and compressors. Since motor-driven systems account for 45% of global electricity use, they also present a significant opportunity to reduce the impact of climate change.
Experts estimate that roughly 50% of industrial motors could significantly cut down on power usage by integrating with a drive. While not every motor is compatible, adding a drive to existing pump, fan, or compressor motors typically slashes power consumption by up to 25%.
Advantages of ABB Drives in Industrial Applications
ABB drives are designed to regulate motor speed to ensure optimal performance levels of industrial equipment required for a given task. Traditional fixed-speed motors run at full power even when demand is lower, which wastes energy. By using ABB’s variable speed drives, companies can dynamically adjust motor speeds for improved energy efficiency.
ABB has created a diverse portfolio of optimal low and medium-voltage AC and DC variable speed drives. They regulate motor torque and speed, potentially increasing energy savings by as much as 80%. In addition to ensuring precise industry application operations that lessen the strain on your machine and system, adding a drive to a motor will allow you to optimise your machine’s speed, which will always result in lower energy consumption.
Reduce Energy Consumption
ABB drives can cut energy usage by matching motor output to real-time demand, which helps eliminate excessive power consumption. This lowers electricity bills and reduces the carbon footprint of industrial operations.
The extra cost of purchasing an ABB variable speed drive and high-efficiency motor is negligible when compared to the energy used to operate the machinery throughout its whole life. High-efficiency motors and variable-speed drives that save energy usually pay for themselves in one to three years. In certain instances, VSDs can yield a return on investment in a matter of months.
Higher System Efficiency
Adding an ABB drive to a system optimises the performance of motors and mechanical components which prevents overloading and excessive wear. This results in improved reliability, reduced downtime, and lower maintenance costs, which are fundamental concerns for industries with high operational demands.
Better Equipment Lifespan
AABB drives contribute to the longevity of industrial equipment because they minimise the mechanical stress on motors. Controlled acceleration and deceleration reduce wear and tear, which results in fewer breakdowns and extended service life.
Applications of ABB Drives Across Industries
Manufacturing
ABB drives help optimise conveyor belts, robotic arms, and other motor-driven processes in manufacturing plants through variable speed operation, which significantly boosts process efficiency and enhances power production control. Large motors require a notably high beginning current when starting directly across the line. This startup is wholly controlled and seamless when ABB variable speed drives are used, avoiding an excessive voltage drop in the power plant’s supply network—furthermore, the motor and driven equipment experience less mechanical stress. A power loss ride-through feature ensures dependable operation by totally eliminating the disruptive impacts of network outages. Using ABB drives to control your industry-level motors results in lower pollutants, lower maintenance costs, and an improvement in the power plant’s heat rate and net power output.
Food Industry
ABB Drives are widely used in food processing to improve precision and ensure consistency by regulating mixers, ovens and refrigeration. From raw material handling and processing to packing and storage, ABB’s drive line is made to support food and beverage applications from start to finish while maintaining the highest quality standards.
Hygiene
Designed to withstand dust, moisture, and cleaning agents, ABB drives with IP66 protection find several uses in the food and beverage industry, particularly in the dairy sector. The materials used in these drives are resistant to microorganisms and can endure frequent washing. For process startup, the drive offers a per-pressurization. Fans with programmable logic controllers and process automation can be connected to ABB low-voltage drives.
Fans
Food industry processes like chilling, drying and baking rely on proper air circulation and temperature control. Precise fan control helps maximise production, reduce energy consumption, and improve profitability. Even with standard loads, air systems built for full-load situations result in higher than required energy consumption levels, greater total expenditures, and needless mechanical strain on the motor. To guarantee the ideal balance of consumption, speed, and noise, ABB offers drives that guarantee the fan-motor speed is continuously optimised.
Conveyors
Smooth conveyor starting and stopping is one of the main advantages of employing low-voltage AC drives to regulate conveyor speed. As a result, the gears and belts experience less mechanical stress, which lowers maintenance expenses, and, of course, process uptime increases with less maintenance. Additionally, by adjusting conveyor speed with precision, AC drives optimise energy use, cutting operating expenses while enhancing efficiency. Plus, with a variable-speed conveyor motor and a variable-speed drive, conveyors can operate continuously, periodically, or at varying speeds. This precise speed control gives you better-quality end products, making your entire operation more reliable and cost-effective.
HVAC Systems
HVAC systems benefit significantly from ABB drives. ABB HVAC drives simplify, expedite, and save energy when managing a building’s comfort zone. In air handling units, cooling towers, chillers, and other HAVC applications, the drives regulate the speed of the pump, fan, and compressor motors. They can cut HVAC energy use by up to 70%, often paying for themselves in under a year! With over 600,000 units installed worldwide, these ultra-reliable drives come with built-in BACnet, ensuring reliable configuration with building management systems.
The potential for energy savings over fixed speed motors or traditional flow control techniques is one of the main advantages of utilising ABB drives for HVAC systems. An AC drive enables the user to steplessly adjust the motor speed based on demand rather than always having an electric motor running at maximum speed.
Water Treatment
Water treatment plants, wastewater networks, pumping stations, desalination or irrigation plants, and municipal freshwater rely on ABB drives to efficiently control pumps and aeration systems. ABB has a range of variable speed drives with integrated application functionalities and features that effectively control water flow, pressure, and level while lowering energy costs.
A great example is the ABB ACQ580 drive, which was built to keep water and wastewater pumps running at peak efficiency while reducing energy consumption. Part of ABB’s all-compatible drives portfolio, it is designed for reliability and supports a wide range of fieldbus protocols for faultless communication with various automation systems. With advanced multi-pump control, the ACQ580 optimises performance by balancing usage, reducing wear and tear, and cutting energy costs.
Exceed Your Energy Goals with ABB Drives
Applying the appropriate quantity of energy in your business with the best equipment is a massive opportunity as the globe shifts to a more electric-dependent society. ABB drives are indispensable in supporting this change, and ABB’s advanced drive technology is paving the way for a more sustainable and cost-effective future with up to 80% energy efficiency when used with electrical motors. Your company can take leaps and bounds towards decarbonisation goals by integrating ABB variable speed drives.
Looking to improve your industrial energy efficiency? Explore ABB’s range of variable speed drives offered by Beta Power Engineering and take the next step toward a greener, more efficient operation. Contact our advisors for industry-specific advice on ABB products.