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ABB Drives ACS 800 Are The Narrowest In Industry; Flagship AC Drive Family Sets Standard For Performance, Flexibility and Adaptability

(Including A 600 Hp Design At Less than 14 Inches Wide, The New Bookshelf-style Low-Voltage Drive Series Features An Intelligent Start-up Assistant and PLC-like Functions Built-in)

NEW BERLIN, Wis., March, 2003 . . . ABBs new ACS 800 DriveIT Low Voltage AC Drive family combines greater performance, programming power and flexibility in a new enclosure design that makes it easy to use the drive across the full range of industrial applications and markets.

Fit Anywhere
Extremely compact, 50 percent smaller than equivalent predecessors and narrowest in the industry -- the new ACS 800 drives both are available in NEMA 1 or NEMA 12 enclosures (without de-rating) this year. All units are designed in a bookshelf style, and units range from 6.5-inch-wide low-Hp designs up to freestanding 600-Hp units that measure only 13.78 inches wide! The freestanding enclosures of the drives in the range from 150 600 Hp turn easily to fit into deep, narrow spaces, or wide, shallow spaces. Designed with integral EMC filters and chokes and rated at supply voltages of 230V to 690V, the ACS 800 is backward compatible with ABBs previous ACS 600 family -- parameters have the same name and scaling. The 230V units in NEMA 1 are available now, and the 690V and NEMA 12 enclosures in Quarter 3 of this year.

This is a user/OEM/system integrator-focused, high-performance drive packed into an extremely small, complete, and flexible package, said John Tisdale, sales manager for ACS 800, ABB Automation Technologies, Drives, Motors and Machines, regarding the drives series now reaching the marketplace via ABBs local customer facilities around the globe. Features like the interactive Intelligent Start-up Assistant and Adaptive Programming software built in as standard tools means, literally, that the start up and tuning of a high-performance drive can be accomplished faster than ever before.

Direct Torque Control For Trip-less Operation
The new drives include ABBs proprietary open-loop Direct Torque Control technology, which eliminates the need for installing encoders and enables the drives to calculate the state (torque and flux) of the motor 40,000 times per second, making the motor controllers trip-less. The absence of a required encoder also can reduce capital costs by up to 25 percent, when compared to like flux vector or PWM (Pulse-Width-Modulated) drives.

Because this open-loop control of speed or torque is so precise, the drives can adapt to and handle changes in load immediately, according to Tisdale. The ability to provide full torque at zero motor speed, as well as high-operating torque at low speeds, enables the drives to respond immediately and precisely to load changes as they vary.

A DTC flux optimization feature automatically adapts the motor flux to the load, so that the ACS 800 drive provides only the amount of power needed. When the motor is not fully loaded, this increases energy savings quickly. A one percent increase in efficiency of a one-megawatt motor can save more than $ 3,000 per year, alone, according to Tisdale. This just-in-time switching feature also minimizes motor noise, he said. And DTC benefits also include an automatic start feature, which is quicker than the "flying start" used in traditional AC drives; it enables a motor to be transferred to drive operation, at any speed, without process interruptions or delays caused by motor flux.

Start Up In Record Time With Intelligent Start-up Assistant
This standard interactive tool makes ABBs ACS 800 drive family the quickest and easiest on the market to start up, bar none, according to Tisdale. Particularly for users who are familiar with the glossary of electrical terms and their acronyms, this tool saves time and eliminates fear and frustration. Start-up Assistant automatically detects when the drive is turned on for the first time and then provides guided start up, step by step; no need to worry about which parameters to set.

Available for use in one of 12 languages (all resident in the control), the Assistant asks users for motor nominal values, the I/O configuration and application-specific parameters (acceleration and deceleration). If option modules, like I/O extensions or fieldbus modules, are installed, the Start-up Assistant detects and offers guided start up for that module. An on-line information system offers additional help at every step. Following this interaction, drives are ready for controlling the specified motor and process.

Built-in Adaptive Programming Takes Minutes; Provides PLC Functionality
Built into the new ACS 800 and eliminating the need for any extra hardware or software, Adaptive Programming extends further the freely programmable I/O and extensive parameter selections that make the ACS 800 the most flexible drive in the marketplace.
Adaptive Programming consists of a set of 15 blocks that can be programmed to perform any operation from a predefined set of 20 functions. All common mathematical and logical functions, as well as switches, comparators, filters and timers, are available for detailed programming. It is like having PLC functions inside your drive, said Tisdale. Using the blocks simplifies and speeds up detailed programming.

Users freely define inputs to the blocks, wiring between the blocks and connections to the drive I/O or to the drive control. Users can create new input and/or output signals and modify the drives speed or torque control: PLC-like control of external devices is easy. A printing press customer, for example, uses the drive for the entire sequential start-up. A program was written by a system integrator with adaptive programming to control the sounding of horns and illumination of lights, prior to the motor turning, said Tisdale. In minutes, users can integrate specified functions into the ACS 800, which are traditionally done with additional equipment like relays and timers.

A WindowsTM-based PC tool is also available to work in tandem with Adaptive Programming and let viewers see all 15 blocks, in addition to downloading further programs.

All From The Standard Control Panel
All programming can be carried out using the standard control panel; no special hardware or software programming tools are needed. As such, the programming takes a few minutes and can be carried out on-site during commissioning. The panels multi-lingual plain text display is easy to use for Adaptive Programming as well as for the Start-up Assistant and for drive monitoring and for normal parameter setting.

A parameter copy feature allows all drive features to be copied from one motor controller to another, to simplify commissioning (one control panel can be used to control up to 31 drives). The copy feature is used regularly as a back up, in case of a drive failure, allowing the existing application/adaptive program (including all the motor data attained during start up) to be downloaded to the new drive. This saves the need of a new start up, and minimizes the time for the drive repair.

Fieldbus Control Gateway To Automation Systems
A snap-on module, which ABB calls a field bus adapter, mounts easily inside the ACS 800 drive to provide connectivity to a wide variety of major automation systems. The wide range of adapters means that users choice of an automation system is independent of the decision to take advantage of all the benefits built into these new drives, said Tisdale. Its a win-win, because they can choose both.

Pedestal Mount Provides Easy Connectivity, Portability And Maintenance
With the ACS 800 drive introduction, ABB offers a new method of connecting motor and power supply cables to a drive that is 150 HP through 600 HP; the configuration saves time and money.

The cables are connected into a separate pedestal that is bolted to the floor. Once the cabling is complete, the drive with built-in wheels/castors is rolled over the pedestal and locked into it. A NEMA 1 drive on wheels that is rolled in over the power terminations introduces a new level of convenience for an end user, noted Tisdale. We can supply the (2) drives as spares, from 150 to 600 horsepower, and cover any hardware failure with a new drive.

Everything Included Inside Drive
Everything that is needed in an AC drive is, or can be, mounted inside the ACS 800 drives. That includes integrated RFI filters chokes, brake choppers, I/O extensions, field buses and the pulse encoder module. This self-contained complete construction makes the ACS 800 extremely flexible, according to ABB. There is no need to reserve extra space and no extra cabling is needed, which saves substantial costs.

Inside the drive, slots for up to three plug-in option modules and other accessories are available, removing the need for external extension modules. An additional enclosure extension can be added to the drives in the 150 600 Hp range, to accommodate a wide variety of accessories, such as a fused disconnect, contactor with an emergency stop button or a customer terminal block.

Seen through the eyes of users, this kind of wide range of horsepower in a single drive family, provides a common technology for a host of applications small to large, said Tisdale. All drives across a facility or within a process can share common features, such as interface with field buses, start up and maintenance, and common spare parts. That is the definition of efficient, smart installation and usage of electrical control and manpower.

ABB Inc., Automation Technologies, Drives, Motors and Machines, is the world's largest manufacturer of electric motors and drives. In the USA, an integrated channel of sales representatives, distributors, and system integrators allow ABB, New Berlin, Wisconsin, to supply a complete line of energy-efficient electric drives, motors and engineered drive systems to a wide range of industrial and commercial customers. Products manufactured include AC variable speed drives for electric motors from 1/2 through 135,000 HP, large AC machines and drives, medium-voltage drives, power electronics and rectifier systems, AC & DC motors, and application-specific drive system solutions to meet diverse customer needs (http://www.abb-drives.com).

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impacts. The ABB Group of companies operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 146,000 people worldwide. The company's U.S. operations employ more than 14,000 people in manufacturing and other facilities in 40 states.

Automation.com Real-time Information for the Automation Professional May. 16, 2012

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