Provides reminders to users of equipment conditions and facilitates optimum drive/motor performance and energy utilization)
NEW BERLIN, WI, October 8, 2004 ABB's standard drive for a host of industrial applications, the ACS550 series, features AC built-in maintenance triggers, which makes drive and driven-equipment care easier than ever before, according to engineers at the company. The triggers help users schedule maintenance of the drive and its associated equipment in stand-alone applications.
Prompts to Drive Users
Called a Maintenance Assistant, the feature can prompt users to perform a maintenance task within specific monitored intervals. The drive monitors energy consumption, running hours or motor revolutions. Users can set their own limits, so that the drive annunciates whenever these limits are reached, flagging when the drive, motor, or driven equipment should receive preventive maintenance.Consider a typical application like a white-pigment metering pump installed in a pulp and paper mill. Because the motor is installed in a nasty environment, the maintenance technician knows the motor bearings should be lubricated every 4,400 hours, or every six months, to prevent failures.
The Maintenance Assistant can prompt the user to perform maintenance, usingnumber of motor revolutions or Megawatt Hours consumed. Additionally, the number of hours the drive's cooling fan is operated can be monitored so the user can be prompted to clean any accumulated dirt/debris, or actually replace the fan at the end of its' estimated life.
Benefits of Onboard Preventative Maintenance
The Maintenance Assistant also can keep track of bearing- and drive-belt-replacement intervals. Dust also may build up inside the drive itself, obstructing airflow, which can cause components to overheat. This makes it important to clear out the dust up to a few times a year, which the assistant can prompt the user to do." Replacement and maintenance procedures in processes sometimes are overlooked, which reduces system efficiency over time," says Kenyon.
"The replacement intervals can now be monitored by the drive, whereas previously,a software/PdM (Predictive Maintenance) system would have been required to provide the same thing." Maintenance of the drive itself is something that many users ignore until the day the drive overheats and trips, in the experience of ABB engineers. "To prevent unscheduled shutdown of a process on a hot summer's day, it is a good idea to give the drive some basic maintenance," advises Kenyon.
Annual Maintenance Recommended
ABB recommends that drives be serviced once every 6 to 12 months, depending on the dust and/or hazardous environment in the atmosphere where the drive is installed. The cover should be removed and dust extracted with a vacuum cleaner. All electrical connections should be checked for tightness and the fan established to be in working order. It is also a good idea to have anote of the original drive settings and ensure that these have not been changed.
The control panel, again, is extremely resourceful, providing the changed-parameter feature for easy reference.The Maintenance Assistant in ABB's new standard drive is extremely easy to set up, with an operator interface that can be navigated as simply as a mobile telephone. The detachable, multi-lingual alphanumeric control panel features two soft keys, the function of which is shown on the easy-to-read display.A key additional intuitive drive features available via the operator interface includes automatic energy optimization software. And a controlled cooling fan operates only when necessary, reducing audible drive noise, improving energy efficiency and extending fan life.
Start ? Stop -- Auto Operation
If the owner wants to take local control of the drive, the intuitive keypad again shines through. The user simply presses the Local key. The motor is now under local control, running at the same speed as the last command from the automation system (bump-less transfer). To increase motor speed, press the up arrow. To decrease speed, press the down arrow.
No need to navigate to a "speed set" parameter, just push an arrow. What could be easier? A parameter copy feature of the keypad allows all drive parameter settings to be copied from one drive to another, to speed start up. The copy feature may also be used as a back up, in case of a drive failure, allowing the existing application -- including all the motor data attained during start-up -- to be downloaded to the new drive.
This eliminates the need of a new start-up, and time spent repeating parameter settings.ABB Inc., Automation Technologies, Automation Products, Low-Voltage Drives, 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 and DC variable speed drives for electric motors from 1/8th through 135,000 HP, and application-specific drive system solutions to meet diverse customer needs (http://www.abb-drives.com).ABB ( www.abb.us ) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact.
The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 115,000 people.
The company's U.S. operations employ about 9,000 in manufacturing and other facilities in 40 states.For information on the new ACS550 drives, specifically, see abb-drives.info/acs550/ .
