Electric motors have had a huge impact on the pump industry.
Improved motor starters help Fabri-Kal achieve its green vision.
Significant energy and money savings are realized when using variable speed motors controlled with drives.
As a follow up on my AC Motors series, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a short overview of work, power and torque as it applies to the AC motor.
The economic downturn has delivered a heavy blow to the industrial manufacturing sector in North America. Manufacturers are indicating sales drops of 30 percent to nearly 60 percent compared to that of 2008.
Introduced in June 2010, Super-E Motors with AEGIS Shaft Grounding Ring are used in commercial and industrial applications to drive pumps provides a path to ground for circulating currents, preventing bearing fluting.
One of the major impacts on motor life is common sense—or maybe the lack thereof!
Back in the early seventies, when I was in grad school, our government pledged to convert the U.S. measurement system to the metric system. A popular cartoon at the time showed a lab technician with a box of amputated human feet standing at the door of the supply room. The supply clerk was also holding a box, but his was full of volt meters. The caption was "Trading Feet for Meters." That was almost 37 years ago, and we still have most of those feet! I guess that I could say that we are still "inching" into the metric system.
Following the development of variable frequency converter drives during the 1990s, totally enclosed fan-cooled (TEFC) AC induction motors became viable options for replacing DC motors in pumping applications. The torque and speed characteristics of these motors are a close match to those required for centrifugal pumps.
Although a number of AC motor designs are used, the induction motor is, by far, the most common and will be the topic of this column. We will also focus on the three-phase design as it provides a more intuitive understanding of induction and the magnetic fields that are produced. We will discuss the operation of single phase motors in the May 2011 issue.
Due to the delicate nature of the cranberry, pump failure is not an option.
A large wastewater processing plant experienced continual problems with its influent raw wastewater pumps for several years. These pumps are rated at 70,000-gpm, 24-ft head and driven by 500-hp, 4000-V, 225-rpm Westinghouse brushless synchronous motors, 57.5-amps steady state rated current.
Mechanical resonance occurs when an external source amplifies the vibration level of a mass or structure at its natural frequency. For a rotating mass like a motor or a pump, this occurs at the critical speed(s). Electrical resonance amplifies the magnitude of voltage or current, or both.
This month we will quickly look at the load types that comprise a typical AC circuit.
Bigger Is Better-Or At Least It Used To Be
Owing partly to tradition, the shafts of electric motors are often larger than those of the equipment they drive. Engineers were very conservative a century ago when electric motors first came into widespread industrial use, so they typically designed in a sizable margin of error. Today's engineers haven't changed much in this respect. For example, standard NEMA frame dimensions, which have been revised only once since 1950, still specify much larger shaft sizes than commonly accepted principles of mechanical engineering would require.
The frame sizes (physical dimensions) of AC motors have changed substantially through the years. Originally, they were considerably larger than those in use today. This increased size was the result of inefficiency and the need to dissipate heat.
Couplings are often forgotten until a project is nearing its end. With time running out, users often purchase whatever a supplier has in stock instead of the best solution for the system. Understanding the application and requirements for coupling selection allows the user to select the best coupling solution.
Introduced February 8, 2008, the RPMAC PM Direct Drive Cooling Tower Motor and VS1CTD Drive for wet cooling towers replaces an existing motor, jack shaft and gearbox with a more efficient and environmentally responsible variable speed motor and drive with the motor mounted directly under the fan.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), which restates and broadens the definition of General Purpose Electric Motors, goes into effect on December 19, 2010. Certain motors "manufactured (alone or as a component of another piece of equipment)" will be required to have nominal full load efficiencies that meet the levels defined in NEMA MG-1 (2006) (see Table 12-12). Motors manufactured after December 19, 2010, must comply with the law.
Improvements in performance and energy reduction can be achieved with smart drives and system optimization.
The industrial motor world has a new specification available for defining the requirements of general purpose, severe duty motors in the 250- to 3,000-hp range.
Because operational costs ride on efficiency determinations, accurate measurements of losses occurring within the motor are paramount. The reliability of efficiency data is key to any energy-savings plan, and knowing the meaning behind the rating can make or break a smart purchasing decision.
The low voltage motors market is highly consolidated, with the top five participants accounting for more than 75 percent of the market revenues as of 2009. Low voltage alternating current (AC) motors dominate the industry, generating 92.1 percent of market revenues for 2009. That number is expected to increase to 95.9 percent by 2016, with a Combined Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.6 percent between 2006 and 2016. Low voltage direct current (DC) motors, on the other hand, are expected to have a negative 3.4 percent CAGR between those years.
Proper alignment of the pump shaft with the driver can reduce vibration and significantly improve reliability. For appropriate applications, the time, expertise and instruments needed to achieve precision alignment (tolerances of less than 0.005 in) will prevent seal leakage and extend bearing life.
With highly reliable electrical systems, protective relays may be called upon to operate very infrequently. However, the effects of faults and abnormal conditions can be severe and protective relay systems must be designed carefully to protect against the worst possible fault conditions.
Due to the expense and labor required, most facilities need to maximize the life of their motors. Electrical, insulation resistance and thermal measurement are three tests that can troubleshoot motors, drives and associated electrical panels and prolong their operational lifetime. Thermal imagers can detect potential problems and insulation resistance and electrical tests can determine the cause.
When a motor fails, users can (1) rewind, possibly for high efficiency; (2) replace the failed motor with a new motor; or (3) invest in a premium efficiency product. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and the precautions that must be taken to assure the best investment.
It has been said that Washington, D.C., is the home of the largest invertebrate population in the U.S. This, of course, jokingly refers to the population of politicians and their lack of backbone or guts required to make difficult decisions. The same analogy could be applied to the single-phase motor, as it has only one-third the “guts” of its three-phase cousin. However, it can still perform well as long as expectations are reasonable.
