Chemical Engineering June 2017 - 26

Newsfront
Benefits of Sophisticated
Motor & Drive Technologies
New motors and drives provide energy efficiency and reliability in chemical applications
IN BRIEF
DESIGNED FOR
RELIABILITY AND
EFFICIENCY
IMPROVING THROUGH
INTEGRATION
Leeson Electric
A
lways on the lookout for ways to reduce
downtime and energy costs,
chemical processors are turning
to advanced motors and drives to
help achieve these goals. Sometimes as integrated
systems, sometimes not, new motors
designed for premium efficiency and reliability
and more sophisticated drives are helping processors
increase availability and lower cost of
ownership. Fortunately, motor and drive suppliers
are working hard to provide top-notch
equipment with modern features that can
withstand the demanding applications found
in the chemical processing environment.
" Producers are very aware of energy consumption
and seek ways to minimize energy
consumption through new informationenabled
technologies, " says Sergio Gama,
market development director for power
control business with Rockwell Automation
(Milwaukee, Wis.; www.rockwellautomation.
com). " Reliability and plant availability are
also important to them. They want to keep
the plant running 24/7 and maximize asset
utilization, so they want to minimize unplanned
downtime by reducing mean time to
repair, allowing a quick return to full capacity. "
George Weihrauch, product manager for
LV NEMA Motors with Baldor, a member
26
FIGURE 1. The Extreme Duck Ultra offers a motor design
that ensures that liquids don't penetrate the motor in any
mounting position via a new encapsulation process with
better materials to ensure complete filling of the motors and
curing of the epoxy encapsulation
of the ABB Group (Fort Smith, Ark.; www.
baldor.com) agrees that these are priorities.
" When it comes to motors, processors are
beginning to look at the total cost of ownership,
which includes reliability and efficiency, "
Weihrauch says. " Selecting motors
based upon the lowest price is not something
chemical processors do anymore. Instead,
they look for proven technologies, so
as manufacturers, we look at how to make
designs more reliable and efficient. We study
modes of failure that affect motor life, such as
operating temperatures, vibration and things
that affect motors like power supply and inverter
operation, and look for new materials,
design improvements and features that can
reduce the modes of failure so the motor will
last longer and run more efficiently. "
Drives, too, are being improved to increase
reliability and efficiency. " There are typically
two reasons to purchase a drive: to reduce
energy consumption or improve process
control, " says Matti Paaso, Chemical, Oil
and Gas segment manager with ABB Group
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JUNE 2017
http://www.baldor.com http://www.rockwellautomation http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering June 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering June 2017
