January/February 2024 - 32

BAGGAGE HANDLING
AUTHOR Rebecca Kanable
Comprised of the drive, motor and gear box,
the SINAMICS G115D distributed drive system
is available as a complete solution for motormounted
and wall-mounted horizontal motion
control conveyor applications.
SIEMENS
builds upon experience gained in this
application and incorporates features for
efficient and reliable operation for conveyors,
sortation systems and tray-based
cargo conveyor lines that make a BHS, "
Spronk said.
In addition to providing reliability
How Distributed Drives
Can Drive Efficiency
SINAMICS G115D from Siemens is designed for
horizontal conveyor applications like baggage handling.
RELIABILITY AND uptime are crucial to operating a successful
baggage handling system (BHS). Building upon
the performance of its predecessor, the SINAMICS G115D
distributed drive system from Siemens operates in systems
around the world. " With its wide operating temperature
range of -22 to 131 degrees F, and its rugged housing and
connector options (rated up to UL Type 4X/IP66), the G115D
is designed to withstand the environments where a BHS
needs to operate, " said Ivan Spronk, Siemens Product
Marketing Manager.
" Distributed drive " refers to the drives
" The majority of motors in a BHS
being mounted very close to the motors
for a BHS instead of being mounted in
a large, centrally located control cabinet.
The SINAMICS G115D system includes
the drive, motor and gearbox.
Distributed drives eliminate the space
and cost of having a large control cabinet
filled with drives. They also eliminate
the time and expense of installing long
runs of motor power cables and control
wiring from the control cabinet to all the
motors located along a BHS.
are small motors in the 1/2 hp to 10
hp range so the drive electronics can be
packaged in a compact form factor and
can be easily mounted, " Spronk said.
Distributed drive systems can simplify
the installation of a BHS. In fact, Spronk
said installers have reduced on-site installation
times by 80 percent by using the
SINAMICS G115D distributed drive.
The SINAMICS G115D was introduced
in early 2021. " This second generation
of distributed drives from Siemens
32 \ AIRPORT BUSINESS / JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024
and efficiency, he said the SINAMICS
G115D distributed drive allows airport
operators to address the current challenges
of safety and total cost of ownership
(TCO) for a BHS.
Operational safety is integrated into
the G115D by providing Safe Torque Off
(STO). This functionality can be activated
via fail-safe digital inputs on the drive
or via PROFINET or PROFIBUS with
PROFIsafe. There is also an option for
Safe-Limited Speed (SLS).
In addition, the G115D has been
designed to meet the new UL drive standard
that specifies compliance testing for
personnel and facility protection. Drives
that comply with UL61800-5-1 meet a
stricter standard for electrical, thermal
and energy dissipation in the event of a
short circuit downstream from the drive.
According to Spronk, operators can
reduce TOC with the SINAMICS
G115D because it enables efficient use
of up-front engineering time, reducing
component selection, configuration,
and start-up time. The G115D is a part
of the Siemens TIA (Total Integrated
Automation) engineering portal that
is designed to provide quick selection,
parameterization, network topology
configuration and simulation tools.
Once in operation, energy cost-optimization
is realized as the G115D supports
the IE2/IE3 asynchronous motors
and IE4 synchronous reluctance high
efficiency motors.
During each phase of planning, commissioning
and operations, Spronk said
digitalization provides transparency. 
January/February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2024
