Colombia. When seeking productivity and competitiveness in industries, energy efficiency must be taken into account. To meet this goal, variable speed drives play an elementary role, these solutions manage to reduce consumption between 30 and 70% of energy.
Schneider Electric, a leader in digital transformation of energy management and automation, has managed to evolve these products with solutions such as the Altivar Machine 320.
In the same way, the drives allow to store information for a subsequent analysis of the energy management and make decisions about it. Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), these devices can communicate to the control system everything that is happening in the engine with data that is transmitted in real time. These solutions are important tools in electric motors normally found in industrial systems.
Marionn Effio, Drives Application Engineering at Schneider Electric, reported: "This line of variable speed drives offers physical robustness to equipment to withstand different types of harsh environments; They also give the necessary security by integrating functions giving guarantees to the processes and machines of an industry or factory. Being open and interoperable, it easily connects to the automation architecture handled by the client, that is, it achieves compatibility with the various communication protocols, in short, Altivar Machine is a more intelligent and autonomous team".
The expert added that the two versions of the product can be easily implemented in systems or cabinets, they also have new motor control laws and applications included. One of them is the ATVLogic application that allows you to program the equipment without the need for a PLC, in other words they bring the experience and flexibility of the application to the machines. More features included is its advanced connectivity with automation architectures such as CANopen; EtherNet/IP - Modbus TCP; EtherCAT, Profibus; Profinet; and DeviceNet.
Security at all costs
These drives have elements that led them to be certified internationally for their strict safety protocols. For example, emergency stop functions, which bring the machine to a safe operating state in the shortest possible time, help prevent accidents and increase productivity.
Handling and transport can also be protected depending on design needs. Safety detection devices or switches can be used to limit the speed of the machine (or to stop it if necessary). The drives are equipped with a Safe Torque Off function and comply with international regulations.
Effio, stressed that among the faculties of the drives is the electrical protection of the equipment, since it protects them from surges or alterations in the current. Another benefit is the improvement of the quality of the power and its great potential is the evolution to give all the data of the engine through the IoT and the IIoT.
To conclude, it is noteworthy that thanks to the good results provided by the drives, in some European countries laws have been established that make their use mandatory in different applications such as ventilation systems or water pumping, taking into account that energy efficiency is an issue of global importance.
