FINLAND
Power range increase for AC drives T
HE AC drives manufacturer, Vacon, recently announced that it will expand its power range
up to 5MW from a previous 3MW. Vacon AC drives above 2MW are all liquid-cooled, whereas in the lower ranges from 0.25kWto 2MW, drives can be either air- or liquid-cooled. According to the company, the control of a 5MWAC induction motor with a low-voltage (690V) AC drive is a notable technical achievement; it is claimed that 5MW is close to the maximum obtainable from any single motor of this type.
In typical applications requiring powers higher than 5MW, parallel motors are used. To date, Vacon has delivered some 4000 drives for marine applications - around 2500 of these are used in fan applications with 1000 as winch drives. Other typical drive applications include cargo pumps, compressors, steering gear, and propulsion trains. With its increased power range, Vacon aims at further boosting its marine sales - in 2004, the group reached total net sales of €128.6 million. Vacon also recently announced that it has entered into a distributor and brand label agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries. HHI will sell and market Vacon AC drives under its own brand through its own marketing channels. With this agreement, Vacon aims at strengthening its presence in the fast-growing AC drives market in Asia. To date, one of the major single propulsion drive orders came to Vacon from its Norwegian partner Scandinavian Electric Systems (SES), in Bergen. SES will provide a diesel-electric propulsion plant for Geo Celtic, believed to be the world's largest purpose-built seismic research vessel.
This
vessel, an impression of which appeared in our January 2006 edition, page 18, is under construction at Bergen Yards for E Forland and is scheduled for completion by mid-2007. According to SES, this is one of the largest low- voltage diesel-electric systems ever built, and as we reported, the plant is said to confirm that SES active front-end (AFE) solutions are finally accepted in the market. Propulsion equipment will be controlled by liquid-cooled Vacon AFE units. They represent Vacon's new common DC-bus product range, including three different types of front-end units, inverter units, and brake chopper units in the entire power range reaching up to 5MWfrom 380V to 690V.
New factory in China I
N January, less than one year after starting manufacture of its drives in that country,
Vacon's Chinese arm moved to a new larger factory in Suzhou - approximately one hour's drive north-west of Shanghai. In line with growing demand in the Far East, the initial premises, also in Suzhou, quickly proved inadequate; luckily, more space, exceeding 5000m2
, was located in a neighbouring
complex. Vacon has had an office in Beijing since 2000. At the same time, Vacon is expanding its Vaasa factory in Finland, and this operation should be complete this month.
The Norwegian order comprises four generators totalling 16,800kVA, electrical main and emergency switchboards, liquid-cooled active front-end AFE units, two electrical main propulsion motors, each of 4200kW, and two thrusters of 1500kWand 1200kW. Geo Celtic will have a length of 100.80m, a breadth of 24.00m and a gross tonnage of 12,215gt. A long-term charter has been agreed with the seismic company Fugro-Geoteam AS, the Norwegian part of the Geoscience Division of the worldwide Fugro Group, which currently operates nine seismic vessels.
Another new order for Vacon involves seven 2400kW liquid-cooled drives for Sapura 3000, a heavy-lift crane and pipe-laying vessel currently
under construction at Sembawang Shipyard, in Singapore. Vacon secured the order from its partner, the Dutch company Imtech Marine & Offshore, which will supply the complete electrical power and automation package for the vessel.
Sapura 3000 is a self-propelled, DP class 2 heavy-lift and pipe-laying vessel ordered by SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd in a joint venture with Stolt Offshore S.A. The ship should be ready for work off Malaysia in early 2007. A propulsion system designed for dynamic positioning consists of seven azimuth thrusters, each with a power of 2.4MW, which will be controlled by liquid-cooled Vacon drives, adjusting both propeller rotation speed and direction.
THE NAVALARCHITECT FEBRUARY 2006
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