SUPPLEMENT FEATURE ROBOTICS & MOTION CONTROL THE KEY TO PERFORMANCE
B&R Industrial Automation takes a look at how automation technology is helping UK manufacturing to optimise performance
I
f a survey was to be held asking manufacturers of consumer products (food and beverage, print, automotive etc) what they required from their production facilities, one could be fairly confident that high productivity and reliability, combined with the lowest running costs, would be requests near to the top of the list. Based upon these requirements the automation industry has responded by introducing ever increasing ranges of high performance, flexible and efficient controllers, drives, motors and actuators. Performance benefits have been eagerly accepted by progressive machine builders who look to differentiate their products from the competition - especially if these performance benefits are available on a cost neutral basis. Energy saving technology, in general, has not been adopted in the same way and remains to some extent underutilised by machine builders and manufacturers alike. So what are the benefits offered? And how can all users take advantage of the latest developments?
PROGRESS BEING MADE The area which has seen the most improvement in energy efficiency is probably motion control. If we consider that conventional drive systems convert only around half of the applied power from the mains into actual mechanical power, it is understandable why these products have been targeted so intensively. The B&R ACOPOSmulti drive system is a good example of modern highly efficient technology, and offers energy savings through energy regeneration, true power factor correction, an intelligent cooling concept and a shared DC bus for all inverters. Active power supply modules are able to regenerate power back to the mains. Instead of being converted to heat as is generally the case, kinetic energy generated during braking is converted to electrical energy which is then fed back
S6 FEBRUARY 2015 | ROBOTICS & MOTION CONTROL
into the power supply system. This has the additional advantage of eliminating the build-up of additional heat by braking resistors used inside the control cabinet, and is especially beneficial when several small axes have to be used in an extremely tight space. In these cases up to 30% of overall energy consumption can be regenerated. PFC (power factor correction) in the
ACOPSmulti ensures that the only power taken from the mains is effective power. This considerably reduces the connected load and current consumption of the machine - up to half in some cases. It also results in smaller fuses and wire cross sections. The use of fans and climate control units in a control cabinet means
considerably higher costs as well as additional maintenance expenses. ACOPOSmulti
offers the machine builder
ultimate freedom by opening up the free space required for either conventional heat dissipation inside the control cabinet, a feed-through cooler with IP65 protection for releasing heat outside the control cabinet, or a cold plate variant that can be connected to a cooling circuit (water, oil). On applications where some axis may be accelerating whilst others are braking, the shared DC bus ensures that energy can be redistributed automatically. This again offers the benefit of reduced energy consumption and, due to the fact that braking energy would have previously been converted to heat by braking resistors, there are further reductions in cabinet temperature and a reduced need for panel coolers.
FIT FOR PURPOSE One factor which must not be forgotten however, is that the most technically advanced hardware cannot make up for inaccurately sized applications. B&R engineers use advanced simulation tools, combined with many years of
Above and left: the B&R ACOPOSmulti drive system offers energy savings through energy regeneration, true power factor correction, an intelligent cooling concept and a shared DC bus for all inverters
application knowledge to ensure that
the correct drives, motors and gearboxes are selected for customers’ machines. The market also offers solutions for
machine builders and manufacturers to measure and/or control their energy. The APROL EnMon system from B&R provides continuous energy monitoring, either as a stand alone unit or integrated in a process control system. APROL EnMon is a scalable out of the box solution that is easy to integrate. It provides users with intuitive support in the pursuit of optimising energy consumption. In the face of rising energy prices it is still possible to reduce unit costs while conserving valuable resources. B&R’s multi-layered solutions can be implemented just as easily and effectively on the smallest stand alone machine or at the most expansive processing plant. For the companies who have not yet been convinced of the benefits of energy saving technologies and management, the introduction of The Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme (ESOS) is likely to force some companies to consider them. Despite some potential for increased ‘up-front’ costs, considering the overall economic advantages, it must surely pay off to take a proactive approach and enjoy the competitive benefits of class leading energy efficient solutions in your machine or plant.
B&R Industrial Automation
www.br-automation.com T: 01733 371 320
Enter 221 /AUTOMATION
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56