PRODUCTS DRIVES, CONTROLS & MOTORS BRICK FACTORY BENEFITS FROM DRIVES UPGRADE
Ibstock Brick offers a wide range of clay facing bricks and other clay based construction products manufactured at 19 factories across the country. In response to increased demand, however, the company decided to replace all the drive technology at its Wakefield, Yorkshire, site with solutions from SEW Eurodrive. As part of the upgrade, SEW Eurodrive’s engineers conducted a survey of all the drives at the plant and
entered their details (including their condition, service history and scheduled maintenance) on the drive technology maintenance system, CDM. CDM cuts downtime, eliminates unnecessary stock, identifies potential problems in advance and enables engineers to quickly check the condition of each drive. Previously, in a worst-case scenario, unscheduled downtime as the result of a failed gearbox, for
instance, could result in six to eight weeks of lost production. So, a key objective of the upgrade was to eliminate this as far as possible. To do so, while avoiding holding huge stocks of spare gearboxes, motors and other components, Ibstock’s engineers needed a drive partnership that could provide a virtual integration with its own maintenance operations. SEW’s ability to provide this level of support and respond rapidly was put to the test during the initial phase
of the plant’s upgrade when an old motor installed on a slug pusher drive failed unexpectedly. Here, raw clay from the two quarries at the plant is crushed into powder then mixed before it is extruded into columns and cut into ‘slugs’ that will eventually become the individual bricks themselves. If the slug pusher fails then the whole production line grinds to a halt. As soon as the failure was reported to SEW, a new motor was ready to be installed within 45 minutes. So far, SEW Eurodrive has upgraded some 24 drive units on Ibstock’s
setting plant, and, during the process, has completely redesigned and simplified the drive system on the plant’s hoist. This involved the replacement of an inefficient and unnecessarily complex arrangement of two worm gearboxes connected by a layshaft and driven by a single motor and pulley system. The new, more efficient, design involved standard gearing, inverters and a bespoke bedplate that avoided any alteration to existing steelwork. Installation and commissioning was undertaken by SEW’s engineers and the new high-efficiency system has immediately cut energy consumption on the hoist by 25%. The company is now pushing ahead with plans to standardise all drive
technology throughout the site with solutions from SEW Eurodrive. SEW Eurodrive
T: 01924 893855
DRIVES MEET IE2 DEMANDS
According to Invertek, it’s full range of variable frequency drives already meet the highest possible standards, even before new eco regulations become compulsory. Motors have had to have energy
efficiency class ratings for some time now, from IE0 to IE4, with the highest figure representing the most energy efficient. Now it has been confirmed that a similar regimen is available for drives in accordance with the new EN50598-2 standard where IE2 is the highest defined classification. A rigorous testing programme has found that all of Invertek’s variable frequency drives are currently classified as having an IE2 rating – the highest Energy Efficiency class rating available.
Invertek Drives
www.invertekdrives.com
www.sew-eurodrive.co.uk SAVING ENERGY
Based in Liverpool, Tech Folien is a specialist producer of polycarbonate, polypropylene and other co-extruded blown films, specifically for industries such as packaging, automotive and construction. When it was faced with the need to reduce energy consumption, the company turned to Emerson’s official partner, RJW. The previous motor and drive
solutions had been on the company’s extruding line for over 15 years and it was becoming difficult to source spares. In addition to this, from an energy consumption view, it was inefficient. Once the company had specified its requirements, RJW decided that the Unidrive M701 variable speed drive from Control Techniques and an energy efficient IE4 LSRPM motor from Leroy-Somer (both Emerson Industrial Automation group companies) would provide the optimum solution. Installed in a cabinet away from the
DRIVE RANGE IS EXTENDED
The PLX range of drives from Sprint Electric, which are able to regenerate energy back to the mains supply under braking without the need for intermediate storage, resistive dumping or additional power bridges, are available in current ratings up to 2250 Amps at supply voltages up to 690V AC. The DC drives are available as two quadrant or regenerative
four quadrant types. The four quadrant model uses two thyristor bridges to enable it to motor and brake in both directions of rotation. This allows it to reverse the torque to slow the load very gently or almost instantaneously, regenerating energy at the same time. Unlike an AC drive, it is able to generate full torque at zero speed, enabling the load to be held stationary in complete safety without the need for mechanical brakes, an especially useful feature for winders and hoists. This ability means DC is also ideal for applications such as mixers, extruders and rollers that require high starting torques and accurate control at low or zero speed, as well as for paper machines, wire drawing and machining. All models ranging from 650 to 2250 Amps (980 KW/1320 HP) are offered with two AC busbar position options, either top entry or bottom entry. In addition, the range is available as high voltage (690V AC) or standard voltage (480V AC) models. A 690V AC supply allows the use of 750V DC armature motors. Compared to the standard voltage this provides an increase in shaft power, up to 1500 KW/2000 HP for the 2250A model.
Sprint Electric 32 JUNE 2016 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
www.sprint-electric.com
line, the Unidrive M701 sets the speed control parameters of the motor, which itself is installed close to the line in the space vacated by the obsolete combination. The control parameters can be easily programmed via a set of on-board drive macros. As the motor had to fit in the same space occupied by the old product, a custom base plate was machine engineered by RJW – this matched the old footprint, which was critical as installation space was very limited. Tech Folien had the old solution
independently verified by a firm of energy consultants, who in turn also measured the new solution once installation was completed. Over the course of a year, the new solution is predicted to deliver savings of over 75% in energy costs.
Emerson Industrial Automation
www.EmersonIndustrial.com/ Automation
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