Feature Drives & controls


connection to automation systems through multiple fieldbus adapters and giving reduced installation and programming costs. This allows plant managers to combine process automa- tion and power automation in the same plant control system, a concept known as electrical integration.


Safety management


Safety of course is an overriding con- cern and manufacturers are increas- ingly including drives as part of their safety management philosophy. Because their essential function is to control a process, VSDs can readily contribute to safe working. In the food and beverage industries, for example, VSDs can ensure that an oven is at the right temperature or that a conveyor is moving at the right speed, preventing objects falling and causing a hazard. Today’s VSDs are also very reliable. They use fewer components than ear- lier drives and those they do use are based on solid state electronics rather than electromechanical techniques. As they have evolved, VSDs have come to generate less heat than their predeces- sors, helping to cut a source of failure. Yet even the most reliable of VSDs needs regular maintenance to keep it in full working order and to ensure that no surprise failures interrupt


production. Plant managers have come to expect that, along with excellent products, drives vendors will supply excellent support. Maintenance activities have also evolved to match this improved relia- bility with built-in maintenance and predictive diagnostics, backed up by a defined lifecycle management pro- grams to avoid over maintenance and to target maintenance needs pre- cisely. This support has come to extend from before purchase, with help deciding on which drive is right for a particular process, through installation and commissioning, pre- ventive maintenance programs and to the end of the drive’s life, when it is disposed of carefully and recycled according to international environ- mental standards. With their sophisticated features,


today’s VSDs offer a wealth of func- tionality, allowing process engineers to keep their energy costs in check while also providing the quality, pro- duction capacity and safety they need.


ABB T: 01925 741111 E: energy@gb.abb.com www.abb.co.uk/energy


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The programmable abilities of the VSD are used by Tathams in a system used to control textile production machinery


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