MATERIALS HANDLING
What does the EU Eco-Design Directive mean for pumps?
THE FUTURE OF
When it comes to the Extended Product Directive, a pump is not the same as a light bulb, argues Europump
PUMPS T
he aim of the EU Eco-Design Directive is to improve the environmental impact of energy- intensive products by optimising
their design. Since pumps require a lot of energy, some inevitably fall within scope of this directive. Better design could significantly reduce their energy consumption. However, considerably more can be achieved if the pump is not viewed in isolation, but as part of the overall system along with its electric motor and controller. On this basis, Europump, the European pump association, developed the so-called
extended product approach (EPA), which it hopes will be considered during the forthcoming EU legislative procedure. After China and the USA, Europe has
the third largest electricity consumption in the world – around 3,300 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. More than 300 TWh of this is accounted for by electric pumps. Tat is equal to the generated output of 30 large coal-fired power plants. No wonder the EU Commission, in its efforts to reduce consumption, also considered regulating pumps at an early stage in the process. Te Commission selected those products and product groups that have the
highest energy consumption and from which the greatest savings potential was available. Pumps clearly belonged to this group. In contrast to many industries that see themselves restricted by regulation and try to defend themselves against it, the European pump industry has welcomed sensible regulation from the outset. After all, what they themselves had begun in 2004 basically continued at the political level: the search for efficiency gains. Using water pumps as an example, Europump found that their annual electricity consumption of 137TWh could be reduced by 35TWh – the equivalent of shutting down four coal- fired power plants.
Tis saving can be achieved by adjusting the pumping capacity precisely to the pumping requirement. Tis works with the help of a controller, for example a frequency converter. Tis device makes it possible to reduce the speed of the motor driving the pump and thus also the power of the pump. Normally, the motor of a pump always runs at a fixed speed, the pump always runs at full throttle, so to speak. Even where the need for pumping power varies.
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