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FEATURE DRIVES, CONTROLS & MOTORS


motoring towards energy efficency


There are around 300 million motor-drive


systems in operation around the world, with around 70% of energy being consumed


by electric motors. However, many existing motors do not meet the latest energy


efficiency standards or are over-dimensioned. But with digital technology from ABB,


companies can identify where energy savings can be achieved. Rachael Morling reports


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limate change is accelerating, and will continue to so if the world’s ‘business as usual’ approach continues. However,


thanks to the COP26 summit last year, 90% of the world is now covered by Net Zero targets, and investing in energy efficient technology should be high on the list of priorities. Many industries rely on motors and drives – in


fact around the world there are approximately 300 million motor-drive systems in operation, a number that is expected to rise in the future. For those industries that rely on motors and drives, energy consumption is a huge part of their operating costs, with around 70% of energy being consumed by electric motors. However, at a recent press conference in


London, Adrian Guggisberg, division president of ABB Motion Service, stated that technology is already available that would have the ability to save 10% of the worlds electrical energy consumption – the equivalent of being able to turn off one coal-fired power station. Upgrading to energy efficient technology is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to lower energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. According to ABB, there is huge potential to


cut the energy consumption from these motors without affecting their output, freeing up energy resources at the same time as cutting costs and


saving carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Many existing motors do not meet the


latest energy efficiency standards or are over- dimensioned, and therefore draw more power than required for their applications. Furthermore, many motors are operating without a variable speed drive (VSD) that prevents over- consumption of energy by matching the motor speed to precisely meet the required load. Once an inefficient motor-driven system is identified, it is straightforward to achieve energy


5 DESIGN SOLUTIONS JUNE 2022 2


savings by investing in upgrades to modern high- efficiency motors and/or installing VSDs.


energy appraisal service


When it comes to saving energy, 97% of 2,294 industrial companies that ABB surveyed worldwide in February 2022 are already investing in energy efficiency or plan to do so. A further 65% are planning to upgrade their equipment to best-in-class efficiency. The challenge for industry, however, is knowing where to target this investment as a typical site could have hundreds of electric powertrains, which covers the motor, VSD and possible also gears and bearings. So, ABB has introduced the Ability Digital


Powertrain Energy Appraisal service which will draw on data measured from fleets of digitally connected electric motors and variable speed drives (VSDs) to show where and how much energy can be saved by upgrading to the latest high-efficiency technologies. “The challenge for an industrial operator


is knowing where to start in a fleet of hundreds of electrical motors,” said Guggisberg. “ABB developed the new Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal service to provide clarity by analysing motor data and identifying where businesses should focus investment to maximise energy efficiency gains that reduce


operating costs and CO2 emissions.” Traditional powertrain energy appraisals were


carried out by experts out in the field manually gathering data, a time consuming task that would be limited to just a few motor-drive systems and therefore not pick up on all the assets where energy savings could be achieved. The new digital appraisal service uses a plug and play approach to simplify energy efficiency assessments by pulling operational data remotely from across an entire fleet of digitally connected motors. This provides much deeper insight into the business


case and carbon footprint benefits of upgrading to high-efficiency motor-driven systems, while being much safer and faster. With digital technology, it is possible to monitor


and evaluate data from operational equipment in ways that were never possible before. This data can not only be used to identify and resolve faults before they arise, by also to evaluate energy performance across entire fleets of motors, showing how efficiently individual motors are running. This would also help to identify potential solutions, such as upgrading a motor, installing a drive, changing a motor’s operating schedule, or adjusting its loads if it is the wrong size. Finally, this expert service can help the operator to quantify the value of energy savings and calculate the payback period, therefore highlighting the motors with the most potential. Not only will this continuous flow of data help


companies to review their energy efficiency performance, but this data-drive approach will help companies towards achieving net zero targets and cut energy bills.


improving efficiency


At SCA’s kraftliner mill in Munksund, Sweden, 400,000 tonnes of packaging material are produced annually. Kraftliner is paper or paperboard produced using the Kraft process and its production requires a lot of energy, most if which is consumed by its installed base of more than 2,400 electric motors. Through improving the efficiency of those motors, impressive energy savings can be realised. “SCA’s objective is to improve energy


efficiency through efficiency enhancements of at least 50 GWh per year based on the company’s energy consumption in 2020,” explained Anders Kyösti, technical manager at SCA Munksund. “Electrical motors account for a large part of our electricity


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