FEATURE Drives, Controls & Motors y A


n ABB drive installed to get a customer out of a tight spot is bringing a host of additional benefits, including more


consistent end-product quality and enhanced fault finding. Framptons, a contract packing company,


processes around 1.5 million litres of fruit juices and milk-based drinks each week at its facility in Shepton Mallett, Somerset. The VSD controls the speed of a pump which is used to feed soft water to four fruit juice blending areas. The company was concerned about


finding a drive to replace an obsolete unit from another manufacturer. The new drive needed to fit into the existing cabinet to avoid the cost and time of building a replacement cabinet. ABB Value Provider APDS recommended


installing an ABB general purpose drive, the ACS480. The drive’s compact physical size and low power rating range (0.75 to 22kW) makes it an ideal fit for the size of fans, pumps, mixers, conveyors, and compressors most commonly found in the food and beverage industry. As such it is becoming an increasingly popular option for retrofit in food and beverage production facilities. The ABB drive is also facilitating more


consistent end-product quality by applying closed loop control to the blending process. As the soft water pump feeds four blending cells, it is critical that the water pressure to any one of them remains constant, regardless of how many cells are activated. The closed loop control is provided by a


PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controller. This is included in the VSD software, which is inserted within the control loop so that the loop can be tuned to ensure stable and accurate control with good response times. PID control is a mathematical algorithm that is used to control a range of parameters such as flow and pressure. The PID controller then determines the optimum speed at which the pump’s motor achieves the correct water flow rate. A pressure transducer in the water tank


feeds a signal to the VSD. As the pressure of the water varies, the pump’s speed is adjusted accordingly, quickly stabilising at the set point. This provides a constant flow of water into the system, ensuring the fruit juices are mixed to the right consistency every time. The VSD’s intuitive control keypad, also


known as an assistance control panel, offers Framptons more intelligence on the process. “Since the drive was installed, we haven’t


had to do anything with it – it has simply done exactly what it is supposed to,” says Tom Dowson, site services manager at the Shepton Mallet facility. “An added benefit, however, is how much process information we are now able get from the drive, using the keypad. As a result, fault


32 June 2020 | Automation


finding is now faster and more efficient.” ABB drive’s keypad allows the user to


A compact drive is the perfect fit for UK contract packing company Most of the beverages produced at the


customise the display to show key parameters such as water pressure, flow rate and energy savings in money, kWh or CO2


emissions. The keypad can hold up to


21 selected parameters, which can be displayed in various formats, such as history trend graphs, amplitude loggers, peak load detectors and load profiles. Simple left and right buttons enable the operator to quickly scroll through the home screens to access the information they need. “Previously, if the pump wasn’t running


as expected, or if the water flow rate wasn’t as high as required, we would have to put an amp meter inline and measure the current from it. With the ABB drive, that information is displayed on the screen.”


Shepton Mallet facility are destined for UK supermarkets. As a result, the site is regularly audited by its customers to ensure that it achieves stringent energy efficiency targets. “Around 80 to 90 per cent of the site’s


electrical consumption is used to power pumps or move product, so it’s critical these applications are as efficient as possible. We fit drives on all equipment rated over 75 kW and are also in the process of upgrading our existing IE2 motors to ABB IE4 high efficiency motors,” says Dowson.


CONTACT:


ABB Web: www.abb.com


Inverter drive speeds up the drilling process W


ith Tool Drives’ modern high-speed drilling units, it takes just 17 seconds to drill 100


holes 6mm in diameter and depth in a coated composite wood panel, with the greatest precision. During this operation, the drill reaches speeds of up to 18,000 revolutions per minute, even though it has to adapt its power to the different layers and characteristics of the panel. With finished quality of the drilled holes what


really counts, the company examined the drilling process very closely. So, they developed a special feed screw, and used motors and motion controllers with enough power to apply maximum forces, while still allowing a high degree of fine control. To achieve the desired result, the inverter drive for the high-power drill drive needed to be able to supply an output frequency of 1,000Hz but, at the same time, fine control of the PM motor used for the drill unit’s drive was essential. Turning to Yaskawa, the company selected the A1000 inverter drive which supplies the


required output frequency of 1,000Hz, provides 1.5kW of power with open-loop vector control and delivers up to 150 per cent of its rated output for short bursts.


Yaskawa www.yaskawa.eu.com automationmagazine.co.uk


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