FEATURE Drives, motors & controls
in metals processing for their booming electronics industries.
ROLL OUT OF ENERGY EFFICIENT MOTORS R
apidly increasing demand for steel, aluminium, and copper has brought the metals industry to a critical juncture, and ensuring
that growth is sustainable globally is an ongoing challenge. Regions with stringent environmental regulations can attest to low emissions, but higher operational and energy costs in these regions are an obstacle to their competitiveness. Meanwhile, metals produced cheaply
in one region sold to another are for many a higher carbon impact. According to the IEA, the metals industry produces around 2.6 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions annually, representing roughly 7% of global emissions, and this will only grow as globalisation increases.
In this context, industrial electric motors
paired with drives – Roller table motors for mills, high dynamic performance (HDP) motors for hoists and sheet metal coilers, and IE4 general performance motors and IE5 synchronous reluctance motors (SynRM) a path forward. They enhance reliability, producers the edge whether their objectives are to cut carbon or cut costs. European steel production has dropped
ROLL OUT OF ENERGY EFFICIENT MOTORS
18% since its 2007 peak, while aluminium smelters have cut output by up to 50% since 2021 because of soaring electricity costs. High energy prices, regulations, and global competition have forced mill closures. While its high environmental standards are still a selling point for conscientious buyers, there’s an urgent need to improve productivity and reduce costs. The Americas are seeing a resurgence in metals production, led by demand for automotive steel, aerospace alloys, and electrical-grade aluminium. Their focus is on production in Chile continues to dominate a third of the world’s supply, and by prioritising local output, the US is looking to compete with other global powers while maintaining a strong industry foothold. Asia, particularly China and India, dominates global metal production, with China alone producing over half the world’s steel. This momentum is pressuring European and American producers to innovate – but while output was the top priority for decades, reducing energy waste is now key. Movement in this direction has picked up in recent years, with the Japanese and Korean markets seeing an uptake of variable speed drives (VSDs) for precision
Roller tables keep steel slabs moving. As they are subject to an extremely hot operational environment and require sudden stops and starts in both directions, prone to overheating. Designed with Roller table motors are heat resistant, slashing maintenance downtime and costly production stoppages.
Peter-Stefan Tampsi, Segment Manager at ABB IEC Low Voltage Motors, breaks down the role of industrial
Specialised HDP motors are an ideal solution in aluminium production, for cranes and hoists used to lift and transport heavy metal parts such as billets, slabs, and ingots, and for sheet metal coilers. Able to handle dynamic loads with rapid bursts of acceleration, they are robust and surpass the longevity of a typical induction motor in the same application.
anywhere you have an induction motor, you can have an IE5 SynRM. Match these with VSDs from the same supplier, and the This shift is already happening example, is upgrading its Pirdop copper plant with IE4 induction and IE5 SynRM ACS880 industrial drives. With a payback period of only 3.5 years, Aurubis stands emissions by 12,000 tons. The dual ROI is clear: slashing energy costs, while Deal targets.
On the other side of the globe, POSCO has upgraded a hot strip mill in South Korea by replacing aging DC roller table motors with 70 AC motor-drive packages. Unlike DC motors, which require frequent replacements of components like carbon demand minimal upkeep due to their heat resistance, cutting downtime, costs, and overall emissions.
Whatever uncertainties the global metals industries may face, it’s clear that the motors must be at the core of their strategies.
ABB
new.abb.com
26 March 2025 | Automation
automationmagazine.co.uk
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