Product category:
Industrial Drives/Controls
News Release from: Invertek Drives | Subject: Optidrive VTC
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 30 May 2006
Inverter helps clean up with less
current demand
An Optidrive VTC inverter has radically reduced the starting current requirements and also improved the efficiency and functionality of the Wesley Group's Wheel Wash machine.
Invertek's Optidrive VTC inverter has radically reduced the starting current requirements and also improved the efficiency and functionality of the Wesley Group's Wheel Wash machine - a commercial vehicle washer The Wesley Group was founded in the 1960s, and its product range includes small mobile pressure washers through to large under body chassis washes for commercial vehicles
The flagship drive-through Wheel Wash cleans dirty trucks as they leave construction sites, landfill sites and quarries.
The system switches itself on when it senses a vehicle approaching the ramp, and switches itself off when it exits.
Without an inverter, the 22kW pumping system requires 90A of starting current and can perform up to 40 start cycles an hour (40 vehicles).
Even if a 90A supply is present on site, a generator may still be needed if its not available at the wheel wash location.
The Optidrive VTC overcomes this problem by reducing the current required by the pump at start up by approximately 45% to around 50A.
The inverter also controls the output of the pump and is used to reduce the speed of the motor during the summer months, when less water is needed to wash the vehicles.
The Optidrive VTC also offers a sleep mode for energy saving and an automatic energy optimiser function for periods of light loads.
Mike West, Wesley Group Managing Director, explains: "The decision to use the Optidrive VTC was taken purely as a commercial decision".
"In many cases we would miss sales opportunities for our Wheel Wash if we could not offer it with a reduced startup current whilst maintaining the full power of the pump unit".
"After careful research we selected Invertek distributor, Crawford Controls".
"Crawford recommended their IP55 enclosure incorporating an Optidrive VTC, ventilation fan and isolation switch".
"Due to space restrictions within the pump room, a special runner system was used which allows the whole control box to slide out of the pump house for any maintenance or adjustments".
"The introduction to the inverters has gone very smoothly and our customers are reporting improvements in efficiency and also in the cleanliness of the road leading away from the site".
"Apart from increasing our own sales of wheel washers by offering the machine with a lower power requirement, our customers are also delighted that the UK Government 'Energy Conservation' scheme allows them to claim back the whole cost of the Optidrive".
The innovative and compact Optidrive VTC combines ease of use, simple installation and commissioning with good looks robustness and reliability - making it the lowest cost solution for virtually all variable torque applications between 1.5 and 160kW.
The entire product range has a unified control interface and with only 14 standard parameters to adjust - it could not be easier or quicker to use.
For the more advanced user the extended parameter set gives access to powerful additional functionality.
Optidrive VTC's optical interface allows wireless communication with the unique Optiwand CE Plus for fast and accurate product configuration.
The drive also incorporates Modbus communication with other control equipment.
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