Product category:
Industrial Drives/Controls
News Release from: Lenze | Subject: Motec inverters
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 26 September 2003
Inverters aid efficient milk production
A new range of milking machines made by Gascoigne Melotte uses a vacuum system controlled by a Lenze frequency inverter to improve efficiency.
Efficient production is the only way that milk can be produced and sold competitively these days In addition, milking equipment must be easy to use and easy to clean in order to meet stringent regulations
A new range of milking machines made by Gascoigne Melotte uses a vacuum system controlled by a Lenze frequency inverter to improve efficiency.
Gascoigne Melotte is a leader in milking machine design and technology.
These days the company has factories in Belgium and Germany, but originally the Gascoigne side of the company was established in the UK at Reading in 1927.
At the heart of the company's milking plant is a vacuum system using the LactiVac vacuum pump.
This pump, based on the principal of side-channel blowers, is ideal because it is non-wearing and energy saving.
The vacuum pump is driven by an electric motor with a Lenze Motec inverter drive fitted.
The motor rating is 6kW and the output is up to 2100 litre/min at 42kPa.
In operation the inverter varies the motor speed to match the demand, using its integrated PID controller to process a pressure signal.
The motor drives the vacuum pump which has a side channel blower design.
This noncontacting design is not only used for milking but also for pneumatic conveyors, packaging, food processing, dental suction equipment and textile machinery.
An impeller rotates inside a housing with a side channel.
Air is sucked in through the inlet slots, circumferentially accelerated by the impeller into the side channel and discharged.
This creates a vacuum at the inlet.
The main advantage of the LactiVac vacuum pump is the ability through the inverter of supplying a vacuum to meet the demand, and this in turn leads to energy savings.
A reduction in speed of as little as 20% can give savings approaching 50% in electricity usage.
The Motec inverter is enclosed to IP65, and so no panel space is required.
In addition the inverter has built in RFI filters which means that the short cable connection into the motor requires no special shielding to meet EMC regulations - even level B for domestic premises.
The side channel blower is noncontacting and therefore maintenance free.
Also it is oil free, and so there is no risk of milk contamination.
The motor, Motec inverter and side channel blower are seen as a single unit by the manufacturer and users of milking machinery.
It is self-contained with no external controls required.
The makers of the side channel blower, Nash-Elmo Industries, chose the Motec inverter in order to meet this single unit requirement.
Inverters are available up to 7.5kW with a large power reserve.
They are easy to fit onto the motor and the electronics are very simple to change using only four screws.
No additional electrical installation is required on site other than the connection of a power supply.
The economic pressures on agriculture today have forced manpower reductions and increases in efficiency.
The Gascoigne Melott LactiVac vacuum pump helps in achieving these aims.
The sound engineering has resulted in service intervals being increased from one year to three years. Request a free brochure from Lenze ...
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