Substantial energy savings for injection moulders
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Parker Hannifin - Electromechanical and Drives Division product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Dec 4, 2001
Injection moulders are making substantial energy savings on existing machines thanks to a retrofit speed control option developed by NRG Control and built around inverters from Eurotherm Drives
Injection moulders are making substantial energy savings on existing machines thanks to a retrofit speed control option.
Developed by Midlands-based NRG Control and built around inverters from Eurotherm Drives, the 'SyncroSpeed' speed controller provides a means of improving control, adding functionality, and cutting energy costs.
The injection moulding sector has been hard hit by the Climate Change Levy since, whilst being energy intensive, it was excluded from the Levy discount agreement scheme.
But the SyncroSpeed motor speed control system greatly improves machine efficiency, delivering major reductions in motor power consumption and subsequent energy costs.
And as well as featuring as a primary contributor to any moulding company's energy efficiency programme, the system qualifies for the ECA tax break.
A growing number of companies have already employed the system to cut their moulding costs.
A road traffic cone manufacturer installed SyncroSpeed on one of its larger moulding machines, and saw its electricity bill take a nose dive whilst at the same time overcoming problems that had been encountered with substation loading.
SyncroSpeed delivered power reductions of 55% across the three motors on the machine, equating to savings of £9,900 per year, with a payback period of less than two years.
In another application, motor power reductions of 74% were achieved on a 1200t, three motor machine moulding industrial dustbins.
The savings worth ?10,125 per year provided a payback period of 21 months.
Developed as a retrofit solution, SyncroSpeed is built around rugged sensorless vector control variable speed drive technology, which is fully EMC compliant and which incorporates a DC link choke to control harmonic disturbances.
NRG Control's Managing Director, Fred Pratt, explains: "SyncroSpeed regulates the speed of the prime motors driving the hydraulic pumps.
Pump oil delivery is no longer fixed - eliminating problems of over-delivery and energy wastage - but instead automatically regulated to match the precise speed demand at every point during the moulding cycle.
Savings are normally in the region of 40-60% of motor running costs, but we have achieved a lot more.
And there are other associated benefits too: reduced sub-station loading, significant reductions in cooling tower loads and improved power factor.
At the heart of the SyncroSpeed system is a Eurotherm Drives 690+ series variable speed drive, providing high performance speed control, smooth running, and trip-free acceleration and deceleration in this highly dynamic application.
Looking at the energy saving benefits of variable speed drives to the injection moulding sector, Eurotherm Drives Sales and Marketing Manager, Mark Hartley, comments: "On many machines, flows are varied by mechanical means using pumps and valves, but the motor is still running at full speed, so the power usage remains constant irrespective of the flow.
The key to saving energy is to reduce the speed of the motor.
When you start to look at the relationship between motor speed and energy usage, the real benefits of adding a variable speed drive to the system become clear.
On a centrifugal pump, for example, the power used by the pump is proportional to the cube of the speed.
That means a 20% reduction in speed gives an energy saving in the region of 50%, and therefore a corresponding cost saving.
"There are also secondary advantages to adding variable speed control," he continues.
"When you start a motor direct on line, you get three times full load torque hitting the system.
Inverters allow ramp-up and ramp-down rates to be programmed for starting and stopping the motor, and give precise control of torque, all of which reduces stresses on the system, and so reduces maintenance requirements and lengthens operating lifespan.
Summing up the SynchroSpeed development, Fred Pratt says: "With the best of modern technology as exemplified by the 690+ drive, and with NRG's application know-how, there really is a genuine opportunity for injection moulders to boost performance and cut energy costs.
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