Drives for fan and pump applications

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 14, 2001

Toshiba's innovative VFP7 range of drives for fan and pump applications combine ease of use with high levels of functionality.

Climate change engineers will welcome Toshiba's new fan and pump drives.

The innovative VFP7 range of drives for fan and pump applications combine ease of use with high levels of functionality in an extremely compact package.

They are available from TM Automation Toshiba1s European Strategic Business Partner.

The VFP7 drives will be of particular interest to users considering the implications of the Climate Change Levy, as they increase flexibility and energy efficiency while improving reliability in fan and pump systems.

Their programmable I/O makes set up of multi-pump control exceptionally easy.

They are also suitable for other general purpose applications.

The VFP7 promotes flexibility in fan and pump systems without compromising ease of use.

The drive offers 15 preset speeds to enable optimum fan or pump profiles to be quickly and easily set.

A further feature is multi-drive remote control capability, enabling a suite of drives to be easily controlled from a single remote location.

Adding variable speed drives to bare pump or fan systems brings proven energy savings by allowing pumps or fans to be run at optimum speed for given conditions, with speeds ramped up or down as required.

The VFP7 drives boost this capability further with the addition of features such as PID control, allowing the pump or fan motor speed to be set according to stimulus such as ambient temperature.

Efficiency of operation is further enhanced with the incorporation of automatic energy saving functionality.

Reliable fan or pump operation is assured with the incorporation of features such as an auto-restart function and power ride-through.

The VFP7 also features a monitoring function and a low level current detection output signal to alert users should a problem arise.

Also included is over-current protection and an overload stall function, supply voltage correction, mains loss ride-through and Ocatch a spinning motor1 features.

Available in powers from 18.5 to 315kW, the VFP7 drives are highly compact.

TM Automation1s Robert Garrick says the 160kW version, for example, is 40% smaller than the model it replaces, while the 90kW model has only 46% the footprint of its main competitors.

"This means the drive takes up less valuable panel space, whilst through-panel mounting and optional IP54 protection increase the flexibility of installation.

"With its 120% overload the VFP7 is the ideal drive for fans and pumps.

This is complemented by the VFA7, whose 200% overload makes it suitable for applications including conveyors, cranes and hoists, paper and fibre production lines, film lines and automated assembly/manufacturing systems." VFP7 drives are available in either 3-phase 200V class versions in powers up to 110kW, or 3-phase 400V class versions in powers up to 315kW, and in five frame sizes.