Simple Guide to Variable Speed Drives

Knowing how to reduce energy is one of the greatest business strategies; it enhances corporate reputation, helps fight against climate change, plus it saves the business tons of money.

Variable speed drives are pieces of equipment used to regulate the rotational force and speed of electric motors. Conventional speed regulators can provide varying measurements for 3% from no load to fully loaded, while the latest models of variable speed drives are used to precisely maintain the speed of a driven machine within +/-0.1%. In a time like this when we use millions of different motors in offices and industry, controlling them is of utmost importance.

Variable speed drives make it easier for industries to save large amounts of energy because they can easily control the speed of any electrical motor by controlling how much power is needed to feed into the machine. Since cars have become such an essential part of our everyday life, let’s take a look at this perfect example. The ideal example of cost savings with variable speed drives is the car. Cars largely depend on these drives which can improve their torque, speed and energy performance. Nevertheless, the speed of a car must be controlled by the driver at all times, so that he ensures it matches the road’s speed regulations.

Usage

From massive-in-size mine mill drives to small appliances, variable speed drives can be used in a variety of applications. But that is not all, these motor controllers can be also used in a wide array of compressors. Their performance and design improvements, plus their lower prices have contributed to an increased demand for variable speed drives the past few years. Their improvements are very obvious and were mainly made through:

• advancements in the semiconductor switching devices;
• changes in the software and hardware vital for the control;
• improvements in the techniques for control and simulation.

Researches have shown that with a world-wide use of variable speed drives, we could save up about 115 million megawatt hours of electricity per year. This could greatly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by about 87 million of tonnes a year, which is much more than the annual emissions of Finland. Therefore, this means that using a variable speed drive with a 30kW motor running 5,000 hours a year for controlling the air flow in a ventilation system can save over 76,000 kW hours of electricity.