PuK - Process Technology & Components 2024

Components
Total cost of ownership
Energy saving support
Electrical drives in production and
logistics carry a significant savings
potential. With the NORD ECO service,
NORD DRIVESYSTEMS supports
its customers in achieving this
potential and finding the most energy-efficient
drive solution.
70 percent! That is the share of the
total energy consumption of all industries
that is required for electric
drives according to expert estimates.
This is not only a significant cost factor
– there is also a great optimisation
and savings potential. NORD
DRIVESYSTEMS provides a special
service so that its customers can exploit
this potential: the NORD ECO
service.
NORD DRIVESYSTEMS is one of
the world market leaders for electronic
drive components and offers
an extensive portfolio of electronic
motors, gear units and electronic
drive technologies adapted to the
challenges of the individual industries.
“We are continuously working
on improving the energy efficiency
of our components so we can offer
power ful and, at the same time, economical
products to our customers”,
the Head of Marketing, emphasises.
Measurement of the
performance data
The NORD ECO service helps to find
the most energy-efficient drive solution
for a specific application case.
The first step is the comprehensive
survey of measured values. In order
to optimise a drive solution with regard
to energy efficiency, it is necessary
to first know the details of the
application. For this purpose, the socalled
NORD ECO BOX, a mobile control
cabinet, is connected between
the motor and the power supply. The
ECO BOX consists of an energy measuring
device with data logger function,
current transformer and cable
connections. Whether a conveyor belt
or the lifting gear of a crane – the type
Fig. 1: The NORD modular system allows us to provide an assembly of a gear unit, motor
and frequency inverter into a configuration with optimum energy efficiency
(all images: NORD DRIVESYSTEMS)
of application that drives the motor is
irrelevant for the measurement.
Over a period of about two weeks,
the box records data in real time
about permanent loads, load peaks
and irregular conditions. You need
this longer period and thus a higher
data density in order to identify patterns
and eliminate random outliers.
Evaluation of the data
Once the survey is completed, the
results are uploaded to software developed
by NORD that automatically
evaluates the data. The customer
Fig. 2: With the service components analysis,
consultation and optimisation, NORD
helps its customers to achieve an energyefficient
system design
receives the evaluation in the form
of a PDF document which presents
the main key data. “Of course, we
support the customer in the interpretation
of the data”, the Head of
Marketing highlights.
The NORD ECO box contains an
energy measuring device that measures
the drive’s current and voltage.
It determines the effective or reactive
power, i. e. the energy actually used
or not used – and from this calculates
the relative power factor. This measurement
over time makes it possible
to create a load cycle for the system.
This shows whether a system’s
dimensioning corresponds to the requirements
of the respective application.
“We often encounter drive
systems that are clearly overdimensioned
for the corresponding application”,
the Head of Marketing says,
“and that is obviously not efficient.”
Alternative components
A practical example: NORD examines
a drive system and observes an
average power consumption of
1.1 kW with a peak of 1.9 kW. The
system is driven by a 4-kW motor
that is operating at less than 30 percent
capacity on average. A typical
case of overdimensioning. NORD recommends
a motor with a power of
2.2 kW that is operating at a capacity
of around 50 percent on average.
There are also cases where we rec-
100 PROCESS TECHNOLOGY & COMPONENTS 2024