Posted on 22nd Dec 2022
To power AC motors, the electrical supply must be at full power for operating at high speed or variable power for operating at variable speed. Applications with changing loads advantage from the variable speed offered by an AC drive as less power is required at lesser loads and speeds. CM Industry Supply Automation shared this article to explain what AC drives in industrial automation are. You can check out Lenze Drive, KEB Drive, Elau Drive, Siemens Drive, Rexroth Drive, and many more manufacturer drive on our website.
An AC drive often called variable frequency drive short VFD is a power supply control and provisioning device used for AC motors. Since AC motors need frequency to turn, the drive should offer the essential energy waveform with adequate voltage to distribute the required current for producing magnetic flux within the motor.
For producing the required frequency waveform, an AC drive offered an AC voltage supply and corrects it to DC voltage, generally via a diode bridge. In addition, in the case of regenerative four-quadrant drive, then it changes it via insulated-gate bipolar transistors. This corrected power is stocked up in a capacitor bank as a component of a DC bus. This is considered the converting part of the drive.
The stored DC power in the capacitor bank is later supplied to switching equipment for creating the essential frequency. This AC power is distributed to the motor and makes it capable to spin at a required speed, which is usually measured in RPM (revolutions per minute).
The AC drive allows controlling the working characteristics of an AC motor to cut down energy utilized by the motor. This energy savings take place via adjusting or restricting the applied voltage and current while controlling acceleration or deceleration and while usual operation.
Applications of AC Drive
Conveyor, fans, and pump applications alone can produce numerous applications. Example of application includes a huge amount of flour blown via pipes for a bagging process, pumps handling a huge amount of soda via a bottling line, coal moving via conveyors, and many more.
From the plain air fan in the warehouse to the complication of energy storage devices, wastewater management, or water supply-AC motors operating at changing speeds play a vital role. As AC motors use huge electricity generated globally, using AC drives for restricting energy use can offer major savings.
What are the advantages of utilizing AC drives?