ABB Drive Aids Vacuum-Cleaner Dust Extraction

An ABB drive has helped vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson improve its dust extraction at its Wiltshire research and development centre, saving the company over GBP6,000 a year on energy costs. The facility assesses new Dyson vacuum-cleaner prototypes with tests that include their ability to remove dust from surfaces. The dust produced for these tests needs to eventually be extracted to maintain a safe and healthy atmosphere. It is extracted from several test points by a motor-driven fan.

Originally switched direct on line (DOL) via a star-delta arrangement, this motor drew a large starting current that was causing fuses to blow regularly. The maintenance team contacted ABB Drive Alliance member APDS, which fitted a 55kW ABB standard drive as a trial. A pressure sensor was installed in the ducting near to the drive to measure the vacuum pressure in the system, which is used to determine the flow rate needed. Test stations can either be in operation or idle, causing the demand for extraction to vary, so the drive changes the fan speed instantaneously to match this demand.

Using its internal PID function, the drive can still provide suction when the dust filters begin to clog up. As the filters become clogged the pressure feedback drops. To compensate, the drive speeds up the dust extraction motor, maintaining the required suction. With the trial drive installed, monitoring showed that electricity costs per week could be reduced to GBP163 by running the motor at 40Hz rather than 50Hz, giving a total annual saving of GBP6,292. Another benefit was the noise reduction - running the drive at 40Hz brought ambient noise level down to 85dB from a peak of around 90dB.

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