As drive technology has evolved, so ac drives have become smaller, smarter and more efficient. With the development of their new VLT®AutomationDrive FC300 series, Danfoss has raised the bar in each of these critical areas of drive development.
By taking in-house the development of the silicon power devices, Danfoss has succeeded in broaching the 98% barrier in drives efficiency and produced a class leading high efficiency drive with minimal losses. This in turn has facilitated a much more compact construction, making the new high power series the most compact drives in their class. Volume and weight reductions averaging better than 35% across the redesigned power ranges have been achieved and consequently price has also been reduced.
So much devolves from the improvement of drive efficiency and reduced heat production. At higher powers and with energy costs rising, this efficiency improvement offers much reduced cost of ownership. At the same time, this reduction in heat production along with innovative cooling air management techniques, has made compact IP66 models a standard feature of the range, currently up to 90kW, making them ideal for mounting local to the motor in aggressive environments indoors as well as outdoors. All cast aluminium parts are powder coated with a strong epoxy coating whose corrosion resistance has been successfully tested with the harsh cleaning agents commonly used in wash-down areas of the food and beverage industry. This means that Danfoss IP66 drives can be installed directly at the processing plant, local to the motor, without the need for additional watertight cubicles or protective cover. To facilitate commissioning with VLT Set-up Software MCT 10 without opening the drive, Danfoss even offers a watertight USB plug for mounting in a gland hole in the bottom of the drive
Only a few years ago the current level of ‘intelligence’ now available within a Danfoss VLT variable speed drive would have been unthinkable. Today’s drives are not so much power devices with control capability but software controlled intelligent controllers with a high power output.
Whereas in yesteryear, commissioning a drive might have taken hours or days, that has been cut down to minutes, with the drive self tuning to its motor at standstill and the control functions being set up from advanced programming software. The established set-up can then easily be communicated to other drives in the system. Motor efficiency and shaft performance too benefits from this intelligence. At all times the motor flux is maintained at the optimum for performance and efficiency meaning high dynamic motor performance but at minimal motor losses.
The inclusion of SmartLogic PLC functionality and the ability to extend it with integral option modules means that the control functionality can be an integral part of the drive and set up with the same programming software, taking the need for a separate PLC out of the equation.
Coupled with high speed field-bus communications to most of the current international standards, the intelligence of the new Danfoss VLT drives makes them child’s play to commission and operate.