Drives&Controls & BACK TO BASICS n SPONSORED BY VSDs can cut heating bills without a motor Industrial heating processes rely on precision temperature control to optimise efficiency, reduce waste and enhance product quality. Liam Blackshaw, ABB’s product manager for LV drives, explores how drives can help to save energy without needing a traditional motor. Not all industries are equal when it comes to energy usage. For example, the steel sector is one of the top three contributors to global CO2 emissions, due largely to its reliance on coal. And manufacturing flat glass and glass containers produces more than 60 million tonnes of CO2 every year. Electrifying these industrial heating processes can reduce or eliminate Scope 1 & 2 emissions from the manufacturing supply chain. In industries where large amounts of heat are needed, switching to non-carbon-based sources of energy is imperative to reduce carbon footprints. Direct burning of gas has traditionally been cheaper than electricity, kW for kW. However there is a growing demand to increase efficiency and sustainability, cut Scope 1 emissions, and reduce waste heat – which, for traditional gas-fired applications, goes up the stack into the atmosphere. Electric heating is the most promising way forward, using precision control to maximise process efficiencies. If, for instance, you overshoot on required heating levels, not only is it inefficient, but it also takes time to lower temperatures back down. That is why non-motor drives are being used for industrial heating applications in the metals, glassmaking, pulp and paper, and food and beverage industries. The main purpose of these drives is to optimise processes by providing precise control over temperatures. Because there is no motor to slow down, a non-motor drive does not save energy in the same way as it would on a pump or fan. Rather, it improves the efficiency of the process as a whole by providing extremely accurate automated temperature control to help the process to run faster, reducing the risk of product wastage and improving product quality. Processes such as annealing, drying and melting typically consume vast amounts of heating energy. In industrial furnaces used to produce glass or metal, temperatures can reach 1000˚C or above, with high peak loads, and can run 24 hours a day. Even small gains in efficiency can add up rapidly. Non-motor drives, such as ABB’s DCT880, can provide different control methods simultaneously for each heating element, with one device controlling up to three independent loads. For applications with more than three loads, one drive can act as a master controller for other subordinate drives. A power optimiser function can balance the loads of each device to reduce peak loads, without affecting the heating performance. Industries such as metals and chemical processing are widely seen as being difficult to decarbonise due to their high operating temperatures, and the vast amounts of energy they consume. Even without a motor, a drive can still provide precision control, and help to improve efficiency throughout a process. To find out more about the DCT880 power controller visit: https://new.abb.com/drives/dc/dct880 AS GO WIRE, CLICK, ASEASYA COMMANDDERS nde.com Advice mited sales@lamonde.com | www.lamon +44 (0)20 3026 2670 Quality Products: Expert A Lamonde Automation Lim
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