One of the highlights of Schneider Electric’s recent Experience Efficiency interactive exhibition was the demonstration of the company’s energy-saving drives, which have extensive application in the mining, metals and minerals (MMM) industry. Motion Control spoke to some of the key drives players at the conference.
Constant innovation
General manager of engineered drive solutions at Schneider South Africa, Anton Kotze, hosted some of the company’s world drive experts. Amongst them was Anthony Pickering, vice president for business strategy development. “Schneider’s drives business accounts for 1,5 million medium voltage drives alone and this year the company aims to sell 1,8 million drives worldwide. We have innovation coming through all the time,” he says. “We were first in the market with our energy-saving C-less technology in drives, which results in a very low level of harmonics. We were also first to have Bluetooth embedded in our products, and the first to connect the control gear directly to the drive without cables, thereby avoiding any cable problems. In addition we were the first to have SIL safety standards embedded in our products. Looking at the number of drives Schneider has sold, our drives are saving 12 000 tons of carbon every year.”
A spectrum of mining solutions
Wilhelm Swart, MMM cluster vice president for Africa, explains that Schneider is structured into seven companies in different countries in Africa. “We offer a whole spectrum of mining solutions across the entire range,” he says. “We are very end-user focused, and our sales people based all over the continent work hard at getting close to the customers, understanding their needs and showing them energy-efficient solutions.”
A focus on drives
“There is a big focus on drives in our business and we are building on three pillars: medium voltage drives; high power, customised low voltage solutions with high power ratings specifically for mining applications; and most importantly, winder solutions,” he adds. “Here our Active Front End VSD displays an important role by providing for cogeneration of energy during braking. We have taken previous mechanical safety systems and made them electronic with dual redundancy.”
Swart describes how Schneider also looked at the control desk, and used all its technologies to make this part of the system more digital. “It has a very large, easy-to-use HMI with integrated software, so no computer is needed. We were the first to do this for winding applications,” he tells Motion Control.
A one-stop drives solution centre
Because variable speed drives play such a big role in energy efficiency, Schneider has a specific team in place focusing on the MMM, water and waste water (WWW) and other sectors,” Kotze says, This seven-man team has proven invaluable in customer support and application assistance. In addition the drives competency centre (DCC) provides a one-stop drives solutions centre. This includes design, repair, specification, installation, commissioning and support of MV and LV VSDs.
A unique, competitive MV drive solution
“We have a very wide spectrum of drives, from the smaller versions all the way through to our MV Altivar 1200, which was launched in 2012 and can be scaled up to a 16 MW solution,” Swart continues. “This is one of most unique and competitive medium voltage solutions on the market and arose out of Schneider’s acquisition of Leader & Harvest three years ago.” Johan Schaal, pre-sales support manager for drives systems in Austria, adds that Schneider was already a world leader in low voltage drives, and building on this the Altivar 1200 was developed especially for the MV market in the 0,3 to 16 MVA range.
Schaal explains that the Altivar 1200 is robust, compact and easy to operate. It can be quickly plugged in, without the need to take care of harmonic mitigations. This is a result of another Schneider innovation – the multilevel architecture – which results in a THDI of less than 2%. Thus there is almost no harmonic load on the network. The quality of the output voltage creates no stress on the motor bearings, windings and terminals, avoiding the need for special mitigation equipment for the motor. With no constraints on the motor, the drive can handle motor cable lengths of 2 km and more. It is the ideal retrofit drive for old motors where insulation levels are unknown.
Another innovation is the contactless cell bypass, which avoids production stoppages and enables the drive to operate under reduced load conditions. The patented air duct system avoids the need for big fans, allowing the air conditioning to be minimised. The well-arranged sharing of cooling airflow is managed only by main cooling fans. With no fans inside, maintenance is easier. The drive has 96 to 96.5% efficiency, including the transformer, inverter and cooling system, and the MTBF is greater than 50 000 hours. “Higher efficiency means faster ROI,” Schaal emphasises.
Swart also confirmed that Schneider has supplied 35 of the ATV1200 MV drives to one of the largest copper companies in Africa and is now getting its first orders from water utility clients in South Africa, with further quotes being delivered in Algeria and Morocco.
Energy efficiency, intelligence and connectivity
Schneider’s latest offering is the Altivar Process drive. This is the first of a new range, with each development having different characteristics for different applications. “One of the biggest challenges for clients is that it is difficult to run sophisticated equipment at remote sites, but the Process is very easy to run. It is geared for energy efficiency, intelligence and connectivity,” Swart says.
“Our strategy is to move away from promoting products towards talking about what we can do for the customer and how we can use this to best advantage for their business,” explains Pickering. “We have researched the market, and for major process customers overall equipment efficiency and total cost of ownership are key. The end-user wants good system performance, energy management and asset management is all about preventative maintenance to make sure assets are available all the time.” He adds that the Process fills a space between the Altivar 61 and 71, both good products with a huge installed base. It embraces a new methodology and is aimed at the middle ground – an area until now not being addressed.
Describing some of its features, Pickering says that the Altivar Process is a user-friendly and service-orientated drive, which links to the Internet through a personalised dashboard. It is business optimised, having energy management services with real-time intelligence. A unique feature is that a webserver is built into the drive – any smart device can be used – with no special software needed to get all the data required and even create a webpage. It is programmed to operate as much as possible without paper, while manuals, helplines, charts and graphs enable the user to tune it from a laptop. A dynamic QR code allows the user to quickly access the website for comprehensive diagnostics and support information. A customisable maintenance plan can set tolerances and pick up drift, informing on wear and replacement time. With drift control, an alarm is set off if something has changed.
Future-proofed for standards
The drive is also cybersecure. Through the high-end security standard, IEC 62443, it is possible to access the drive and monitor the performance of the motor and the application. It meets all new standards up to 2016, thus allowing a long-term relationship with customers.
A unique value proposition
“We now have a unique value proposition,” Pickering continues. “Nowadays anyone can save up to 50% with a VSD – that’s not unique – but we have developed a design specification whereby we can optimise things. Firstly, if we know more about an application we can input information into the drive and tune it to give better performance, closing tolerances down to give a more accurate outcome. Secondly, energy and power monitoring give more control, as the user now knows what’s happening. Thirdly, with stop/start technology, residual energy saving is built into the drive – if a fan doesn’t need to run it will switch off. By building our technology into the drive, we can achieve another 8% in energy saving, equivalent to 8 kW an hour or 8736 kW a year with a 100 kW drive.”
A new space in the market
“This is Schneider’s first move into a segment-oriented solution and fills a new space in the market. It is the start of a family and has created a new platform with continual launches in the pipeline. This is in line with the trend of managing at a higher level and controlling all materials,” Pickering concludes.
“Our pipeline five years into the future is very exciting. Our goal is to use technology to counter the complexity of modern-day mining and to get close to end-users by serving them from regional solution centres with comprehensive solutions,” concludes Swart.
For more information contact Anton Kotze, Schneider Electric South Africa, +27 (0)11 254 6400, [email protected]
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| Email: | [email protected] |
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