efficiency
WEG solution increases efficiency and production for Metals industry plant
Creating efficient and increasingly sustainable products is one of WEG’s commitments. With this focus in mind the company supplied a package of products to help increase the efficiency and production of the metals plant Bocaiuva – RIMA Industrial S.A, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The package includes an electric motor, a variable frequency drive and a motor control center.
Within the supply package, the WEG 1500 HP, 8 poles, 60 Hz, 4160 V, frame size 500 Master line motor will be driving the exhaust of the oven dedusting system. Standing out for its electrical and mechanical design flexibility and high performance, the motor complies with international standards requirements in addition to being in line with world trends. Interchangeable with the existing motors is another feature of this product, allowing further replacement with other electric motors, whenever required.
The motor will be fully controlled by the WEG MVW 3000 frequency drive in terms of load variations and speed modulation resulting in energy savings for the customer. The WEG MVW 3000 frequency drive was designed to drive, protect and monitor all types of applications, including the critical with high output power requirements such as large mining machines driven by one or multiple motors in load sharing.
Designed with state-of-the-art components and supported by a high performance and powerful focused engineering, the variable frequency drive provides reliable system operation and major equipment availability to the user, meeting the highest quality standards expected by the world industry.
This supply strengthens the expertise and quality of WEG products for the steel industrial segment. In addition, the choice of WEG products provides the customer with all technical support and after-sales service for greater operational reliability for the equipment.
Changes in European Union Legislation positively impact the energy efficiency of electrical equipment
Over the past two decades, global population growth and economic development have significantly increased the demand for energy around the world. This increasing demand for electricity to sustain global growth requires constant investments in power generation. One of the main reasons for this dramatic increase in consumption is in the industrial sector, where the electric motor and its drives represent more than 40% of the total energy consumed globally.
Due to this rise in energy consumption, avoiding waste and ensuring that products are manufactured with a high level of energy efficiency are the best strategy to ensure the continuity of the energy supply and sustainable consumption.
Aware of this situation and as a response, governments in several countries have implemented actions to ensure the use of highly efficient equipment. Pioneers, since 2011 the European Union (EU) has contributed to increasing the efficient use of energy through the Ecodesign Directive¹, establishing mandatory minimum energy performance standards (MEPS²) for electric motors and integrated systems.
The requirements of the Ecodesign Directive were defined in a gradual and incremental manner, as follows:
Since 2017, IE3 minimum energy efficiency levels are required for three-phase electric motors (from 0.75kW to 375 kW). Motors with IE2 efficiency level were still allowed, as long as they were driven by frequency inverters. On that occasion, there was still no requirements regarding the efficiency level of frequency inverters.
On July 1, 2021, it became mandatory to meet the minimum IE3 energy efficiency levels for three-phase electric motors (from 0.75kW to 375 kW), and the option of IE2 motors driven by frequency inverters is no longer valid. Furthermore, power losses in three-phase frequency inverters (from 0.12 kW to 1000 kW) must not exceed the levels corresponding to IE2 efficiency.
To help customers obtain power information based on operating points, WEG developed a App that can be downloaded free of charge at App Store and Google Play. The tool will also classify the system efficiency for motors operating with inverters.
Ensuring that the competitiveness of WEG products is aligned with and even exceeds the level of manufacturers from countries that are benchmark in energy efficiency is the challenge that motivates WEG. To that end, investments are constantly made in innovation and technology, so that the products enable customers to optimize their results by reducing their operating costs, especially those related to electricity and maintenance.
To tackle this issue, WEG presents its wide range of frequency inverters that exceed the IE2 levels defined in IEC61800-9. When combined with W22 Super Premium Efficiency motors (which exceed the IE4 levels defined in IEC 60034-30-1), these inverters form a solution that provide high performance, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership due to their reliability, simple maintenance and, above all, energy savings.
WEG, synonymous with Efficiency and Reliability for the industry!
To learn more about the change in the European legislation click here.
¹ Ecodesign Directive for Energy Related Products (ErP) 2009/125/EC
² Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards