Driving down the size, driving up performance
18 Apr 2002
Available in the UK from next month, ABB's latest variable speed drive range for ac motors is said to offer greater performance, easier commissioning and simpler programming - all in units that are significantly smaller than previous models, and current competitive drives.
A successor to, and backward compatible with, the current ACS 600 range (though this will still be available 'for some time' says the company), the new ACS 800 drive will be rated initially from 1.1kW to 500kW and at supply voltages of 380-500V, with 690V versions coming later in the year.
Apart from new features such as integral RFI filters and chokes (now all included inside the drive), perhaps the most significant aspect of the new drives is their size.
The new 165kW model, for example, is some 80 per cent smaller than its equivalent ACS 600 model. Even at the lower end of the range, the 15kW ACS 800 drive is said to be nearly half the size of its nearest competitor.
But size isn't everything, of course. What ABB found from extensive customer research was that ease-of-use has become the main requirement of users. This has, quite literally, been taken on board in the design of the ACS 800. Easier commissioning, for example, is achieved through a 'Start-Up Assistant'. In effect this 'wizard' guides the user through the commissioning process and helps select the application's most important settings. If option modules, such as I/O extensions or fieldbus modules, are installed. the Assistant detects them and offers guided commissioning for that module.
Programming of the drives has also been greatly simplified with an Adaptive Programming feature. This consists of a set of blocks that can be programmed to perform any operation from a predefined set of functions. Users freely define input to the blocks, wiring between them and connections to the drive I/O or to the drive control.
This feature can also be used as a small PLC for controlling external devices like auxiliary pumps. User-specified functions, which are traditionally done with additional equipment like relays and timers, can also be integrated into the ACS 800.
A further breakthrough claimed for the new drives is that programming is carried out using the standard control panel - no special hardware or software tools are needed. Programming takes just a few minutes and can be done on-site during commissioning.
One feature which is not yet available, though one which demonstrates the 'future-proof' thinking that has gone into the ACS 800 design, is the addition (within 12 months, says ABB) of 'Bluetooth' wireless communications. Still very much in its infancy, this technology is so new that ABB has issued an open invitation to its drives customers for feedback on possible application areas.
