Electric motors are omnipresent and their usage is so vastly seen in all well-functioned industrial equipments that we have almost taken it for granted. Electric and geared motor dealers have observed that motor-driven machines accounts for about seventy percent of the energy consumed y factories and businesses or at least by process industries. However, they also predict that this figure is likely to rise by twenty percent within the few years. The electric consumption intensive sectors like mining, water supply, irrigation, waste water management plants, oil and gas, etc. are continuously looking for energy efficient electric motors to reduce electricity bills. Improperly managed motors can result in loss of energy amounting billions of rupees as well as the industry’s operating expenses.
As detailed study of leading electric motor manufacturers, the energy consumption can be reduced by eleven to seventeen percent if plant engineers and supervisors introduce all energy efficient measures and cost-effective applications. Here are some tips to save energy usage and money on electric motors.
Figure out energy usage
Electrical motors can transform energy from one form to another. They transform electrical energy into mechanical and rotational energy along with some heat generation. It is crucial to understand that motor energy consumption is connected to speed and the number of hours it is being run. In other words, when a motor is slow but it runs for longer hours will certainly consume more electric energy as compared to a fast motor that runs occasionally. There are automatic electrical control panel which can be used to manage mechanical equipment. Thus the pressure on motors to run those equipments is lightens. If you are unable to understand all possible combination, seek help from automatic electrical control panel manufacturers as every plant or industry have specific component preferences.
Find out the weakest motor
You have to measure in order to manage. This is very applicable in case of electrical motors and drives. To save more energy, you first need to figure out which process and motors are consuming maximum energy. You can bring in technology-advanced machineries, use premium energy saving motors like CG Energy Efficient IE3 Motors that function at their best under full load. Use intelligent energy efficient motor controllers where there is variable electric motor load or the motor runs at low load for very long time.
Use Variable Frequency Drive
Variable frequency drives, also known as VFD are used widely in a large number of applications. They can change the motor’s output speed without the help of machine pulleys, thus decreasing the number of machineries and maintenance costs. There are mostly two types of VFD in the market – mechanical and electrical. If you want to save more money by saving more energy in your plant, get in touch with trusted VFD dealers who can cater to your various industry automation needs.
Turn the motor off
One of the simplest ways for energy savings is by switching off the motors when not required. Often, the plant supervisors skip turning off the motor because of the risk of wear and tear that can occur due to frequent motor start up.