Variable Speed Drives

Most large organisation will have chillers, Air Handling Units and boilers to operate the site.  Most of these items will have a motor or pump to drive the process and take the heating or cooling throughout the building.

A variable Speed Drive’s (VSD) job is to connect to the pump or motor and drive the component efficiently and operationally.  A VSD is intelligent and can understand patterns in operation and will allow for the process to be completed as efficiently as possible.

Without a VSD the plant equipment will be running at 100%.  Running items at 100% can lead to breakdown and shortening the life of equipment.

Placing a VSD onto a 3kw AHU Motor and reducing the speed by 20% will bring a 48.8% reduction in energy consumption.  A simple calculation on the above scenario would be on a 12p per kwh electricity rate, running for 8 hours per day, 5 days a week, 37 weeks a year will return a financial saving of £265. 

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