Case Study

A problem at a horticultural nursery that threatened to disrupt growing operations has been solved thanks to the installation of Optidrive E3 variable frequency drives from Invertek.

The nursery operates a large number of ventilation systems to ensure its growing tunnels are kept at accurate and ambient temperatures to ensure the growth and safety of its plants.

However, the start up current for the system was so strong it could have tripped the system which could have resulted in power cuts to the whole site.

To deal with the issue, 380 variable frequency Optidrive E3 drives were supplied.

These control the power to the ventilation systems in the roof and side walls of seven large multi-span tunnels that house the growing operation.

Optidrive E3 is designed for ease of use. Simply power on and the drive is up and running, providing precise motor control and energy savings using the factory settings.

Providing precise and reliable control for IE2, IE3 & IE4 motors, the Optidrive E3 is suitable for all motor types: Induction Motors (IM), Permanent Magnet Motors (PM), Brushless DC Motors (BLDC) and Synchronous Reluctance Motors (SynRM).

Kes Beech, Technical Manager at Invertek, said: “In the horticultural industry it’s essential that temperatures in the growing tunnels are kept between specific limits to enable the crops to grow to the best of their ability and this would have been severely affected by any such power losses, even resulting in no crops at all.

"The existing startup current was also putting a lot of strain on mechanical parts in the electrical system which again could have led to disruption in growing if any of them had broken down.

“The fact these risks to the power supply have now been removed gives the company peace of mind so they can get on with business while Invertek’s proven technology works in the background. An added bonus is that the whole system now runs more efficiently, resulting in lower energy bills.

“The Optidrive E3 also allows soft starts for the electrical system which puts far less strain on existing motor gearboxes and rack and pinion systems so these will now last longer,” he added.

“This installation shows that the nursery did not need to go to the expense of increasing the electrical supply but just had to understand what the Invertek Optidrive E3 drives could do for them and the nursery is certainly reaping the benefits now.”

Invertek designs, manufactures and markets a range of compact, easy to use variable speed drives which are used to control electric motors in industrial automation applications around the world