Case Study
Optidrive VFDs help pump potable water to Tunisian communities
Problem
Two communities had limited and interrupted potable water supplies.
Solution
The National Water Distribution Utility organisation built and commissioned two water pumping stations to take water from an existing reservoir to the residential areas.
Socoopec
Communities in a region of Tunisia now have a regular and clean supply of potable water after two new pumping stations were completed using variable frequency drives (VFD) at the core of the operations.
Sonede, the National Water Distribution Utility organisation which is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries, built and commissioned two water pumping stations to take water from an existing reservoir to the residential areas.
Invertek Drives sales partner, Esco France, supplied nine Optidrive Eco VFDs to Socoopec, a distributor in Tunisia who was working for Sonede.
Optiflow technology saves energy and water use
“Water supplies in the area had been limited and the government invested in two separate water pumping facilities to extract it from an existing reservoir into the nearby communities,” explained Autmane Hamma of Esco.
“Nine Optidrive Eco VFDs were installed because of their ability to accurately control numerous water pumps efficiently. Using the built-in Optiflow technology there is no need to have every pump operating when demand for water is low. This creates greater energy efficiencies and only pumps the amount of water needed.”
Five 250kW IP20 Optidrive Eco’s were installed in one of the pumping stations, with four 200kW IP20 drives installed at the other site.
Multiple pump control
Optiflow technology allows more than one drive to work together to ensure an optimised flow. The first Optidrive Eco is the master and the other four are slaves. The master controls and commands the slaves with their speeds and run times.
The system is controlled intelligently based on demand using the internal PID function of the Eco drives. The system is never under stress mechanically, ensuring savings on reduced wear and tear or downtime.
The output pressure is continuously measured and sent to the master drive. The master then intelligently sets the on and off condition and speeds of all drives based on the internal PID and Optiflow functions.
System never shuts down
The system is never shut down as if a drive or pump is out of service, operation transfers to another. The drives also detect and clear pump blockages, provide dry run and burst pipe protection.
“The integration of the Optidrives and Optiflow technology is now ensuring the communities can access good, clean water all the time,” added Autmane.
Easy programming and commissioning
With Invertek’s built-in PLC function, the VFD can also be quickly and easily programmed and commissioned.
Optidrive Eco can control AC Induction (IM) motors, AC Permanent Magnet (PM) motors, Brushless DC (BLDC) motors and Synchronous Reluctance (SynRM) motors. The range covers 200-600v single and three-phase input and 0.75kW to 250kW, 1HP to 350HP.
It comes in three enclosure options – IP20, IP55 and IP66 – and seven frame sizes, with OLED displays on IP55 and IP66 models.
