Case Study
Optidrive Eco chosen for Rural Water Scheme in Ireland
Problem
With varying demand for water the pumping stations do not need to be operating constantly at full capacity, using high energy levels and increasing the likelihood of maintenance and downtime.
Solution
The Optidrive Eco Pump was installed as it allows complete control over pumping systems with intelligent Optiflow technology that monitors demand and controls each pump speed based on this. The technology also allows for other pumps to take control should one break down, ensuring continued supply.
Eps Limited
The Optidrive Eco VFD was specified by EPS Limited of County Cork, the largest design, supply and installation pumping contractors in Ireland with over 70 Engineers based at their head office in Mallow. Following their previous success with Optidrive Eco's in a range of similar applications, EPS Limited had no hesitation in specifying the drive for the Rural Water Scheme sites in Limerick and Claire.
The Optidrive Eco drives used in this application range from 1.5 to 160kW, three phase 400 Volt and from 1.5kW to 22kW, 220 Volt single phase. With the Optidrive Eco boasting many innovative features that provide market leading performance in HVAC and pumping applications, field engineers on the project were given dedicated training locally and at the Invertek Drives training facility in Welshpool, Powys, UK.
In this water pumping application the built in PID function of the Optidrive Eco is used to control pressure. The innovative Optidrive Eco 'Sleep' mode then allows two pressure levels to be set, one at which the drive stops the water pump operating and another at which the drive commences operation again. This ensures that the drive is not constantly switching the water pump on and off around the target pressure, avoiding what is commonly known as a "hunting effect" and providing enhanced energy savings.
An expanded local/remote control function (often known as hand/off/auto) on the Optidrive Eco also provides significant benefits in pumping applications, allowing instant and reliable change of the method of drive control. Changing from local (hand) control using the keypad to remote (auto) control, where a sensor is used for drive feedback for example, is done at the touch of a button. The drive then automatically switches to the appropriate speed reference input for the chosen method of control.
The Optidrive Eco is already renowned for its ease of use, plus simple installation and commissioning, making it the lowest cost solution for virtually all variable torque applications.
Its advanced energy saving features include an automatic energy optimiser function, which reduces the motor voltage during partial load conditions, with the ability to automatically revert to normal operating voltage should the load increase. In addition, Optidrive Eco's optical interface allows communication with the Optistick Smart commissioning and product configuration.
Other features include a dynamic fast ramp function providing faster stopping with large inertia loads, particularly in applications where the inertia is variable and there is no braking resistor. The drive will decelerate the motor to a stop as fast as possible without tripping, ensuring no interruptions to the process whilst consistently using the minimum possible time to bring the load to a stop.
