sparks
ELECTRICAL NEWS
august
2013
18
Motor control centres and motor protection
Intelligent motor control evolves to the next level
IN large industrial and chemical plants that
often contain large numbers of motors to
provide the necessary motion, any unplanned
or sudden motor stops can lead to faults in the
process sequence, which can be very costly.
For this reason, reliable management and pro-
tection of these motors is of vital importance for
ensuring a controlled production sequence.
Some current motor feeders are often built
up discretely, using for example, thermal motor
protection based on a bimetal relay. In such a
system implementing protection and control
functionality is cumbersome and complex;
motor control and interlocking functions must
be programmed in the process controller, and
control and feedback signals are exchanged
via input and output modules that must be
designed and wired.
Additional protective functions such as mo-
tor winding temperature monitoring via a ther-
mistor require additional devices and wiring.
These and many other functions are integrated
in a single device, the intelligent universal mo-
tor controller UMC100 from ABB.
Sometimes referred to as an ‘intelligent
motor management module’,
the UMC100 offers motor con-
trol, motor protection, fieldbus
communication with the con-
trol system and diagnostic func-
tions. Compared to conventional
motor feeders, motor controllers
offer many advantages through-
out the entire lifecycle of an
industrial plant.
Changing global markets is
one reason many companies
are being forced to reduce their
operating and production costs
while increasing output and
quality.
Energy efficiency is another factor that
manufacturers in particular are interested
in improving. In fact, there is now an increas-
ing demand for more modular, flexible and
integrated solutions.
This, in turn, is causingmany providers to look
at their portfolios and findways of enhancing their
product offerings in response to this demand.
Integrated solutions are fast becoming more
commonplace, in part because technological
advances are making integration easier,
additionally these solutions function more ef-
fectively as a whole, rather than the sum of the
individual elements that comprise it.
Enquiries: (010) 202-5000
