In this September 2022 edition of Electricity + Control, we look at a spectrum of critical and interacting elements of industrial plants.
In Control systems + automation, for companies deciding on where best to source monitoring and control systems, Gary Bradshaw, Director at Omniflex, presents the benefits of buying integrated solutions directly from original equipment manufacturers, a choice that protects investments and ensures reliable ongoing support.
Moving to the ‘ceramic valley’ of Maranello, in northern Italy, where the production of clay tiles today is highly automated, Delta Electronics supplies solutions for the manufacturing systems used in the industry. It emphasises that in such a dirty and dusty manufacturing environment, multi-axis motion controllers and motor drives for the servos need to be reliable – and a robust and easy-to-use human-machine interface (HMI) is essential.
In Drives, motors + switchgear, Johannes Happe from Phoenix Contact Electronics introduces a new option for fast start-up of asynchronous motors. Happe points out that most electric motors, so widely used in industrial plants, perform simple tasks and most are supplied with complex, overdimensioned frequency converters. For simple applications, the new speed starters from Phoenix Contact provide an efficient alternative, in a device class between motor starters and frequency converters.
In Measurement + instrumentation we look at various measurement technologies and applications.
In the context of growing concerns globally around sustainable water usage, Krishna Prashanth of ABB Measurement & Analytics highlights the advantages of using electromagnetic flowmeters to manage water supplies more sustainably.
At a different level, because the water content in products can be a decisive factor in product quality and process reliability, measuring the moisture content in materials is important – whether in dry products in the food industry or in drilling mud in the mining industry. Alexander Edinger of Endress+Hauser says this has traditionally been done using laboratory instruments, but they have some disadvantages. Enhancing an existing level measurement technology, Endress+Hauser has developed new radar-based sensors which provide a solution for continuous, process-based moisture measurements.
Christian Langensiepen of VEGA explains the use of the VEGABAR 82 pressure transmitter as the standard instrument for level and pressure measurement in the stock preparation system for the automated cartonboard production line at the LEIPA factory in Schrobenhausen, Bavaria, in Germany. The long-established LEIPA Group is an independent family business which produces paper and packaging based on 100% recycling.
Turning to Transformers, substations + cables, when transformers and other power equipment are based in remote locations they are vulnerable to harmonics and noise caused by insufficient dampening and exposure to surrounding electrical currents. We learn of the case of a UK installation where Fairfields Control Systems had experienced failures of equipment at two of several remote sites, as a result of high harmonic distortion. It called on CP Automation to provide a solution.
And NovaTech Automation highlights how automation can benefit smaller electrical utilities. It cites the case of Seguin, Texas, where the municipal utility, managing just three substations, installed a complete monitoring and control system that rivals systems installed at much larger utilities, in order to improve its operational efficiency and service to customers.
Lots to learn from in this issue of Electricity + Control.
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