Hannover, April 13, 2015. ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, is ready to support the latest IE3 high-efficiency motors with breakers, contactors and motor starting solutions.
“All ABB low voltage equipment is suitable to be used with IE2 and IE3 motors. Moreover, for most ranges the most compact solution to provide more control in smaller space, to reduce the footprint of the control panel,” said Ruben Ferraresi, Product Manager of ABB’s Low Voltage Products Division.
“Our products are up to 30% smaller than market average while providing full functionality to help our customers improve their productivity.”
As of January 1, 2015, the Energy-related Products (ErP) directive went into effect for IE3 high-efficiency motors with rated power between 7.5 and 375 kW. This requires manufacturers to upgrade motor designs or the addition of a variable speed drive.
ABB has been offering IE3 motors for quite some time and have now also started to promote the even more efficient IE4 motors, leading the way towards even higher energy savings. Modern motors reach higher efficiency thanks to innovative design features. During the starting phase of the motors there may be an increase of inrush and starting current, which may affect the selection of the starter components as well as the short circuit protection device. And even if the typical starting current can be roughly 25% higher than before, ABB is still able to offer users of high-efficiency motors cost efficient starter solutions with significant small footprints.
Customer friendly online selection tool
ABB provides coordination tables for the selection of low voltage equipment specifically designed for starting and protecting IE2 and IE3 motors. Product selection for different types of starting methods are available, like direct-on-line, star-delta and softstarter.
In particular, ABB offers softstarters as an effective way for reducing the impact of the higher starting currents while allowing the use of smaller contactors and short circuit protection devices. ABB´s SOC tool (Selected Optimized Coordination) is available at https://new.abb.com/low-voltage/software.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about 140,000 people.