- Plasma is created by an electric arc that heats oxygen or nitrogen up to 20,000 degrees Celsius with 80 percent or higher efficiency
- Used in a variety of applications including metals recovery, building and construction, agriculture, energy, and heating furnaces
Industrial plasma torches, powered by high megawatt (MW) electricity, offer increased energy efficiency and lower emissions for applications in a multitude of industries that require significant high temperature heat sources.
Utilizing a gas such as nitrogen, an electric arc ionizes the gas to up to 20,000 degrees Celsius, creating an energy efficient, low-carbon state of plasma. From metals recovery to building and construction, plasma torch technology continues to revolutionize various industries.
One of the global leaders in developing these types of torches is ScanArc Plasma Technologies based in Sweden. Working alongside ABB experts over the last two years, ScanArc has adopted their factory test stand utilizing the robust and low-harmonic ABB ACS5000 high-power drive platform to successfully build, test and commission their portfolio of plasma torches.
“ScanArc’s proprietary plasma technology serves a wide range of industries, replacing fossil fuels with sustainable, cleaner electricity solutions,” comments Håkan Gustavsson, CEO ScanArc. “By leveraging ABB’s electrification technology and service capabilities, ScanArc is positioned for accelerated growth, bringing groundbreaking plasma applications to a broader customer base while ensuring high-quality support and contributing to the green transition for future generations.”
ABB expertize in high-power drives technology was able to complement the ScanArc expertize in plasma technology to fully understand the needs, the application, and the technology required of it. Close connection within ABB engineering delivered a customized ACS5000W system that is currently capable as DC supply of up to 10MW.
“With our decades of experience for non-motoric applications, ABB were able to swiftly adapt the well-proven drive hardware platform to become a dynamically controlled DC power supply to the plasma torches,” commented Kai Pietilaeinen, ABB.
This development was complemented by leveraging Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations for the plasma torch technology so that the digital twin of the modified ABB equipment could be simulated and tested to validate the behavior as power supply to the plasma.
Following the successful commissioning of plasma torch portfolio, ScanArc and ABB continue to work together on the first installation for full scale industrial use during the later months of 2025.
“Our commitment is to enable customers to decarbonize their operations with low-carbon alternatives for industrial processes, including those that require high-temperatures,” continued Kai Pietilaeinen. “Therefore, we are excited to continue our work alongside ScanArc and others partners across the globe to make that happen as rapidly as possible.”
ABB Drives is a global technology leader serving industries, infrastructure and machine builders with world-class variable speed drives, drive systems and packages. We help our customers, partners and equipment manufacturers to improve energy efficiency, asset reliability, productivity, safety and performance.
To find out more visit ABB Motion/Drives
