Plumbing Motors

Motor are reliable, rugged and very efficient machines that have become the most commonly used equipment on the planet. In brief, a motor is a rotating component that imparts and generates motion.

A well-designed and well-maintained motor can convert over 90% of its input energy into useful shaft power, 24 hours a day, for decades. The popularity of motors attests to their effectiveness: in the United States, they provide more than 80% of the non-vehicular shaft power in the United States, and uses upwards of 60% of the nation's electricity as input. Optimizing the performance of motors and the associated motors, power-conditioning equipment, controls and other ancillary components can save a significant amount and energy. This collection of components make up what we commonly refer to as motor systems.

Electricity often enters your facility with phases that are often slightly out of balance, voltages that may dip and rise, and various kinds of distortion. These deviations can reduce the efficiency, performance, and life of your motors. Avoiding and correcting these problems requires monitoring of power quality, repair of faulty devices, and in some cases, installing power-conditioning equipment.

Your wiring is also an important factor. In your building, it is most likely that distribution wiring is sized according to the National Electrical Code, which principally addresses safety, not energy efficiency. Wires that are larger than the minimum size requirement of the code have lower resistance to the flow of electricity, and hance fewer energy losses. Therefore, if you are building a new facility or renovating an existing facility, it may pay to exceed code standards.

A motor's start-up, speed, and torque often need to be controlled. Fan-, compressor-, and pump driven systems moving liquids or gases, for example, may require frequent changes in the rate of flow. This is the case for fans and chillers for ventilation and cooling of commercial buildings, pumps for hydronic heating and/or cooling systems, and fans and feed water pumps for boilers. Modern adjustable speed drives (ASD) allow the motor's speed to be preccisely controlled, which can significantly reduce energy use. Energy savings can be as high as 40%. Most systems with variable flow, however, have not been updated and continue to use mechanical devices such as inlet vanes, outlet dampers, or throttling valves to control fluid flow while the motor continues to run at full speed. These methods waste energy and provide little control.

Other control technologies include microprocessor-based controllers that monitor system variables and adjust motor load accordingly, and power-factor controllers that can trim the energy use of small motors driving grinders, drills, and other devices that idle at nearly zero loading most of the time. There also are application-specific controls such as those that sequence the operation of multiple compressors in a compressed air system.

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