Industrial Drives
Electric motors that drive rotating equipment are so common in everyday life that they often go unnoticed. In the commercial and residential sector, motors are used primarily for heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC). In the industrial sector, the electric motor dominates the total energy consumption because electric motors are used for pumping (fans, air and liquid compression), conveyance, and other forms of mechanical handling and processing. Electric motors and the systems they drive are the single largest consumers of electrical power. It is estimated that these systems account for between 43% and 46% of all global electrical power consumption.
Orbital Traction’s adjustable speed drive (ASD) is a simple, modular mechanical drive that can be adapted to nearly any rotating system. When pumping fluids, whether air or liquid, the ASD can be used to control the flow rate based on the system load, rather than turning the system on and off. With heavy industrial motors, the ASD acts as “soft starter”, and reduce inrush currents that are a result of large engines starting.
The use of a high efficiency motor can typically save 4% to 5% of electricity consumption. Linking these motors with ASD that are cost-optimized for the end-user will typically save another 15% to 25%. Additional benefits of using Orbital’s ASD are:
Click on any of the applications to read more about what the Orbital Traction’s ASD has to offer.