Drives save yarn spinner £27,000 energy costs per year 20 July 2012

Low voltage ac variable speed drive technology is set to save a woollen yarn spinner nearly £27,000 a year in energy costs alone.

Controls specialist to the textile industry Tatham ran the project for Milliken, which produces cloth for tennis balls and billiard tables.

Its spokesperson explains that carding machine sections were being driven by dc drives controlled by TASC units, with a 15kW and 25kW motor and two 7.5kW tandem motors. They were also driving the machine sections directly, shaft to shaft – continually running at full load current and sometimes overheating.

The new TS drive systems each comprise 4 ac drives using ABB DTC (direct torque control) and new, high-efficiency ac geared motors.

DTC provides for synchronisation of the machine sections, giving accurate control but also yielding improved product quality.

Just as important, the new drives have reduced power consumption by 540,000kWh, cutting the energy bill by £27,000, while reducing CO2 emissions by 292,000kg/year. Payback for the system, according to Milliken, was just over 10 months.

In brief detail, 11kW geared motors and associated gearboxes were fitted on the scribbler, carder and eccentrics sections, along with an additional 4kW motor and gearbox on the doffer. The gearboxes ensure that the correct power is delivered to the rollers while allowing the use of a smaller motor. The ac drives are also run at 40Hz, allowing further energy savings.

The low voltage ac drives display data that inform users when the motors are switched on, when they're driving the rollers, and Kilowatt Hours used

Brian Tinham

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