Flowserve speeds pump testing with variable-speed drives 08 October 2013

Fluid motion and control specialist Flowserve is using ABB variable speed drives and motors to speed up testing of its new pump variants at different speeds, at its in Newark production plant.

Power supply panel, inverters, cabling and local isolation boxes were installed by ABB recommended Inverter Drive Systems (IDS), which also implemented a control system and software, along with electrical installation and cabling for the project.

Ian Gray, engineering manager at the Newark site, explains that the test rig has been divided into two independent facilities capable of running at the same time. The first and smallest has two test stations with ABB two-pole motors, one of 11kW and the other 37kW.

The second, larger facility has three test stations with ABB motors, one with a 75kW two-pole, one a 132kW two-pole and the third with a 75kW four-pole unit.

The motors are controlled with an ABB standard PC package called Drive Windows, enabling remote start/stop and VSD control via fibre optic link.

The VSDs are all ABB ACS800 IP54 wall-mounting units and range from 11kW to 132kW to match the motors. They are fed from a new motor control panel, which was also supplied by IDS.

"This gives us instantaneous access to the measurement data of the current pump under test, as well as control over the water discharge valve and the VSDs," states Gray.

The discharge control valves are remotely controlled with Flowserve actuators and an independent control system also linked to the PCs.

The new pump variants will be sold worldwide, in both 50Hz and 60Hz markets, so Flowserve needed a testing facility that could handle the pumps at both of these speeds.

"We need to run the pump at the speed the customers want, so a VSD solution was ideal," comments Gray.

"Most pump purchasers will buy a motor with the pump, and tests are usually conducted with the motor directly driving the pump. By using the VSD, it means we can vary the speed without spending time putting a different motor on the test rig."

Brian Tinham

Related Companies
ABB Ltd
Flowserve Corporation

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