Reasons to Learn About Variable Frequency Drive

Variable frequency drives have become a bigger part of the modern day as we introduce more and more technology into our lives. Lucky for us, most variable frequency drives are simple to install and use, but you wouldn’t know it from all their complex hardware and software. A variable frequency drive can greatly improve your day to day life and to do so you must learn the basics of how these variable frequency drives work, in theory, the terminology around them, and all the interfacing options.

Now maybe there are some of you who don’t know what a variable frequency drive actually is. To put it quite simply, it is a device that converts power. A variable frequency drive takes a basic fixed frequency and fixed voltage sine-wave power and converts it to a variable frequency or a variable voltage output which is then used to control the speed of induction motors.

If you have any problems with voltage dropping, torque or currents during start up, then a variable frequency drive will undoubtedly solve most of these problems as well as giving you the benefits of efficiency and increase your savings. You can find new variable frequency drive for sale in specialty stores or in industrial districts; you can also find new variable frequency drive for sale online where you can shop, browse, and compare models and prices.

So why should you use one? Well, the main function and reason for these devices is to actually provide you with savings on your energy. If you use a variable frequency drive it will actually control the speed of a pump rather than control the flow through throttling valves and in that way the amount of energy you save will be substantial. If you slow the speed by even 20% this can mean savings on energy of up to 50%. This is the main benefit, but there are also other like the life of any impeller, bearing, or seal is improved greatly.

Let’s go over some of the benefits of a variable frequency drive. A variable frequency drive does run at high power while many other applications run at a lower power factor but this can shorten the life of the motor because it’s constantly overheating from the unnecessary increase in the current and not enough insulation. A variable frequency drive doesn’t have this problem as the loads frequency runs below the fundamental.

One of the most obvious benefit of variable frequency drives is the speed control we all know about. This is great and beneficial to the process, operation and economic side of running machinery. One of the bigger money saving aspects of variable frequency drives is that you don’t have to deal with the DC motor carbon brushes or mechanical speed control gearboxes. Another great money saving aspect of the variable frequency drive is the amount of power you save when it’s in use with a fan or pump.

Another well known benefit of the variable frequency drive is the constant output of torque and horsepower. The constant torque is fairly simple to explain. This kind of technology regulates the flux so the current of torque is constant. The voltage is static and the frequency is constantly increasing; the flux is then forced to decrease which is when the current and torque are forced to decrease as well. This whole process is known as field weakening. It might not be considered a good thing, but it can come in handy if there is a need to increase the torque load above the regular rated speed.

There are also many more benefits when it comes to variable frequency drives, but the most important thing to know is that if a load has variable speed or torque, then you should consider adding a variable frequency drive.