ABB Drives Power-Loss Ride Through Functionality
In this article and video, will be a demonstration of the power-loss ride through functionality in ABB drives. This can benefit you if you have a high inertia load and are experiencing flaky power in your facility.
In the event of a voltage sag, brownout, or short blackout, the drive actually commands the motor to slow down and uses regenerative power to stay alive and maintain control. Depending on the speed and inertia of your motor and load, there can be a significant amount of energy available to provide power and stay alive for quite some time.
If you look at my demo case, this little aluminum wheel does not have very much inertia when rotating, so it is hard to demonstrate this capability. So, I have added this ½” thick solid steel wheel to simulate a high inertia load.
The power loss ride through capability is enabled by default on all ABB drives, so I need to disable it first to show you the functionality. Setting parameter 2006 to disable will turn off the under-voltage controller.
Now, it is just the capacitors in the DC bus that will keep this drive alive during a power cycle. With this disabled and a power glitch of 4/10 of a second, the drive faults out on under-voltage and loses control of the load.
With the under-voltage controller enabled, I am able to maintain control and keep this motor running even with power removed for almost a whole second. With a high inertia load such as a fan, pump, or centrifuge, this drive and system could stay up for much longer, maintaining your process during power glitches.
Learn more about the ABB ACS580 Variable Frequency Drives.