IDS are ABB Inverter specialists. We specify, install, commission, repair, service and hire variable speed drives.
In this article, George Dodwell, ABB Water Framework Manager – South highlights how pumping dirty can be costing you money: Did you know? Your pump isn’t running at its peak efficiency unless it’s clean! It is becoming more and more common within the water industry today to run pumps on variable speed drives for efficiency reasons, ABB variable speed drives can also help to keep your pump clean. Here is a very good example of…
Electric motors driving hydraulic pumps are in common use in industry today. They provide motive power to machines using rams to move and hold machines in position. When the oil flow to the rams is not required, the hydraulic pump will continue to operate and the oil is then diverted around the circuit back to the tank by a pressure relief valve. This wastes energy and heats up the oil. In this case, inverters can…
We are pleased to announce the new ABB variable speed drive webinar agenda for 2023-2024. The experts at ABB have created these webinars with the intention of sharing knowledge and best practices. The webinar topics run from; an introduction to variable speed drives, through to condition monitoring and specific topics like PID, harmonics, variable speed drives in borehole and submersible pump applications, how inverters can help towards Net Zero and our own course which…
An AC variable speed drive, also known as an AC drive or a variable frequency drive (VFD) or an Inverter. This is a device that is used to control the speed of an AC motor. The basic function of an AC variable speed drive is to convert the incoming AC voltage into a DC voltage and then invert it back to an AC voltage with a variable frequency and voltage. Here are the main components…
In this article, ABB’s George Dodwell shares his views on the ABB general purpose drives: When we talk about General purpose drives it’s a broad topic, from a chicken shed in rural Norfolk to a plastics extruder in the largest moulding factory in the UK, for all these industries and applications the ABB general purpose drives fit the bill. Ranging from 0.25kW all the way up to 6000kW. We have the range that covers it…
In this blog article, ABB’s George Dodwell takes a look at ABB Drives ACS580 and the ACS880 and looks at the differences between these two General Purpose Drives. In the world of variable speed drives selecting the correct unit for your requirements can be a minefield, but it can be a straightforward process so I’m hoping to share a few points to consider to aid when choosing the drive that will best work for your…
We don’t say it often enough, but a huge thank you to our engineering team, who together, got Tarmac Ballidon Quarry back up and running in just over 4 hours (and that includes an hour for our engineer to get to site). Here’s what happened: 7:30 am We receive a technical support call from Andy Dixon at Tarmac Ballidon Quarry Powder Plant. They appear to have a failed 132kW inverter which was assigned to the…
Well known sealant manufacturer ARBO® part of CARLISLE® CM Europe, wanted to upgrade their Nurlinger mixers to increase the speed of the mixing process and replace obsolete equipment. Previously the team at ARBO® would need to manually change the speed of the mixers by swapping pullies. This manual process was time consuming and suffered continuous mechanical breakdowns due to the age of the variable speed belts and pulleys. Clive Minion the Maintenance Team Leader at…
ABB’s ACQ580 inverters are ideal for the water industry and pumping in general. The inverter’s range from 0.75kW to 500kW in both 6 pulse and Ultra Low Harmonic variants. What I find most interesting about the ACQ580 is the IPC or Intelligent Pump Control software for controlling pumps in parallel. All you need to do is connect the embedded fieldbus and enter some basic pump control details, it’s simple. The pumps can then be set…
In this video, Blaise Ford, MD of IDS demonstrates how to reduce noise with an inverter. Using our demo rig which consists of an ACS480 inverter, an electric motor and a fan, Blaise starts by running the fan at full speed, 50 Hertz and then slows it down to demonstrate how much the noise generated by the fan is reduced. How To Reduce Noise With An Inverter For those not able to watch this video…
