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Machinery drive has `highest power density`

27 November, 2009

ABB has launched a general machinery drive with a power density of 2.8kW/dm3 – claimed to be the highest in its class. ABB believes that the compact ACS355 drive, which made its debut at the recent SPS/IPC/Drives exhibition in Germany, will establish new industry benchmarks for speed, ease of installation and operational safety.

At the show, ABB also unveiled a pair of liquid-cooled versions of its ACS800 LV drives: one with exceptionally low harmonic generation; the other with a regenerative capability. Both span ratings from 55–5,200kW at 380–690V.


The ACS355 (above), which covers ratings from 0.37–22kW, is designed to satisfy most of the typical needs of high-volume machine-builders in one family. Up to eight preset sequences of operations can be created on-board, reducing the need for an external PLC, and up to 20 machine parameter sets can be stored rapidly without needing to power the drive.

A Safe Torque-Off function keeps the drive energised when the motor has been stopped and there is no torque on the machine. The TÜV-certified function meets the requirements of the new European Machinery Directive by using the drive’s safety function as part of the machine’s safety system. A speed-compensated stop function is available for applications requiring precision stopping independent of variations in speed.

The sensorless vector drives, available with IP66/67 protection, have built-in braking choppers and predefined I/O configurations with macros for applications such as three-wire and PID control.  


The new liquid-cooled versions of the ACS800 drives (above) can be installed in enclosed cabinets and reduce the need for high-power, filtered air cooling. Redundancy is built in and the drives can run with partial loads, even if one of the modules is not working. The compact, low-noise drives are said to be ideal for use in harsh ambient conditions.

The ACS800-17LC model is a liquid-cooled regenerative drive in a single, compact cabinet-built package. It includes everything needed for regenerative operation, including an active supply with a regenerative function and an LCL-line filter for harmonic mitigation. The active supply provides full-power flow in both motoring and generating modes, with rapid transition between these modes. The filter limits harmonic distortion to levels that exceed the requirements of international standards.

Regenerative operation feeds braking energy back into the network and eliminates the need for a braking chopper and external braking components, thus reducing size, complexity and costs.

The ACS800-37LC model is a liquid-cooled variant of the ACS800 low-harmonic drive which provides a harmonic content of 3–5% and exceeds the requirements of IEEE 519 and G5/4. The drive is equipped with an active supply controlled using Direct Torque Control to eliminate low-order harmonics, and a low-harmonic line filter to reduce high frequency harmonics. No extra components are needed to reduce harmonics.




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