Advantages of optimizing motor & drives to ensure best performance & total cost of ownership

In modern industrial systems it can be shown that there is a large advantage in total cost of ownership to match driven equipment, adjustable frequency drives (AFD), and motors at ratings that fully utilize these components. Many industries see a demand for increasingly larger power ratings where the sizing of the components and selection of operating points becomes much more critical than their smaller predecessors. These operating points include the speed, voltage, and temperature that the equipment is capable of operating. These factors will impact the initial capital cost of the system, the operating cost in terms of power consumption, and the flexibility and the robustness of the system. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the importance of selecting the appropriate operating voltage, as well as the benefits of matching fully utilized components. These benefits can be shown to provide enough return on investment to justify collaborative development efforts between various equipment manufacturers as well as electrical and mechanical designers within a common equipment manufacturer, thereby providing the most cost effective and reliable solutions.