High-Efficiency Motor Retrofit and Replacement Economics for the Textile Industry

As power costs continue to rise, the world´s exisiting motor population will become more and more obsolete. Today´s astute textile manufacturing companies wiUl recognize this fact and seek ways of upgrading their machines. Two major alternatives available to these companies are reviewed: replacing motors before they fail, known as retrofitting, and replacing rather than rewinding motors as they fail with high-efficiency motors. Issues related to the alternatives discussed are 1) economics of motor replacement, 2) development of equipment list and data, 3) operating efficiency of existing motors, 4) impact of rewinding on efficiency, 5) verification of efficiency assumptions via on-site testing, 6) determination of changeout labor cost, 7) salvage value of exisiting motors, 8) downtime and its effect on replacement programs, 9) reliabilty enhancement, and 10) warranty implications.