Weg drives power new gen Atlas Copco air blowers 08 October 2012

High-efficiency electric motors and variable speed drives from Weg are behind Atlas Copco's latest range of energy-efficient screw blowers.

The 90, 132 and 160kW have been installed to drive models from Atlas Copco's ZS range, which is aimed at applications including wastewater treatment, food and beverage manufacture and chemical processing.

Why these drives and motors? Michel Dandoy, key account manager at Weg Benelux, makes the point that blowers, which produce large volumes of air at relatively low pressures (typically from 1 to 4 bar) are a significant consumer of energy.

Air blowers consume up to 70% of the energy used in wastewater treatment, for example, which, in turn, accounts for around 3% of total energy consumption in industrialised countries.

Hence Atlas Copco's focus on transforming energy efficiency in these applications, using improvements that, it says, reduce energy consumption by more than 30%.

The ZS units replace the classic roots compressor design, traditionally used in low-pressure air applications, with a screw compression element. This greatly increases the efficiency of the blower, and maintains better efficiency across a wider range of operating speeds.

To minimise overall energy consumption, Atlas Copco has made a number of other design refinements, including careful management of airflows through the blower and the selection of Weg's highly efficient power and transmission components.

The Weg W22 three-phase motors feature a frame and cooling system optimised to deliver better airflow to its internal components. Special bearing seals also extend the lifetime of the motor in aggressive environments by protecting it against the ingress of water and dust.

These and similar features allowed Weg to demonstrate that it could provide motors capable of meeting the efficiency specifications, alongside a component life of 40,000 hours, with re-greasing intervals of 4,000 hours.

"The W22 range is available in both IE2 and IE3 energy efficiency ratings as standard," states Dandoy. "Combined with a matched CFW11 inverter drive, we are able to deliver huge energy savings from what, to us, is a standard product."

Brian Tinham

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