Efficiency of pump,motor and drive

Source : Courtesy from ABB Review (Special Report)

Dancing With the Dragon

Efficiency of pump,motor and drive depends on various factors. Normally, the larger the output power of the pump, motor or drive, the higher the efficiency of the system. When the same system is operated at a low speed, the overall efficiency of the system also drops.


For a water pump designed to be operated in the 35 to 50 Hz range,the efficiency of the drive and motor system is about 90 percent at the rated operating point.

This drops to 83 percent at 35 Hz. The efficiency of the water pump itself varies between 50 and 85 percent. Generally speaking, the efficiency of pump is affected by its speed and system curve.

Just take a review on fundamental of Motor Pump

Table 1:

As illustrated by Table 1 , the relationship between the efficiency, power, rotation speed, flow rate and lift of a  system can easily be determined.

In moving from working point A to B (upper diagram), the flow-rate is reduced by about 40 percent, on the
other hand, power is reduced by about 60 percent (lower diagram).

You May interested to read the previous post.

Energy Saving-Variable Speed Drives for Motor Pump Control

Energy Saving-Variable Speed Drives for Motor Pump Control

source : Courtesy from ABB Review (Special Report)
Dancing With the Dragon

Generally speaking, AC drives are the most energy-efficient method for the control of pumps. ABB provides

an optional software package for water-pump control in conjunction with its ACS800 industrial drive: intelligent pump control (IPC). In this application, every water pump is controlled by one drive. The power range of the drives can be between 0.55 kWand 5,600 kW (depending on the application). An example with three drives controlling three parallel water pumps is shown in 1 . The adoption of communications between the drives (using fiber-optical cables) eliminates the need for an external PLC1), thus permitting energy savings, shortening repair times, and preventing blocking of the rotation of the water pump and jam (blocking of the flow).The operation of a multi-pump system at efficient speed therefore offers potential for significant savings.

Energy-saving principles

Pump control using general-purpose  drives is mainly implemented through the control of flow rate. As in many  other variable-speed drive applications, this enables notable energy saving

Fig. 2: Power applied to the shaft is reduced significantly when drives rather than valves are used to control speed

a and b = lift flow curve of the pump at different rotation speeds , n1 and n2

c and d= characteristics of pipe for difference resistance.

Reducing flow by reducing the speed is much more energy efficient than reducing it by increasing the pipe resistance using valve.

Explanation:

1. With the pump running at the rotation speed n1, and the pipe resistance set to its lowest value 2c , the working  point of the pump is at A (intersection of 2a and 2c ). The output flow rate Q1 is maximal and the power P1 applied to the shaft is proportional to the area Q1H1.

2. If the flow rate must be reduced from Q1 to Q2, the traditional method is to change a valve setting, increasing the  resistance of the pipe from 2c to 2d .The working point hence changes to B. This increases the pump lift from H1 to H2. The power P2 now applied  to the shaft is proportional to the area Q2H2.

3.Variable Speed Drive Way
The pipe resistance remains at 2c but pump rotation speed is decreased from n1 to n2. The new  head-flow curve is thus 2b and the working point moves to C. The pump head is decreased substantially to H3.The power P3 applied to the shaft is directly proportional to the area  Q2H3. This represents a reduction (compared to P2 ) proportional to the  area Q2(H2-H3 ). The energy savings  achieved will be similary impressive

To be continue...

Experts Fuss Over Cost Of Nuclear Fusion Research

Published: July 27, 2010
by Geoffrey Brumfiel
Courtesy: National Public Radio

What would you pay for a clean technology that could meet all the world's energy needs without producing an ounce of carbon dioxide?

On Tuesday morning, governments from around the world are meeting in France to discuss exactly that. On the agenda is ITER -- Latin for "the way" -- which is a major experiment to harness the power of nuclear fusion.

ITER's promise of clean, nearly limitless power has won support from politicians. But the experiment's multibillion-dollar price tag has critics wondering whether it's really worth the cost.

Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the sun and stars. The idea is simple: If two hydrogen nuclei approach each other quickly enough, they will fuse together. Depending on the isotopes involved, the output consists of helium, some neutrons and lots of energy. Fusion doesn't involve fossil fuels, and advocates claim it is safer than nuclear fission, which splits uranium to make energy.

"Fusion offers the prospect of thousands of years of energy supply without further issues," says Mike Zarnstorff, the deputy director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J.

But actually getting fusion to work isn't straightforward. Hydrogen nuclei are positively charged and naturally repel each other. Pushing them together takes incredibly high temperatures and pressures. Researchers have spent so long working on fusion that it's become a bit of a joke in the field.

"The joke about fusion is that it is 30 years away and always will be," says Steve Cowley, head of the U.K.'s Atomic Energy Authority.

ITER hopes to change all that by producing 500 megawatts of power -- 10 times the energy it consumes. The giant reactor's design looks like a big doughnut. It uses superconducting magnets to heat and compress two hydrogen isotopes -- deuterium and tritium -- until they fuse together.

symposium on Energy & Green Technology – Hydrogen & Fuel Cell

Dear Green Energy Lovers,


The rapid economic growth and the threat of climate change have given rise to an upsurge in the development of renewable and efficient energy recovery systems including renewable sources of energy (solar energy and biodiesel), management of efficient energy conversion processes (heat pipes, thermoelectric devices, heat pumps, drying, hydrogen and fuel cell technology) and efficient solid waste management for sustainable resources management and improved economic and social situation.

Savings in Electricity Bill per month for BIPV (Solar) system installed

Calculation for Savings in Electricity Bill Per month for Bulding Integrated PhotoVoltaics(BIPV) system (Residential)

Let say your monthly electricity bill consumption is about 1500kwh (units)......

If your residential plan to install 3.00kwp PV.The PV able to produce approximately 275kWh and total electricity usage from TNB is reduced to 1225kWh and the saving in electricity bill permonth is around RM122.64

You can try and estimate your electricity bill saving  at below download link.:-)

Download
Calculation  for saving in electricity per month for BIPV System Installed (Residential)
More than 400kWh per month electricity consumption
source : http://www.mbipv.net.my/

Tacit Knowledge-How Toyota Transfer Knowledge!

Tacit knowledge (as opposed to formal or explicit knowledge)

 is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that Tooting is in London is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient.

However the ability to speak a language, use algebra[1], or design and use complex equipment requires all sorts of knowledge that is not always known explicitly, even by expert practitioners, and which is difficult to explicitly transfer to users.

While tacit knowledge appears to be simple, it has far reaching consequences and is not widely understood.

An example of the tacit knowledge approach to transferring knowledge within a global organization is provided by Toyota. When Toyota wants to transfer knowledge of its production system to new employees in a new assembly factory, such as the factory recently opened in Valenciennes, France, Toyota typically selects a core group of  two to three hundred new employees and sends them for several months training and
work on the assembly line in one of Toyota’s existing factories. After several months of studying the production system and working alongside experienced Toyota assembly line workers, the new workers are sent back to the new factory site. These repatriated workers are accompanied by one or two hundred long-term, highly experienced Toyota workers, who will then work alongside all the new employees in the new factory to assure that knowledge of Toyota’s finely tuned production process is fully implanted in the new factory.

Toyota’s use of Quality Circles also provides an example of the tacit knowledge approach to creating new knowledge. At the end of each work week, groups of Toyota production workers spend one to two hours analyzing the performance of their part of the production system to identify actual or potential problems in quality or productivity. Each group proposes “countermeasures” to correct identified problems, and discusses the results of countermeasures taken during the week to address  problems identified the week before. Through personal interactions in such Quality Circle group settings, Toyota employees share their ideas for improvement, devise steps to test new ideas for improvement, and assess the results of their tests. This knowledge management practice, which is repeated weekly as an integral part of the Toyota production system, progressively identifies, eliminates, and even prevents errors. As improvements developed by Quality Circles are accumulated over many years,Toyota’s production system has become one of the highest quality production processes  in the world (Spear and Bowen 1999).

by Ron Sanchez

Professor of Management, Copenhagen Business School

Malaysia to have feed-in tariff in 2011

15 July 2010

KUCHING: Malaysia will implement the feed-in tariff (FIT) for renewable energy to enable users to sell excess power to the power grid as early as next year, said Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui.


He said the Renewable Energy Act, which will introduce the FIT mechanism, is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat by year-end.

"The FIT is a mechanism that is tried and tested in many advanced countries, notably Germany, as a way to encourage people to use renewable energy such as solar, biomas or wind.

"With the FIT, it will be easier for everyone, whether individual consumers or companies to generate renewable energy and sell their excess power back to Tenaga Nasional Berhad or regional utility companies such as Sarawak Electricity Supply Corporation and Sabah Electricity Board," he told reporters after the launch of "Green Technology Roadshow 2010" by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan here today.

Chin said he believed the incentives to sell excess power derived from renewable energy sources to the grid would encourage more people to adopt renewable energy sources.

"I'm quite sure, like in Germany and many other countries, when there is FIT, the solar panel installation and usage will go up. A lot of usage could bring the price of solar panels down," he said.

Chin said the cost to install solar panels to generate 1KW of power for homes is RM25,000 and the average usage of a detached house is about 2kW.

Working with Idiots can Kill You !!

This is one of the working stress that we are facing everyday in our office.:-(

Sotong (Octopus) Malaysia Predicts the inverter Air Conditioner

Dear All,


Finally, 50% energy saver Inverter based Air Conditioner won "save the World race!"

Sotong (Octopus) Malaysia 23, July 2010

Malaysia to get lighting technology plant

DTC Group Sdn Bhd, which focuses on developing green technology, will join hands with four leading Korean companies to set up a RM150 million lighting technology manufacturing plant in Malaysia.


Executive Director TC Ooi said the investment in the plant, which would manufacture induction lighting systems, an alternative green technology suitable for industrial use, would be spread out over the next three years.


DTC recently signed a memorandum of understanding with a consortium of four South Korean companies, Creative System Co Ltd, Gwang Yeok Jeongi, Kolamp and Fajin Eng Ltd, to introduce the lighthing technology, an electrode-less fluorescent system.

Ooi said the companies were technology leaders and patent owners of the various components in the induction lighting system, namely the ballast, the fixture, the bulb, the control and monitoring system.

"We are targetting an order of 50,000 units annually within the next three years in Malaysia and 100,000 units to cater for the export market in five years," he said in a statement today.

Ooi said the introduction was timely to spearhead the government's initiative to stop all production and sale of the traditional incandescent lighting system by 2014 and reduce carbon emission collectively.

-- BERNAMA