Economic Analysis and Energy Savings of Variable Speed Drives in Fans Application — A Case Study Capwell Milling Factory

Electric motors consume over 66 percent of electricity in the industry. They account for approximately 45 percent of the global electricity consumption. In most installations, the motors are oversized and inefficiently run. For optimal control and to save on energy, it is important to match the electrical motor applications to their respective load by use of VSDs. Variable speed drives use power electronics to achieve speed control of motors. In this study an experiment was carried out to compare two 75kW aspiration fan in a milling industry, where one fan was connected to star-delta connection and other on VSD. The goal of the experiment was to quantify how much savings could be achieved when using a VSD as compared to star-delta. The study also shows the economic impact when a VSD replaces a star-delta connection.