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ABB DELIVERS ITS 10 MILLIONTH VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE

Product News Tuesday, December 1, 2015: EngNet - Engineering Network

ABB's technology is cutting energy consumption in applications including pumps, fans, hoists, conveyors, mixers, propulsion - in industry sectors including water, oil, gas, cement, mining, food and beverages.

The ten millionth ABB low voltage drive rolled off the production line at ABB's Beijing factory in November. The ten millionth drive is going to Wuhan Guide Electric Co., Ltd. in China, a system integrator manufacturing electric control systems for port cranes.  

"The outstanding direct torque control (DTC) motor control technology and built-in crane control software of ABB's industrial drives help us to maximize crane performance. For our customers - the ports - ABB industrial drives mean improved safety, high availability, and high total efficiency, resulting in lower energy costs," says Mr. Li Xiang, CTO of Wuhan Guide Electric Group Co., Ltd.

Drive number 10 million is an ACS880 industrial drive, part of ABB's all-compatible drives portfolio. Compatible with virtually all types of processes, motors, automation systems and users, they are designed to tackle any motor-driven application in any industry, whatever the power range. The innovation behind all-compatibility is the new drive architecture, which simplifies operation, optimizes energy efficiency and helps maximize process output. The ACS880 series consists of single drives, multidrives and drive modules. 

"We place high demands on our suppliers, especially concerning product quality, reliability and service. ABB drives live up to our requirements, and for ten years now we've had a strategic partnership with ABB," says Mr. Li Xiang.

ABB developed its first AC drive in the 1970s, and today they offer the most advanced range of variable speed drives in the world. ABB drives cover a wide power and voltage range, including voltages up to 13.8 kilovolts and power up to 100 megawatts.

Using variable speed drives to intelligently control motors increases energy efficiency. Over the 40 years that ABB has been delivering millions of drives to all industries, a huge amount of energy has been saved. The installed base of ABB drives saved 445 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2014 alone, equivalent to the consumption per year of more than 110 million households in the EU. If that 445 TWh would have been generated by fossil fuel-powered electricity plants, ABB drives reduced CO2 emissions in 2014 by about 370 million metric tons, corresponding to the yearly emissions of more than 90 million cars.