Model-based assessment of energy efficiency in industrial pump systems: a case study approach

Lavrič, Henrik (author), Drobnič, Klemen (author), Fišer, Rastko (author)

Outdated, oversized variable speed pump drives (VSDPs) in industry lead to sub-optimal energy efficiency and considerable energy losses. This paper proposes methods to develop 2D efficiency maps for motors, converters, and pumps using polynomial surface fitting, which enables efficiency evaluation in a wide operating range. The method was applied to an oversized VSDP in an industrial chilled water supply system, comparing the original system with five alternative VSDP combinations with high-efficiency motors and pumps. The five VSDP variants demonstrated average energy savings of around 30%, with the synchronous reluctance motor (SRM) configurations outperforming the induction motor (IM) configurations by up to 7 percentage points, particularly at low loads. The high-efficiency SRM-based 252-IE5 variant delivered the best overall energy performance, highlighting the benefits of optimised system sizing and motor selection for energy savings. The proposed method can be used in both industrial and residential applications and offers great advantages in process systems that require variable flow and pressure of water or other fluids during operation, such as HVAC, water supply and wastewater treatment, district heating, etc. The development of a VSDP drive with efficient energy optimisation is an interdisciplinary problem of mechanical and electrical engineering, and without the interaction of engineers from both fields the result will not be optimal. We try to present our method so that it can be a reliable tool for mechanical, electrical, and other engineers or researchers to assist them in finding possible energy savings, performing energy audits, and selecting the most suitable components when modernising existing or developing new systems.

• Language: English
• Keywords: variable-speed drive, induction motor, synchronous reluctance motor, centrifugal pump, energy efficiency, energy auditing
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 30 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 14, iss. 22, art. 10430
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-164886
• UDC: 621.313/.314
• ISSN on article: 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app142210430
• COBISS.SI-ID: 215124995
• Publication date in RUL: 15.11.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Applied sciences
• Shortened title: Appl. sci.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-3417
• COBISS.SI-ID: 522979353

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: pogoni s spremenljivo hitrostjo, asinhronski motor, sinhronski reluktančni motor, centrifugalna črpalka, energijska učinkovitost, energijski pregledi

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0258
• Name: Pretvorniki električne energije in regulirani pogoni