Energy efficiency experts at Drives and Controls 2014

GAMBICA, the UK trade association for instrumentation, control, automation and laboratory technology, will host a pavilion at the Drives & Controls Exhibition, taking place at the NEC in Birmingham, between April 8 and April 10, 2014. The seven participating GAMBICA members can be found at stands number G10 to G70.

Steve Brambley, GAMBICA’s deputy director and the organisation’s Variable Speed Drives (VSD) group convener, will also present two seminars at the event. The first one will be a part of the Motor Driven Systems (MDS) day and will take place on April 9, between 11:30 and 12:00. The seminar will address ways in which intelligent control can significantly reduce energy usage.

The second session is a panel discussion that will take place on April 10, from 10:15 to 11:15 and will look at the automation trends in the UK.

The GAMBICA members pavilion will play host to seven members, each with their own stand. The participants are Danfoss, Fairford Electronics, Omron Electronics, Pepperl + Fuchs GB, TECO, Vacon Drives UK and Parker SSD Drives.

“We’re particularly looking forward to this year’s event as an opportunity to exhibit as a trade body and in partnership with some of our members,” explains Brambley. “We’ve worked with all our members to create a varied exhibit, that reflects the GAMBICA membership and we look forward to meeting as many visitors and fellow exhibitors as possible. We’re certain that the recent confidence boost in the automation and manufacturing sectors will reflect positively on this year’s Drives & Controls show.”

For the 2014 Drives & Controls show, the participating GAMBICA members will focus on issues including energy efficiency, the benefits of motor control in fixed and variable speed applications and the advantages of using automation and robotics.

An Omron Delta-style robot will be exhibited on stand G70, in a typical material handling application. Every aspect of the machine cell will be controlled by a Sysmac machine automation controller.

GAMBICA member Fairford Electronics has also prepared a particularly interesting exhibit. "Fairford are delighted to be part of the GAMBICA pavilion this year. It gives us a chance to showcase our revolutionary intelligent energy saving motor controller - Synergy. We will have a live unit with us and visitors will be able to test it and see just how compact, powerful and easy to use it is," commented Stephen Royle, sales and marketing director at Fairford Electronics.

On stand G20, Danfoss will discuss their VLT® High Power Drives and low harmonic versions of the VLT® Automation, HVAC and AQUA drives. The products actively reduce harmonic distortion in the power supply, improving power quality by continuously regulating the network to the load conditions. The VLT® Advanced Active Filter is designed to complement the VLT® series of low harmonic drives, a flexible and adaptable solution for stand-alone or group harmonic mitigation.

Teco will be launching the latest additions to the 510 family of VSD’s, namely the IP66 version of the E510 sensorless vector drive and the IP55 variant of the F510 which is designed for fan and pump control.

On stand G60, Vacon will showcase VACON 100 FLOW drives, which incorporate an extensive range of dedicated features and menus optimised for pump and fan applications, and VACON 100 X drives, which have an IP66 ingress protection rating that allows them to be used almost anywhere – even outdoors – without the need for extra protection.
Brian Hurley, general manager of Parker's SSD Drives Division announced "We're delighted to be back at Drives & Controls. This show will be the UK debut for the new AC10 drive, as well as the newly extended AC30 Series. The UK is an important market for us and this exhibition presents us with a good opportunity to show our customers how our product range has developed."

GAMBICA whitepaper set to highlight the importance of system efficiency, not product efficiency

GAMBICA will be launching a white paper at the 2012 Motor Driven Systems conference in which it will make an economics based analysis of the comparison between investing money in efficient systems to reap financial gain and saving capital by not investing but accepting higher energy bills.

Steve Brambley, Deputy Director

The paper, presented by GAMBICA deputy director Steve Brambley, will show how the lifetime cost of efficient equipment is lower due to the high proportion of energy costs in motor driven systems. Brambley will explain that 97% of the lifetime costs of a motor come from the energy it consumes and that energy efficient systems can deliver significant, often double digit, savings. He will also compare two example lifetime costs, the first with investment in motor control, the second without it.

“Running old or inefficient equipment is a false economy,” explains Brambley. “The real barrier to investment is the understanding of the lifetime cost of a system at a corporate and financial level. In contrast, I think engineers readily accept the benefits of motor control.”

The Motor Driven Systems conference will take place on November 8 at St. John’s Hotel, Solihull. The event, which is supported by companies from the pump, compressed air, motors, drives, controls and fan industries, aims to bring together the varied strands of legislation, standardisation, system strategies and technological developments affecting motor driven systems.

In the context of the economic downturn and subsequent cuts, manufacturers are reluctant to invest in improving their systems. However, as time passes, inefficient industrial machines consume more and more expensive energy and begin eating away at profits. One solution to this problem is the installation of a variable speed drive (VSD) or alternative fixed speed form of motor control, as GAMBICA’s white paper illustrates.

“The American industrialist Henry Ford once said that, If you need a machine and don't buy it, then you will ultimately find that you have paid for it, but don't have it,” says Steve Brambley, deputy director of GAMBICA.  “I believe that a century later, his assertion is more pertinent than ever for UK manufacturing. As our findings point out, VSDs can reduce the energy cost of most fixed speed motor driven systems by more than their own capital cost in a relatively short period - often less than a year. As energy prices continue to soar, the return on investment on a VSD application increases in proportion to the bill,” he concluded.

The price for delegates to attend the Motor Driven Systems event is £235 plus VAT. For more information, bookings and a conference programme, visit the Motor Driven Systems website.