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Energy efficiency:
benefits of variable
speed control
in pumps, fans and compressors
J. Schonek
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Foreword
The author disclaims all responsibility subsequent to incorrect use of
information or diagrams reproduced in this document, and cannot be held
responsible for any errors or oversights, or for the consequences of using
information and diagrams contained in this document.
Jacques Schonek
Sommaire
1. Introduction p. 4
2. Centrifugal pumps p. 5
2.1 General aspects p. 5
2.2 Fundamental characteristics p. 6
2.3 Operating point p. 8
2.4 Varying the flow rate at a fixed speed p. 9
2.5 Variable speed operation p. 12
3. Fans p. 20
3.1 General aspects p. 20
3.2 Fixed-speed operation p. 21
3.3 Variable-speed operation p. 23
4. Compressors p. 27
4.1 General aspects p. 27
4.2 Variable-pressure operation p. 28
4.3 Variable-speed operation p. 28
5. Conclusion p. 29
Appendix 1: Bibliography p. 29
Electrical energy consumed by pumps, fans and Valves, taps and gates are the most commonly
compressors represents a signicant proportion used devices.
of the electricity used around the world. It is However substantial energy savings can be
estimated that in industrial processes and obtained by using variable speed drives to
building utilities, 72 % of electricity is consumed control the ow rate or pressure in pumps, fans
by motors, of which 63 % is used to drive uid and compressors as opposed to the above
ow in pumps, fans and compressors. physical or mechanical means. In pumping
Numerous industrial sectors have pumping, applications, the most signicant savings are
ventilation and compression needs. For achieved with centrifugal pumps.
example: The aim of this document is to describe how
b In the Water sector, for lifting, irrigation, centrifugal pumps, fans and compressors
distribution, treatment, etc. function in different operating modes, and
b In the Oil and Gas sector, for extraction, to quantify the energy savings that speed
transport, rening, liquefaction, etc. control can generate. Other advantages of this
b In buildings, for heating, ventilation, air technique in terms of Energy Efciency are also
conditioning, etc. reviewed.
Traditional methods of controlling ow rate or
pressure involve varying the effective cross-
section of the pipe or circuit through which the
uid ows.
Centrifugal pumps cover a very wide spectrum Figure 2 shows a centrifugal pump driven by a
in terms of power, ow rate and pressure. They three-phase asynchronous squirrel-cage motor,
are used in a host of applications, notably in the the most common type of electric motor used.
water sector. This is the most widespread type These motors operate at a xed speed when
of pump. connected directly to the power grid, but are
The principle involves actuating an impeller perfectly suited to operation at variable speeds
that transfers mechanical energy to the uid, when powered via a frequency converter.
which is then converted into potential energy
(represented by the pressure) and kinetic energy
(represented by the ow rate).
Figure 1 shows the main parts of a simple
single-impeller centrifugal pump:
b the pump body, which comprises the inlet and
outlet manifolds,
b the impeller, which is xed to the drive shaft.
Outlet Outlet
Impeller
Inlet
TDHmax
0
0 Qn Q (m3/s)
The distribution circuit to which the pump is tted pressure that needs to be exerted on the uid to
is characterised by: overcome friction in the conduits.
b the water column height between the suction A simplied distribution circuit is represented in
point and the point at which the uid is used figure 6.
(total geometric height Z),
b the head loss, corresponding to the additional
The head loss R is proportional to the square The operating point of the pump tted to the
of the ow rate. This results in a curve that circuit is determined by the intersection of the two
is characteristic of the distribution circuit, as curves characterising the pump and the circuit,
represented in figure 7. as indicated in figure 8.
In this case, the useful power supplied by the
pump to the uid (equal to gHQ) is proportional
to the shaded area.
H (m)
H (m)
R
Pump
Circuit
Z
0
0 Q (m3/s)
H (m) H (m)
A
A
C C
0 0
0 Qr Qn Q (m3/s) 0 Qr Qn Q (m3/s)
Fig. 9. Varying the flow rate using a downstream valve. Fig. 10. Varying the flow rate using a bypass valve.
P1
P2
P3
Pa
Increasing
demand
H (m)
P
max
P
min
1P 2P 3P
0
0 Q (m3/s)
Fig. 13. Using an auxiliary pump. Conversely, falling demand translates into an
increase in head losses, resulting from the
closing of taps downstream, and an increase in
Following the same principle, it is quite common the pressure.
for a low-powered "jockey pump" to be used to When the maximum pressure is attained, a
maintain the circuit at a minimum pressure when pump must be switched off. This operation is
the main pumps are not in operation. illustrated in figure 15.
Note that parallel operation of pumps with
different pumps curves may lead to stability
problems and design of such a system should be
veried by a hydraulics engineer.
Booster function
Pumps placed in parallel generally include a H (m)
pressure regulation system, so as to maintain
the pressure in the circuit between a minimum Decreasing
and maximum value. demand
An increase in demand results in a reduction in
head losses, resulting from the opening of taps P
downstream, and a reduction in the pressure. max
When the minimum pressure is attained, an
P
additional pump must be put into operation. This min
operation is illustrated in figure 14. 1P 2P 3P
0
0 Q (m3/s)
The fundamental characteristics of a centrifugal Similarly, the characteristic P(Q) curve can be
pump are linked directly to its rotational speed. If plotted point by point, with the homologous
we consider the pump on its own (without taking points being located on a cubic curve, as shown
into account the water column height), at a in figure 17.
rotational speed N other than the nominal speed Nn: Varying the flow rate in a given circuit
b the ow rate Q is proportional to (N/Nn), We saw above that it is possible to vary the ow
b the total dynamic head TDH is proportional to (N/Nn)2, rate of a pump operating at a xed speed using a
b the power P is proportional to (N/Nn)3 valve placed downstream. This type of operation
Note that these pumps afnity laws are is illustrated in figure 9.
aproximation but are legitimate on a wide range Figure 18 illustrates the power reduction
of speed variation. achieved when the ow rate is varied by altering
the pumps rotational speed. The useful power
supplied by the pump is proportional to the
shaded rectangular areas, therefore one can
observe a signicant reduction in power in the
HMT variable speed conguration.
Nn
Nn x 0.8
H (m)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
Based on the characteristic curve at the nominal
speed, the characteristic TDH(Q) curve at a
different speed can be plotted point by point, H (m)
with the homologous points being located on a
parabola, as shown in figure 16.
P (W)
Nn
0
0 Q (m3/s)
Nn x 0.8
Fig. 18. Variation of the flow rate at a constant speed
and with variable speed.
0
0 Q (m3/s)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
P (W) H (m)
Hn
0
0 Q (m3/s)
0
0 Qr Qn Q (m3/s)
Z=0
Z = 0.5 Hn
Z = 0.85 Hn
1 1
P f = Pn. ---------- . P( Q) = 100. ------------ . 0.94 = 98.9 kW
mot 0.95
1 1 1 1
P r = Pn . ---------- . ---------- . P( Q) = 100. ------------ . ------------ . 0.66 = 73.1 kW
mot vsd
0.93 0.97
Z = Hn/2
Circuit Pump at
reduced speed
0
0 Qn/2 Qn Q (m3/s)
( Q
H = 0.5 Hn 1 + ------
Q ( ))
n
2
(3) The use of a pump operating at reduced speed
therefore allows the power drawn to be reduced
by almost 40 % in this example, without taking
into account energy losses in the motor and
variable speed drive.
H (m)
0
0 QV Q1 Q1+2 Q1+2+3 Q (m3/s)
With throttling, the power of each pump running of one single pump, only one pump running at
at full speed is reduced to 85 kW. The total full speed is necessary.
power is then equal to 255 kW. The flow delivered by the lead pump is then
The operation with one lead pump at reduced equal to 210 - 130 = 80% of the nominal flow.
speed is illustrated on figure 26. As a For this flow and head, the pump is running at
consequence, the flow of a pump running at full approximately 87% of its nominal speed, and
speed is increased to 130%, with an increase the absorbed power is around 66 kW.
of the absorbed power (around 7%). As the For this option, the total power is then equal to
requested total flow is 210% of the nominal flow 107 + 66 = 173 kW.
With all three pumps running at the same It can be concluded that the use of variable
reduced speed, their speed must be adjusted to speed brings a significant total power reduction.
85% of the nominal speed. The power of each In the example presented here, the lead pump
pump is reduced to 60 kW. solution has the better efficiency, but the pump
The total power for this option is then equal to running at full speed must have a higher power
3 x 60 = 180 kW. rating.
To power such variable speed motors, Schneider Additionnal pump control cards are available
Electric offers the Altivar 61 range of variable for even better control or for more complex
speed drives specially designed for pumping applications.
applications.
Fans are machines designed to propel a There are many different fan congurations.
gaseous uid with a low compression ratio. Figure 29 presents two examples of these: a
They are therefore governed by the same uid centrifugal or radial fan, and a propeller or axial
mechanics laws that apply to centrifugal pumps, fan.
resulting in numerous analogies between the two
types of machines.
Fig. 29. Examples of a centrifugal fan (left) and a propeller fan (right) together with their drive motors.
0
0 Qn Q (m3/s)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
Fig. 34. Examples of devices placed upstream: multi-leaf damper (left), guide vanes (right).
0
0 Q (m3/s)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
H(m)
Nn Fig. 37. Characteristic P(Q) curves of a fan at two
different speeds.
Nn x 0.8
H (m)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
0
0 Q (m3/s)
Similarly, the characteristic P(Q) curve can be
plotted point by point, with the homologous Fig. 38. Varying the flow rate by varying the speed of
points being located on a cubic curve, as shown the fan.
in figure 37.
Figure 38 illustrates the shifting of the fans
characteristic curves at different rotational
speeds and the resulting ow rate in a given P (W)
circuit.
Varying the rotational speed makes it possible
to always use the fan at its highest level
of efciency. This means that the shaded
rectangular areas are directly proportional to the
power drawn by the fans.
Speed variation is therefore the method that
offers the greatest energy efciency. Figure 39
compares the variations in power resulting from 0
the three main methods of varying the ow 0 Q (m3/s)
rate: device placed downstream, device placed
upstream, variable speed. Fig. 39. Power versus flow rate for the different
methods.
Downstream
Modulation
Upstream
On-Off
Var. Speed
speed
The power drawn by this fan using the different At reduced speed, the formula takes into account
adjustment methods is illustrated by the curves the efciency of the variable speed drive:
shown previously in figure 39 and detailed in 1 1
figure 40. P r = Pn . ---------- . ---------- . P( Q)
mot vsd
The general power calculation formula at the
nominal speed is as follows:
The table below shows the results of the power
1 calculation for the different methods, in kW:
Pf = Pn . ---------- . P( Q)
mot
The energy consumed is calculated by downstream, and 5,100 compared with control
multiplying the power by the operating time, for using a device placed upstream.
each period (day and night): 12 hrs/day x 365 The Eco8 software application presented above
days = 4,380 hrs/year, assuming that the fan is allows this type of calculation to be performed
running constantly. for all cases (selection of the engine power,
Assuming a cost of 0.05/kWh, the use of control of the upstream or downstream ow rate,
variable speed allows annual savings of 19,600 denition of the operating speed).
compared with control using a device placed
Setting: kWh
Downstream 852 947
Upstream 562 484
Variable speed 460 661
H (m) H (m)
1 1+2 1 1+2
Hn Hn
Nn
1+2
Nr
0 0
0 Q1 Q1+2 Q (m3/s) 0 Qr Qn Q (m3/s)
Fig. 41. Characteristic curve of two fans operating Fig. 42. Operation of two fans at reduced speed.
in parallel.
( )2
Pt = 2. ---------- .Pn 0.6
3
. .Pn
P1 = 3. Pn
0
0 Qn Q (m3/s)
To cater for uctuations in system demand, systems, because of its low energy efciency.
all compressors are coupled with a pressure b Partial or total load shedding by shutting
regulation device. The main adjustment the compressors suction ap or valve. The
methods, which are suited to the characteristics compressor operates at reduced or zero load,
of different technologies, are recalled below: thus reducing the electrical power drawn.
b Starting and stopping the compressor. b Placing several units in parallel. The number
Intermittent operation is suited to low-power of compressors in operation can be adjusted on
devices that can be started frequently with demand.
no unacceptable drawbacks. During phases b Varying the compressor speed. This method is
of operation, the compressor operates at its the most energy efcient.
optimum level of efciency.
b Recirculating or evacuating excess ow. This
operating method is only applicable to low-power
The use of variable speed in hydraulic machines surges, are greatly reduced by the gradual and
such as pumps, fans and compressors is the controlled acceleration and deceleration of
key way of reducing energy consumption the motor. The life expectancy of equipment is
in numerous industrial and commercial therefore extended. In addition, the management
installations. of the process is signicantly improved and
The energy savings are particularly signicant if simplied, because it is possible to nely adjust
reduced ow rates are used on a frequent basis. the uid ow rate and pressure.
The sums invested in variable speed drives An in-depth discussion of the operation of
are paid back very quickly and subsequently pumps, fans and compressors was beyond the
generate considerable savings. scope of this document. Nevertheless, the key
As well as energy savings, variable speed principles have been presented, together with
drives bring many other advantages to these examples that illustrate the extent of the energy
applications. Thus, mechanical constraints, savings that can be achieved through the use of
such as water hammer, cavitation and torque variable speed drives.
Appendix 1: Bibliography
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