Lecture 3

Material Handling
(Conveyors, Cranes and Lifts)

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 Which motors to optimise?
1. Centrifugal pumps, fans and compressors in which torque
increases with the square of the rotating speed of the motor.
The electric power sharply increases with the speed (up to
the cube) and a smooth adaptation to the real need can lead
to large savings.

2. Conveyors, escalators, hoists, cranes and similar types of

equipment where the torque is more or less independent
from speed.
The cost and energy efficiency benefits are smaller compared
to the first group of applications because the change of input
power is only linear with the speed. Regenerative braking
can lead to additional savings.

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 Material Handling Loads
• Fall into the second category where power
saving is linear to the speed
• Savings still achievable but not as attractive as
with pumps and fans
• More attractive opportunity to regenerate
electricity when braking a motor

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 Optimisation of Conveyors
• Conveyors are used for the bulk transport of dry
materials.
• The major energy savings opportunities for
conveyor systems are based on:
– Scheduling the material transfer on the belt to
minimise the amount of time the belt is running empty
– The optimisation of the mechanical components
(bearings, rollers and belt material) to minimise
frictional resistance

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 Optimisation of Conveyors
• From an electric motor perspective:
– Managing the belt speed such that the total
volumetric capacity of the belt is maximised could
offer good energy savings
– Slowing the belt when less or lighter material is
being transported
– Using high efficiency motors for belts that have a
very high utilisation

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 VSDs in Conveyors
Added benefits of VSDs in conveyers include:
• Elimination of gearboxes that often have lower efficiency than a drive
• Precise speed control
• Greater flexibilty in speed variation
• Reduced wear rates by optimising belt speed to minimise mechnical
wear
• Lower maintenance in comparison with traditional DC motors
• Soft start and soft stop capability
• Reduced starting currents
• For bi-driectional inclined belts, the possibility of regeneration exists

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Managing the Belt Speed

Energy savings in a conveyor using

speed control, in relation to the typical
constant speed.

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 Regeneration
• Regeneration represents a good opportunity
for energy saving in many applications of
material handling loads.
• The opportunity for regeneration exists where
the mechanical load is driving the motor. This is
called overhauling.

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Overhauling

Source: www.bonitron.com

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 Overhauling – Energy Dissipation
• When the load drives the motor, there is a
danger of the motor experiencing an
overvoltage
• A braking device is applied to prevent the
overvoltage:
– Mechanical brake – mechanical friction device
– Dynamic brake – electric circuit that allows the
energy to be dissipated through a resistor bank

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 Overhauling Opportunities
Raising and Lowering: Here a load is raised, and then lowered. Power is required to
raise against gravity, and braking is required when lowering. Typical examples would be
hoist operations in a vertical direction. The recoverable energy is almost equal to the
energy used for raising).
Periodic Deceleration: Here a load is stopped very quickly and the inertia of the
mechanical load tries to keep the motor turning. Typical examples would be crane
operations in a horizontal direction. (The load inertia, duration of the stop and the
number of stops will determine the amount of energy that can be recovered).
Continuous Deceleration: Here a load is continuously trying to accelerate the motor,
usually because of gravity. A typical example would be a decline conveyor, where the
motor is used as a brake to control the speed of the belt. (The heat dissipated by the
brake could be recovered).
Holding Tension: Here two machines are usually used to hold some material at a set
tension. Both machines will be running forward, but their torques will be opposite, one
driving forward, the other holding in reverse, thereby creating the required tension on
the material. A typical example would be a metal strip in a steel strip mill.

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 Energy Recovery
• With new drive technology this energy can now
be recovered.
• Requires a bi-directional drive (also called
active front end)
• The higher initial drive cost may be offset by
the energy savings

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Standard VSD

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VSD with Active Front End

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 Motors in Parallel
• Where loads are used in parallel, the use of a
common DC bus can also improve the overall
efficiency

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 Using a Common DC Bus
Separate Supply Common DC Bus

Source:

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Regeneration on a Common DC Bus

Source: www.bonitron.com

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 Case Study

Regeneration Using a Picking Crane

in a Warehouse

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 Regeneration Using a Picking Crane
• With conventional control, kinetic or potential
energy is dissipated via a braking resistor

• With the intelligent control of the travel and

hoist drives, kinetic or potential energy is used
directly in the second axis. By using a
common DC link even further energy savings
can be achieved.

• Installing VSDs with regenerative capabilities

can save up to 40% of the energy
consumption.

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Picking Crane – Power Consumption

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 With Common DC Bus

The total energy consumption falls dramatically by as much as 25% with maximum unit
power and optimum utilization of the unit dynamics
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Recycled Energy from Traveller (X-axis)

Travelling

Accelerating Decelerating

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Recycled Energy from Hoist (Y-axis)

Raising Lowering

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 Lifts
• Traditional lifts
– Hydraulic operation (cheapest) – up to 7 floors
– Electric traction motor with transmission – up to 20
floors
– Electric traction motor with direct drive – more
than 20 floors

• Braking via mechanical brake or dynamic

brake with extra mechanical holding brake
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Lift Motor Operating Modes

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 Lift Operating Modes
• The counterweight is usually equal to the
empty car + half the maximum loading weight
• Motoring:
– Empty car going down
– Full car going up
• Overhauling:
– Full car going down
– Empty car going up

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 Optimisation of Lifts
• Rubber coated flat steel belts instead of
traditional wire ropes
• Compact direct drive electric motors instead of
traditional induction motor with gearbox
• High efficiency PM motors with VSD controller
• Active front end drives to allow for
regeneration

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Source: Otis Elevators

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 Case Study

Regeneration from a lift in a

commercial building

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 RTG Cranes
• Very high utilisation and significant energy
consumer at commercial ports
• Diesel or electric (sometimes hybrid)
• Raising and lowering, periodic deceleration, so
potential for large energy savings
• Modern RTG cranes use energy storage devices
and 4Q motors with active front end drives

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Source: Kone Cranes

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 Case Study

Rubber Tyre Gantry (RTG) crane in a

container shipping terminal

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