Success factor: energy efficiency

Siemens helps you to optimize your energy demand, reduce your energy costs and increase your competitive advantage

Industry is facing enormous challenges: 
Production processes need to be highly productive, energy-efficient, and resource-saving. Siemens is offering an energy efficiency concept that continually and systematically reduces the power consumption of machines and equipment and thereby boosts the competitive advantage of industrial producers. When implementing energy-efficient solutions, Siemens not only assesses the production process as a whole, but also evaluates each individual production step. When you choose Siemens, you can rely on a partner with a range of products that will reduce your energy costs and make you more competitive – thanks to a comprehensive, standardized portfolio of energy-efficient drives, automation systems and services plus many years of expertise in the implementation of these solutions.

1 Product design

Improve your confidence in planning outcomes! It is important to know the costs associated with the operation of a production machine so that these can be taken into account in the machine design. For example, the SinaSave software application can help you to calculate how soon you will recoup your investment if you purchase an energy-efficient drive. The Mechatronic Support simulation package will also provide you with the means to test and optimize your machine concept, Helping you to save time, energy and operating expenses. See also the SIZER for Siemens Drives engineering tool.

SinaSave: http://www.siemens.com/sinasave

SIZER for Siemens Drives: http://www.siemens.com/sizer

2 Production planning

Make your plant more profitable! It is possible to carry out an on-screen simulation of individual machines or the entire production process. By doing this, you can optimize the efficiency and productivity of production processes. For example, you can use the digital models and analysis functions provided by the Plant Simulation tool in order to optimize the motion sequences of your machines, prevent load peak overlaps, recover energy and optimize speeds.

Plant Simulation: http://www.siemens.com/tecnomatix

3 Production engineering

Optimize the workflow! The SIMATIC B.Data management tool helps you to achieve efficient control of energy and costs. But this requires perfectly coordinated communication and operation between hardware and software. Using the TIA Portal engineering framework, for example, it is easy to set up and optimize every single engineering process. You can then see at a glance the areas in your plant that can be made more productive and environmentally friendly. See also the STARTER commissioning tool and the SINAMICS Startdrive commissioning tool.

SIMATIC B.Data: http://www.siemens.com/bdata

TIA-Portal: http://www.siemens.com/tia-portal

STARTER: http://www.siemens.com/starter

SINAMICS Startdrive: http://www.siemens.com/startdrive

4 Production

Use innovative drive technology to reduce your energy consumption! The energy-efficient components and systems developed by Siemens can cut the energy consumption of a plant. Important components in an energy-efficient plant are, for example, frequency inverters with regenerative feedback functions for applications with variable speeds or soft starters for fixed-speed drives. With its PROFIenergy system, Siemens is also offering solutions that permit centralized shutdown of loads or entire production units during production breaks – a vendor- and device-neutral interface for flexible use over short or long production breaks.

5 Services

Improve your productivity and efficiency while reducing total costs! With its Energy & Environmental Services, Siemens is offering a tailored consultancy that will provide you with the necessary support in designing and implementing systematic energy and environmental management solutions. It will give you the satisfaction of achieving maximum energy efficiency throughout your company.

Energy-efficient drives

Energy-efficient SINAMICS drives save energy in an intelligent way

Exploit energy-saving potential and optimize energy consumption: You can - with intelligent SINAMICS drives Depending on the application in question, energy consumption can be controlled by motor speed adjustment to suit the individual process and achieve the greatest possible energy savings. The energy consumption of drives for turbomachines can be cut by as much as 70%. Regenerative feedback is also an option for many applications. Our portfolio of frequency inverters is the most comprehensive on the market and the first choice for anyone seeking an energy-efficient drive – at low-voltage or medium-voltage level.

Energy-efficient drives with intelligent functions

Depending on the application and load profile, the intelligent energy-saving functions of SINAMICS drives can cut energy consumption.

ECO mode

In ECO mode, the operating point of the motor in the partial-load range is automatically adjusted and optimized. This reduces motor losses, for example, in machines that do not need a high torque over the entire operating range.

Hibernation mode

Variable-speed drives that are not required to operate continuously are switched to standby or “Hibernation mode". The drive is restarted again as soon as it is needed.

Bypass mode

In bypass mode it is possible to "bypass" the inverter electrically as soon as the motor is frequently operating close to its rated speed. This solution helps to reduce inverter losses and so increase overall efficiency.

Cascading

In pump, fan and compressor applications involving high outputs, the entire power demand is distributed among several motors. Phased connection and disconnection by means of partially or fully controlled cascades in combination with inverters make a drive system more energy-efficient.

Energy balancing

Through the use of inverters with coupled drives, energy is exchanged through the common DC link. Through the direct energy exchange from one inverter to the next, it is possible to minimize power losses in the system.

Reactive power compensation

The use of SINAMICS inverters with Active Line Modules reduces the capacitive and/or inductive reactive power in the machine. It is then possible to dispense with costly reactive power compensation systems.

Energy buffering

With dynamic reversing operations in single-axis and multi-axis systems, the kinetic energy available in the system is reused. Use of SINAMICS inverters results in energy equalization across the common DC link.

Energy usage counter/Energy saving counter

Actual energy usage can be displayed during operation. Furthermore, an energy saving counter can be installed to indicate the cumulative energy savings during machine operation as compared to a fixed-speed application.

Regenerative feedback

In conventional drive systems, the energy produced during braking is converted to heat using braking resistors. SINAMICS G and SINAMICS S inverters with regenerative feedback capability need no braking resistor, and supply the resulting braking energy back into the line.

DC link coupling with SINAMICS V20

Applications with two SINAMICS V20 inverters with the same power rating can share a common DC link in order to reuse regenerated energy.

Overview of energy-saving functions for SINAMICS drives