Electricity + Control June 2018

CABLES + ACCESSORIES

Cable solutions for servo and variable frequency drives (VFD)

Take Note!

The strong electromagnetic interference results from; The extremely short turn- on and turn-off times of the IGBTs. From the high pulse fre- quencies of the frequen- cy converter. 2 1

Information provided by Helukabel

Electric drive systems with continuous torque and speed control are widespread today. They allow an optimal adjustment of the drive with respect to the application.

T hese systems allow an optimal adjustment of the drive with respect to the application. Standard drive systems consist of three- phase, alternating-current, asynchronous motors and related controls via frequency converters.

and continuous variable torque and speed control, certain negative effects should also be taken into consideration. These include strong electromag- netic interference through the motor power supply cable, high overvoltage in the supply cable, high leakage and interference currents. Problems with electromagnetic interferences The strong electromagnetic interference re- sults from the extremely short turn-on and turn-off times of the IGBTs (nanoseconds) and from the high pulse frequencies of the frequency converter (up to 20 kHz). This leads to a very high propor- tion of harmonic waves of the sinusoidal output voltage of the converter. The strong electromag- netic emissions, emanated especially from motor supply cables, result in major interference with the distribution network, the devices and data transfer.

A frequency converter consists of two Insulate Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)-controlled units: 1) a rectifier that is connected to a three-phase, alter- nating current with a given frequency f1 (e.g. 50 or 60 Hz), which generates a pulsating direct current; 2) an inverter that reconverts the direct current in a new alternating voltage with variable level and frequency f2 (0 to 400 Hz). Using the motor sup- ply cable, the speed of the servo motor can be precisely controlled by changing the frequency f2.

As a consequence, the European standard EN 61 800-3 (July 2005) specifies the maximum inter- ference level of drive systems in order to ensure that signal transmissions are adequately protected against interference. This regulation, which differ- entiates between category C1 ‘residential areas’ and category C3 ‘industrial areas,’ establishes the maximum permissible interference levels of the radio interference voltage from 0.15 MHz up to 30 MHz, and of the radiated electromagnetic interfer-

Negative effects Although there are a number of benefits associ- ated with frequency converters, such as precise

4 Electricity + Control

JUNE 2018