Friday, April 27, 2012

Just in case you haven't been following the controversy on ControlGlobal.com, I have published three articles in which I have claimed that using a variable frequency drive (VFD) to control the speed of the electric motor driving a centrifugal pump is actually superior to using a traditional control valve with an electro-mechanical actuator and positioner. It saves energy because the pressure drop across the valve is gone. On new installations, the pump and motor may be smaller due to the reduced head requirement. Maintenance is reduced because there is no stickiness with the VFD as there is with control valves. There are no fugitive emissions through the seal on the no longer existing control valve stem. Finally, the quality of control is actually improved since the VFD responds instantly to PID output changes, and there is a perfectly linear relationship between pump rotational speed and flow rate. Still to be proven are the effects on turn-down ratio, lack of VFD support of Foundation Fieldbus, and lack of actual user feedback in real loop control situations.

Has anybody actually tried this in a real control loop?
This blog is devoted to any of my favorite topics:

1. Industrial Wireless Networks (also called wireless sensor networks)

2. Fieldbus - meaning Foundation Fieldbus for process control

3. Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) used to replace/substitute for process control valves

Post your questions/answers here.