Power Factor Correction

 Is your PFC equipment saving you money, or costing you £1000’s???

Equipment previously installed and ignored could now be giving rise to ever increasing electricity costs. For example....

1. Not controlling to set-point, thus causing excessive electricity bills.
2. Damaged contactors and faulty isolators, giving rise to a potential fire.
3. Risk of explosion due to faulty cooling.
4. Uneven wear to the PFC equipment, due to primitive PFC controllers.
5. Disturbances causing tripping and damage to drives and electronic equipment.
6. Degrading of capacitors causing shifts in de-tuned frequency, producing a potential problems with your drives and electronic equipment. Resonance may occur causing over-voltage on the devices within the drives.

For optimum performance from your PFC equipment, regular maintenance is essential and we recommend that once a year a service is carried out. The cost of this can often be much less than repair costs, increased electricity bills and unexplained drive failures. ADS Control Systems offer service, maintenance and repairs to PFC equipment manufactured either by ourselves or our competitors. Even elderly equipment can be restored to full working order. It is not unusual to see some intermittent drive problems vanish and electricity costs to fall.

Above: Example of a contactor problem

We can replace older type controllers. The replacement controllers give an LED power factor display. They are intelligent, changing the contactor sequence to give even wear, so increasing longevity of the PFC equipment.

Harmonic content can also be graphically displayed, if specified. 

Harmonic Distortion

DC drives generate harmonic distortion to your supply. In some cases, supply authorities demand elimination. This can be very expensive and care should be taken not to design an expensive overkill.

ADS Control Systems can arrange a site visit and carry out harmonic measurements. A bespoke design is then proposed and quoted.

Above: Example of 5^th harmonics being filtered

PCB Disposal.

PCB (Polychlorinated biphenyl.) is an artificial oil with good insulation properties, very stable and none-biodegradable. It was used for many years in industry, but it was found that if burnt it produces lethal dioxins. Consequently, its use was banned in the 1970’s, and internationally banned in 1986. Further agreements were reached to phase out any remaining PCBs.

It is now illegal to own equipment containing it. Penalties for possession and incorrect disposal are very high. We can arrange disposal by specialists, in accordance with current legalisation. It is estimated that several thousands of kilograms are still in use due to lack of knowledge.