BMG – which celebrates 50 years of business this year – has recently released the new Danfoss iC2-Micro Drive into the African market. This advanced system, which is well suited for industrial heating, cooling and ventilation applications, has been designed with new features for easy replacement of the VLT Micro Drive FC 51.
“The new versatile iC2-Micro Drive – that delivers superior motor control and mechanical brake performance – is more intelligent and powerful than its predecessor and is easier to use, install and commission,” explains David Dyce, business unit manager: electronics, BMG. “The advanced iC2-Micro Drive, with reduced complexity and greater functionality, offers improved performance and energy efficiency over the VLT Micro Drive FC 51, ensuring a seamless retrofit for existing applications – and for complex tasks.
“This compact unit, with a small footprint and side-by-side mounting, can be installed in tight spaces and is able to withstand a wider operating temperature range, for safe use in harsh mining environments. In fact, these drives – available in a power range for 1-phase of 200–240 V AC: 0.37–2.2 kW and for 3-phase of 380–480 V AC: 0.37–22 kW – can operate reliably at full load for ambient temperatures up to 50°C. In addition, the drives come standard with coated circuit boards and controlled airflow movement to reduce the possibility of corrosive contaminants coming into contact with the drive’s circuitry. The drive’s fan system has built-in on/off control to reduce noise and save energy. The fan is also removable for simplified drive maintenance.
“A key feature of the iC2-Micro is the integrated PID controller that enables users to programme closed loop functions directly into the drive, improving its speed and process control capability. Advanced control algorithms and digital signal processing ensure more precise control over motor speed and torque, resulting in improved efficiency of the system and reduced energy consumption.
“We highly recommend iC2-Micro Drives to our customers in the mining sector needing to upgrade existing drives, or who are in the process of selecting drives for a new project.”
Other new features include torque open loop control, locked motor detection and permanent magnet motor control.
This system, with PM motor compatibility, provides efficient permanent magnet motor control in open loop under VVC+ throughout the power range and is available in two versions, with or without the RFI filter.
Integrated energy efficiency features, including an automatic energy optimiser and sleep mode, can reduce energy consumption by up to 30%. In addition, the iC2-Micro Drive has new safety features, including enhanced overcurrent protection and short circuit detection, which protect the motor and drive from damage in the event of a fault.
The iC2-Micro Drive comes standard with an intuitive, user-friendly interface with display and keypad. The local control panel also has a standard potentiometer for local speed adjustment. This drive is incorporated with spring type I/O terminals for simple external control wiring. The VSD can be quickly and easily installed and configured, saving users time and reducing the risk of errors.
