FREQUENCY CONVERTER Medium Voltage Drives Compressed Optimized cell technology reduces width Siemens Sinamics Perfect Harmony GH180 VFD

TITLE STORY FREQUENCY CONVERTER

Medium Voltage Drives

Compressed

Optimized cell technology reduces width

With the new generation of the Sinamics Perfect Harmony GH180, Siemens is optimizing the

proven medium-voltage converter. Thanks to a new cell design, the device is 20 percent narrower than other devices on the market.

Class of its own. You come to Use when the engine power is approaching the one-megawatt

Medium voltage conlimveitr.teArtsthaisrepaower level, no low-

voltage converters are used, which could be mounted directly on the motor if required. We are talking about full-

size control cabinets in which the fitter sometimes needs a ladder to get to the fans on the top. Nevertheless, customers also attach importance to a compact design

here. Typical application scenarios are pumps, fans, compressors and various other applications in energy generation, mining and the metal, cement, chemical, water, oil and gas industries. And as we know, space is not only limited on an oil rig. In addition, the so-called E-

houses, which are usually positioned separately from the

rest of the system in medium-voltage systems for safety reasons, are often installed in containers. The following applies to these: everything that fits in a standard container can be transported inexpensively. Containers

in special formats cost extra.

Optimized for tight installation spaces

All of these reasons led Siemens to pay particular attention to size when developing the new generation of the widely used

GH180 converter. 'Our goal is to make the Si-namics Perfect

Harmony GH180 the best in the market in terms of footprint,' explains Thomas Kühnrich, the marketing manager responsible for medium-voltage drive technology. 'And we have succeeded. You won't find this level of compactness anywhere in the megawatt range; we are truly the market leader in terms of space requirements.'

The engineers have achieved this by using the latest power electronics. The updated cell

design enables narrower and lighter cells in the converter, which at the same time generate more power. Modern capacitors and chips are smaller, and the

number of components used has been reduced

by a good 30 percent. In addition, the cell housing is also made of very light

components, which further reduces the weight.

The efficient construction

is supported by the new transformer design.

All this together reduces the width

of the new GH180 by about 20 percent.

The integrated transformer also makes commissioning very simple:

three cables to the mains, three cables

to the motor, and the converter is connected.

Digital assistants on the new touch display

guide you through the setup process if required. Thanks to its design, the converter can be adapted to a wide range of voltages and output powers and is also suitable for applications with several kilometers of cable length.

Beautiful waves: the high voltage quality

Medium-voltage converters often work with corresponding high-voltage IGBTs or thyristors. The principle of the GH

180 is different. The concept developed by Robicon in

1994 works with several low-voltage cells connected in series, which together provide the required medium voltage at the converter output. A key effect of this design is that the converter generates an almost

sinusoidal output voltage shape - the name suffix

'Perfect Harmony'

2

Author

Wolfgang Kräußlich, Editor-in-Chief of construction  media

ke NEXT and fluid

30 07-08/2018

1 The new generation of Sinamics Perfect Harmony

GH180 is 20 percent narrower than comparable converters.

TITLE STORY FREQUENCY CONVERTER

2 Due to its almost sinusoidal output voltage, the GH180 can operate any motor without additional load.

3 The controls on the door have also been revised to the latest standard with a touch display.

4 The data from the converter is collected via an IoT box and transmitted in a

controlled manner to the Mindsphere cloud.

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4

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emphasizes this. This means that the device can operate practically any engine, old or new, slow or fast running, without any additional load. This is particularly interesting for retrofits where 50 or 60 year old engines need to be integrated.

Another advantage is that motors no longer have to be oversized to compensate for poor, stepped output quality of the current. 'The principle caused a sensation when it was introduced,' says Kühnrich. 'When the

concept was introduced in 1994, it was expected that only two to four units

would be sold in the first year. In fact, a total of 47 units were sold in this conservative market. It is hard to imagine why the new technology was such

Redundancy creates security

'Another advantage that our customers particularly value in the oil and gas industry is the high availability due to the internal redundancy,' adds Kühnrich. After all, depending on the output power, 9 to 15 cells are usually installed in

the converter.

The integrated cell bypass in conjunction with this cell redundancy makes it possible to automatically bridge any cell in less than half a second. This ensures high availability and reliability. If there is a particularly high need for security, more cells than necessary can be planned in advance so that work

can continue at full capacity even if a cell fails.

an enormous breakthrough compared to the thyristor technology that was prevalent at the time.'

,    because the

The fans on the top of the converter can also be set up redundantly, so that the failure of one fan does not immediately lead to

In conversation with Thomas Kühnrich, Siemens

'Driving Digitalization'

In addition to his role as Sales Promotion Manager, Thomas Kühnrich is also the project manager for digitalization in his area. ke NEXT asked what Industry 4.0 means for the area of medium-voltage converters.

see, now we are of course expanding this with a connection for medium and high

voltage devices.

As Sales Promotion Manager, Thomas Kühnrich is responsible, among other things, for market launches in the area of medium voltage drives.

What does this mean specifically for the new GH180 inverters and their hardware?

In the large field of digitalization, which also includes simulation, production planning and the digital twin, we initially focus on the topics of service and

commissioning. We have

for our drive train portfolio, our Integrated Drive Systems, i.e. for the converters, motors and geared motors, a solution called Drive Train Analytics. The networking can take place via an industrial PC or a specialised IoT box and enables a condition monitoring system with which data is continuously uploaded to a cloud solution, in this case Mindsphere. This solution gives us the opportunity to show the customer in dashboards exactly how the patient, i.e. the respective converter or motor, is doing. We integrated this topic into the new GH180, which was not

that easy - simply for reasons of space. Because of the focus on small installation space, there is very little space in the cabinet. We solved this problem with the

so-called IoT box, i.e. Internet of Things box, which is very small and compact.

Industry 4.0 is still on everyone's lips. What does digitalization mean for the area of drive technology? Are converters and motors now becoming intelligent?

Digitalization is one of the mega-topics that affects all companies equally. Siemens also places great emphasis on this and today offers a consistent concept, a digitalization path across the entire product life cycle. Motors and converters are gradually being equipped with an intelligent interface that then allows them to communicate with our open IT systems, with the Mindsphere cloud. In this way, you can then view the status data of the respective converters or motors in so-called Mind Apps, if necessary also on your smartphone. This is

a completely new topic, especially for us in medium-voltage drive technology. We

have picked up speed and are now in full swing. We were already able to present initial results for the low-voltage motors at the SPS and the Hannover Messe.

Specifically, this box retrieves the data from the NXG controller via a LAN

interface and forwards it to the Drive System Analyzer every 40 to 50 seconds.

What data is collected here?

We monitor data such as operating hours, utilization, load cycles and temperatures, but also data from the fans. We use this to create reports from which trends can be read. This offers advantages, because I also receive warnings in the control system, but only when something has happened. The trend curves from the Drive Train Analyzer allow changes to be identified in advance. As part of a service contract, the customer can rely on the expertise of Siemens technicians, who analyze the evaluations, point out problems and make

recommendations for action. wk

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Stop the system. This provides maximum protection against failure for the

converter and ultimately for the entire drive train.

Support the service

Despite all the redundancy, if a component does fail, it must be replaced - and as quickly and easily as possible. Siemens has also made improvements here as part of the model update. The cell-based basic principle helps here: the

fact that each of the low-voltage cells can be replaced individually, quickly and

easily, makes the converter easy to maintain and process. The significant weight reduction of the individual cells is another step in this direction.

Because in contrast to the larger and metal-made cell

ke NEXT was on site to see the production of the new converter. You can find more

information in the video report at www.ke-next-de/40409.

The new cells (right) are significantly smaller and lighter than the previous models (left)

thanks to a new design.

The cells of the new model are around a third lighter than their predecessor. Weighing less than 20 kilograms, they can usually be removed without the

need for additional tools such as cranes or lifts.

The ergonomics of the fan have also been improved with regard to maintenance: unlike the existing model, which is accessed from above, the filters, fans or entire cooling units of the new GH180 can be replaced from the front. This makes maintenance easy even in tight installation spaces or

containers, which significantly increases user-friendliness.

The opportunity for networking is

Of course, the new model has also been updated in terms of operation. A modern and convenient touch panel is now the primary user interface. But of course the complete digital networking of the converters up to the cloud is also possible if the customer wants that. An IoT box integrated in the converter brings together the relevant data from the installed NXGpro control unit and

delivers it via an Ethernet interface for preprocessing and then to Siemens'

“The new GH180- Converters can

transmit operating data

to the Mindsphere cloud.”

Thomas Kühnrich, Siemens

own Mindsphere cloud, the open IoT operating system, as the manufacturer calls it.

According to the company, the GH180 is the best-selling converter in its class. Over 15,000 units are said to have been sold since 1994. With the new design, a continuation of this successful story is to be expected - now also Industry 4.0-ready.

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