Combating climate change is a serious challenge, with a nearly overwhelming array of issues to overcome. Sustainability-minded people do their best to lessen their personal carbon footprint by using public transportation, driving an EV, cutting back on energy usage, etc. But the biggest culprit in carbon emissions is industry, representing an estimated 23% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US, for example.
Fortunately, the industrial sector represents a unique opportunity to address key sources of emissions at scale, and there is ample incentive to take corrective action thanks to cost savings, evolving regulations, and a need for more resilient energy grids. It has been estimated electric motors represent approximately 70% of industrial electricity consumption as they drive pumps, fans, compressed air systems, material handling, and processing systems. This makes motors an especially promising opportunity to address carbon emissions through technologies that allow them to perform much more efficiently, particularly for large-scale manufacturers willing to invest in retrofits that drive energy efficiency.
Reducing carbon emissions is a globally significant challenge, reflected by its inclusion in the Paris Agreement. The Agreement aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C by 2050, requiring an approximately 70% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2018 levels.
Meeting the challenge of a 1.5°C target will require a shift in investment away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency, renewables, and nuclear power as well as carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) along with other low carbon areas. However, while renewable energy gets much of the attention, Analog Devices sees gains in energy efficiency as perhaps even more critical. By increasing efficiency and mitigating demand on the energy grid, manufacturers may be able to increase resilience, generate cost savings, and reduce emissions in their operations.
The World Energy Outlook 2019 included two major sections. The first is the Stated Policies Scenario, which considers only specific policy initiatives already announced. The second, the Sustainable Development Scenario, describes a pathway that enables the world to meet climate, energy access, and air quality goals, and is fully compliant with the Paris Accords. At the same time, it maintains a strong focus on the reliability and affordability of energy for a growing global population. Notably, the largest opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions identified as part of the Sustainable Development Scenario is gains in energy efficiency, representing 37% of the Sustainable Development Scenario’s reductions relative to the Stated Policies Scenario.
With energy efficiency as a centrepiece to combating emissions, it’s imperative that technologists and manufacturers identify where they can make a practical difference, and electric industrial motors are a perfect starting point.
Motor solutions
The most basic and lowest efficiency motion solutions operate in an either on or off position, applying one level of output regardless of changes in their task’s requirements. They are based on a grid-connected or AC-powered, 3-phase motor that uses a switchgear to provide on/off control and protection circuitry. However, using variable drive technology, motors are able to better match output with the load requirement. Deploying more high efficiency motors and drives, and embracing digitalisation represents a tremendous opportunity as the world seeks to achieve greater energy efficiency and cut CO2 emissions.
By adding technology including a rectifier, DC bus, and a 3-phase inverter stage, it becomes possible to significantly reduce energy consumption by running the motor at the optimum speed for the load and application.
Depending on the motor and application, adding an inverter or drive to an existing motor can reduce power consumption between 25% and 60%. For higher performance motion control applications, a VSD enables accurate torque, velocity, and position control. To accelerate the deployment of higher efficiency motor-driven systems, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has contributed to the definition of energy-efficient electric motor standards. This includes the IEC 60034-2-1 test standard for electric motors and the IEC 60034-30-1 classification scheme comprised of four levels of motor efficiency (IE1 through IE4). These standards have made it easier to compare efficiency levels between motor manufacturers and have provided a reference for governments to specify the efficiency levels for their minimum energy performance standards (MEPS).
As regulators pursue options for reducing energy consumption and emissions, ADI expects that the use of these standards will drive continued investment in more efficient motor technologies.
Semiconductor technology is a significant facilitator of the energy efficient transition enabling modern drives. Companies like ABB and Analog Devices are investing in the development of energy efficient technology, solutions, and products for motion applications. There is an expectation that advances in motor design alone will not guarantee optimal energy efficiency.
ABB, for example, is pursuing developments in advanced motor drives including control algorithms, optimal switching frequency, and digital modelling. This breadth of technologies is a critical requirement for life cycle management of motor-driven systems - from design, modelling, and dimensioning to powertrain optimal operation and control. Digitalisation and artificial intelligence will also contribute to the enablement of energy efficient motor-driven systems that are required for a more sustainable manufacturing future.
However, the opportunity for more energy efficient motor operations is not limited to just the motors themselves. VSDs use data from voltages, currents, position, temperature, power, and energy consumption combined with external sensors that monitor vibration and other process variables. With a converged information technology/operating technology (IT/OT) Ethernet network, the various data captured from motion applications are networked together communicating data and insights to cloud-based data storage or on-premises storage, making them more accessible and actionable thanks to powerful cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI).
This opens the possibility for more scalable optimisations of manufacturing flows, reductions in energy consumption, and lowered CO2 emissions in manufacturing. Moreover, the use of these motion insights extends equipment lifespans, improves manufacturing quality, and reduces unplanned downtime and material wastage while increasing safety in manufacturing plants.
Another critical capability is identifying deployed motors that operate too near to or slightly above their rated output, which may result in increased electricity consumption and potential lifetime issues. In a large manufacturing installation with possibly thousands of motors deployed, digital transformation strategies are especially crucial to identifying these opportunities for reducing electricity consumption and CO2.
The path to reducing emissions is complex but could create new opportunities for industrial manufacturing companies to embrace new technologies that accelerate lower carbon manufacturing. It is anticipated that increased industrial activity will nearly double the demand for motor systems by 2040. Therefore, the CO2 reduction impact and the opportunity for new higher efficiency motor-driven systems are expected to increase significantly.
Key for manufacturers will be how they partner with companies within the ecosystem, as a variety of experience and connections will be important for deploying more energy efficient motor technology at scale.
The scope of the challenge is significant, but collaborating with the right players in industry, technology, and government will be important to achieving energy efficiency goals in industry and our world.
Author details: Maurice O’Brien, Director of Strategic Marketing Industrial Automation Analog Devices
