The economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development rely on the complex optimization of many factors, including resource conservation, waste minimization, energy efficiency, climate change mitigation, longer product life cycles, and effective recycling. Copper, the “green” material, plays an important role in all of these solutions. Energy efficiency is of dominant importance nowadays due to increasing electrical energy demand, increasing awareness of Global warming & increase in prices of fossil fuels. Bridging this gap from the supply side is a very difficult and expensive proposition. The only viable way to handle this crisis, apart from capacity addition, is the efficient use of available energy, which is possible by using energy efficient devices.
Energy Efficient Motors
Electric motors are a basic need of any industry. Motors and motor driven systems are huge consumers of electricity, they are estimated to account for 53% of all global electricity consumption & moreover electrical motor driven systems consume approximately 70% of energy consumed by the industry. If the entire world were to adopt a least life cycle approach to motor systems, the energy efficiency savings potential is 3,500 billion kWh p.a. by 2030, nearly 30 percent of the total. However, the penetration of energy efficient motors remains low in India and at the same time, IE1 & below motors still have a substantial share in installed stock. Electrical energy consumption can be greatly reduced by replacing older, worn out motors with energy-efficient equivalents and specifying energy efficient motors in new equipment. Such practices not only lower energy costs but also improve equipment reliability.
Switch to Premium Efficiency (IE3) Motors
Advantages of IE3 Motors :
- Almost constant efficiency between 65% to 100% load.
- Better tolerance to thermal and electrical stresses.
- Better performance at higher temperature.
- Most efficient motors operate more quietly than standard motors.
- Attractive low payback period while replacing with IE1 motors.
- Reduction of ‘Greenhouse Gas’ emissions.
National Motor Replacement Program
One of the significant barrier for procurement of Higher Efficiency Motors is high upfront cost while switching from IE1 to IE3 motor and lack of easy financing option. To overcome these barriers, ICA India partnered with Energy Efficiency Services Ltd. (EESL) in 2017 to develop the framework for a ‘High Efficiency Motor Replacement Program’ which was further upgraded and launched in 2018 as National Motor Replacement Program.
The primary objective of National Motor Replacement Program (NMRP) is to enable easier and faster adoption of IE3 motors by addressing the barrier of paying a higher & upfront cost by the industry. The program aims to replace the currently installed lower efficiency motors which are old and have been rewound multiple times over its lifetime, with new IE3 motors.
To know more about the program refer below attachments and visit www.motor.eeslindia.org
Copper Die-Cast Rotor Technology for Induction Motors & Pumps
The electrical efficiency of motors can be improved by replacing the standard aluminium electrical conductor in the motor rotor with copper, which has a much higher electrical conductivity. Until recently, die-cast motor rotors were produced only from aluminium while researchers worked on solving technological issues with copper pressure die-casting. Today, copper pressure die-casting is a proven technology and thousands of die-cast copper motor rotors are produced annually for motor applications where energy savings are prime design objectives. The use of copper in place of aluminum for conductor bars and end rings of induction motor rotors results in improvements in motor energy efficiency due to a significant reduction in IR losses. Motor modelling by a number of manufacturers has demonstrated that motors with copper rotors yield overall rotor loss reductions from 15 to 20% compared to aluminum. The advantages of motors with copper motor rotors on an equivalent basis with aluminium include the following;
- They generate less heat and reduce thermal stresses, including those on insulation, which enable them to operate longer.
- The increased electrical conductivity of the copper rotor material plus the need for a smaller volume of steel enables the motors to be shorter in length.
- Motors have 1‐5% higher energy efficiency ratings, so therefore consume less energy.
- Motors have lower overall manufacturing costs.
Current and potential applications for motors incorporating die cast copper rotors
| Application | Driver |
|---|---|
| Agricultural pumps | Efficiency, torque |
| Water circulation pumps | Efficiency, torque |
| Oil well pumps | Efficiency, torque |
| Aeronautic applications | Low volume, high speed |
| Refrigeration compressors | High efficiency |
| Ceiling conveyor belt | Low weight |
Copper as a choice for rotors in Motors & Pumps:
The attributes of copper for electrical applications is well appreciated due to its better electrical conductivity. The advantages of using copper include:
- Improved Performance by way of reduced losses and higher Efficiencies and reduced temperature rise.
- Increased power density resulting in reduced size (Less power to space ratio) and reduced active material content resulting in material cost reduction.
With the technological breakthrough in copper die casting, now it is economically viable for mass production of copper rotors. In india copper rotors are commercial viable, and are supplied by KITRA industries, who has done continuous R&D for developing good quality rotors with world’s lowest process cost & are supplying commercially in large quantities.
What We Do
At ICA India we promote & encourage industries for adoption of higher efficiency motors & pumps thereby improving the system efficiency resulting in energy savings. At the regulatory front, we work closely with govt. bodies like Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for upgrading the relevant policies & energy performance standards pertaining to energy efficient motors & pumps.
While through a focussed market transformation approach, ICA India has been promoting use of Higher efficiency motors(HEMs) & pumps since two decades along with the supply chain like Motor & pump OEMs, industry & trade associations like IEEMA, AIEMA, SIEMA, IPMA, TERI, CII, FICCI, PHDCCI etc. by conducting several workshops/seminars pan India to disseminate the benefits of HEMs & energy efficiency pumps.
We have also partnered with EESL since 2017 to support in developing the National Motor Replacement Program and support in market outreach for better implementation of program across Designated Consumers(DCs) under Perform, Trade & Achieve (PAT) scheme by Ministry of Power as well as MSME industries.
Promote new technology (Copper diecast rotors) with Non-Ferrous Metals Technology Development Centre (NFTDC) and copper diecasting supply chain (Kitra Industries, Magcore laminations, Kapil Core packs) for strengthening Cu rotor diecasting in Market development for diecast Copper Rotor for special purpose motors, pumps and EV motor applications.