Water and wastewater processes consume huge amounts of energy to accomplish all of the pumping, conveying and mixing needed to meet production demands. ABB’s selection of drives brings reliable solutions to help our customers more efficiently use energy, improve reliability and increase output.
A complete portfolio of drives
Our complete range of low and medium voltage drives provide plant operators, pump system and water project designers with choices to meet any requirement. The wide range of drives also ensures that the perfect retrofit solution is available to modernize existing installations. The proven dependability of ABB drives has improved performance, production and reliability in motor driven applications such as pumps, blowers and compressors throughout water and wastewater treatment, to water transmission, irrigation to desalination.
Variable flow and energy savings
Many pumping systems require variable flow to meet changing process demands. Variable speed drives are the most efficient method for controlling flow. Because drives control the speed of the motor directly based on actual demand, a more efficient match to the actual pumping system requirements is more easily achieved. This leads to energy savings of as much as 60% in many applications.
Our PumpSave software can help you determine your possible energy savings by using our low voltage AC drives for flow control in your pump applications.
Built-in pump control features
ABB low voltage AC drives for water come with built-in functions designed to optimize energy use and keep production moving. These functions include:
- Soft pipe filling: ABB drives ramp the pump speed slowly, avoiding pressure peaks when filling systems.
- Pump cleaning: Helps prevent solids from building up on the impeller.
- Flow and pressure protection: Helps avoid cavitation, the drives detect when the flow rate or the pressure in the pumping system changes, and can increase or decrease pumping to correct the flow’s pressure.
- Energy optimization: ABB drives can generate alarms when energy use rises significantly compared to past consumption.