Vacon drives down the cost of swimming
06/01/2011 Vacon Drives UK Ltd
As part of its on-going drive to monitor and reduce energy usage and CO2 emissions, One Leisure, the division of Huntingdonshire District Council responsible for sports and leisure services, found that the pumps in its swimming pools were consistently using more energy than appeared to be necessary. After investigating the situation, controls expert Digicon Solutions implemented a solution based on Vacon AC variable speed drives, which is expected to deliver savings of £4,500 per year.Digicon's evaluation of the pump installations at the One Leisure swimming pools in Ramsey, Sawtry and Huntingdon found that they had all been sized to provide generous reserve capacity that was not needed during normal operation. Unfortunately, however, the pumps were fitted with ordinary single speed starters, which meant that they always operated at full speed, irrespective of the actual requirements.
On the basis of its findings, Digicon suggested that fitting variable speed drives, which would allow the pump operating speed to be matched to demand, would significantly reduce energy usage. The company advised that the potential for savings in applications of this type is very good, as the power used is proportional to the cube of the speed, which means that reducing the pump speed by just 25% would cut energy requirements by almost 60%.
To help One Leisure make a business case for installing variable speed drives, Digicon prepared a detailed report that clearly set out the project costs and the anticipated savings. Following submission of the report, approval to proceed was readily obtained.
Digicon selected 7.5 kW and 4 kW Vacon NXL AC variable speed drives as the basis for its solution, as these units are dependable, compact and cost-effective, and they are available in IP54 versions that could be mounted directly on the wall in the swimming pool machine rooms without the need for additional enclosures. For this application, Digicon modified the drives by fitting them with a day/night selector switch.
Following the installation of the new drives it was, as anticipated, found possible to run the pumps at reduced speed even when the pool was in use, and the day/night selector made further savings possible by allowing the pumps to operate at minimum speed when the facility was not in use. The projected savings of £4,500 per year means that One Leisure will recover the purchase and installation cost of the new drives in just one year.
For further information on Vacon, please contact:
Stephen Takhar, Vacon
18 Maizefield, Hinckley Fields Industrial Estate, Hinckley, LE10 1YF Tel: 01455 611515 Fax: 01455 611517 E: stephen.takhar@vacon.co.uk W: www.vacon.com
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