MITSUBISHI INTRODUCE NEW ‘MICRO’ INVERTER RANGE

Phil Black - PII Editor 30/10/2008

86 2 minutes read

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The new D700 inverter range will bring new confidence to buyers, installers and operators of variable speed drives claim Mitsubishi Electric. Developed from the highly successful 500 series range it even incorporates many features of the innovative 700 series inverters.

The D700 is being promoted as a “micro” drive, as the inverter itself is physically very small yet embodies the power, performance and features normally associated with much larger sized drives. Certain drives, within the range have nearly 60% less volume than their high performance predecessors. The new drive also integrates fully with other “micro” products from Mitsubishi, such as the compact FX3UC programmable logic controller and the GT1020 operator interface offering a powerful “micro automation” solution where space is at a premium.

The product range covers 0.4kW to 7.5kW three phase, and 0.1kW to 2.2kW single phase. The D700 drive offers an effective drive power solution for simple pump and fan control where ‘best efficiency’ or ‘energy saving’ is required to minimise power consumption through to dynamic high torque applications requiring considerable power output for moving substantial loads, either constantly or intermittently.

Manufacturers have often offered more than one product range to cope with these power control differences. In the past, this has increased uncertainty about which drive offers the best solution and previously drives have generally lined up as “light duty” with simple control against “heavy duty” with advanced control.

Mitsubishi’s new D700 inverter offers a single solution offering complete power performance and advanced control in the one drive package. The D700 uses sensorless vector control along with advanced energy optimisation algorithm for best and most efficient performance over a wide range of demanding industrial applications. This means the drive is constantly adjusting its settings to meet the changing load requirements of the application. As the smallest high performance drive on the market – by a significant amount – so it is easy to install as an upgrade or retrofit.
One of the main challenges today is energy reduction, and Mitsubishi have been able to add intelligent threshold control for a situation where the drive is running with no operational output such as a pump running at minimum speed with no real flow requirement, or a conveyor system which is running but totally unloaded for a period of time. The drive can stop the motor and be ready to come right back to speed using a fast algorithm to negate any demand dwell.
Mitsubishi has also added a drive safety stop within the drive which stops and safely removes the power from the output.

Drives tend to be data rich these days, and the D700 is no exception. One impressive feature that is sure to impress is the integration of Mitsubishi’s Graphic Operator Terminals which connects direct to the communications port. These can be fully customised to project needs giving complete graphic based, multi colour, touch screen monitoring and control.

This new D700 drives takes reliable operation even further by predicting the life of major components within the drive so that maintenance can be planned and action taken rather than any costly unscheduled stoppage and it also actively monitors its own functional operation and safety, such as initiating a warning if the cooling fan becomes erratic, monitoring the major components such as capacitors and semiconductors for age and operational usage to give a predictive life expectancy. The predictive life function often means the difference between a planned maintenance or costly unscheduled stoppage.

For more information contact Mitsubishi Electric Europe, Automation Systems Div. UK. Hatfield, Herts.

Tel :01707 276100 Fax: 01707 278695

E-mail: automation@meuk.mee.com Web: www.Mitsubishi-automation.co.uk