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What Is A VFD

A Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is a motor controller that adjusts the frequency and voltage supplied to an electric motor, allowing for variable speed operation. VFDs improve energy efficiency, reduce costs, and extend equipment life by matching motor speed to load requirements. They operate through a converter and inverter system, utilizing techniques like Pulse Width Modulation to control output voltage and frequency.

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32 views6 pages

What Is A VFD

A Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is a motor controller that adjusts the frequency and voltage supplied to an electric motor, allowing for variable speed operation. VFDs improve energy efficiency, reduce costs, and extend equipment life by matching motor speed to load requirements. They operate through a converter and inverter system, utilizing techniques like Pulse Width Modulation to control output voltage and frequency.

Uploaded by

sutherson.mdsuae
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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What is a VFD?

A Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) is a type of motor controller that drives an electric
motor by varying the frequency and voltage supplied to the electric motor. Other
names for a VFD are variable speed drive, adjustable speed drive, adjustable
frequency drive, AC drive, microdrive, and inverter.

Frequency (or hertz) is directly related to the motor’s speed (RPMs). In other words,
the faster the frequency, the faster the RPMs go. If an application does not require
an electric motor to run at full speed, the VFD can be used to ramp down the
frequency and voltage to meet the requirements of the electric motor’s load. As the
application’s motor speed requirements change, the VFD can simply turn up or down
the motor speed to meet the speed requirement.

How does a Variable Frequency Drive work?


The first stage of a Variable Frequency AC Drive, or VFD, is the Converter. The
converter is comprised of six diodes, which are similar to check valves used in
plumbing systems. They allow current to flow in only one direction; the direction
shown by the arrow in the diode symbol. For example, whenever A-phase voltage
(voltage is similar to pressure in plumbing systems) is more positive than B or C
phase voltages, then that diode will open and allow current to flow. When B-phase
becomes more positive than A-phase, then the B-phase diode will open and the A-
phase diode will close. The same is true for the 3 diodes on the negative side of the
bus. Thus, we get six current “pulses” as each diode opens and closes. This is called
a “six-pulse VFD”, which is the standard configuration for current Variable Frequency
Drives.

Let us assume that the drive is operating on a 480V power system. The 480V rating
is “rms” or root-mean-squared. The peaks on a 480V system are 679V. As you can
see, the VFD dc bus has a dc voltage with an AC ripple. The voltage runs between
approximately 580V and 680V.

We can get rid of the AC ripple on the DC bus by adding a capacitor. A capacitor
operates in a similar fashion to a reservoir or accumulator in a plumbing system. This
capacitor absorbs the ac ripple and delivers a smooth dc voltage. The AC ripple on
the DC bus is typically less than 3 Volts. Thus, the voltage on the DC bus becomes
“approximately” 650VDC. The actual voltage will depend on the voltage level of the
AC line feeding the drive, the level of voltage unbalance on the power system, the
motor load, the impedance of the power system, and any reactors or harmonic filters
on the drive.

The diode bridge converter that converts AC-to-DC, is sometimes just referred to as
a converter. The converter that converts the dc back to ac is also a converter, but to
distinguish it from the diode converter, it is usually referred to as an “inverter”. It
has become common in the industry to refer to any DC-to-AC converter as an
inverter.
Note that in a real VFD, the switches shown would actually be transistors.

When we close one of the top switches in the inverter, that phase of the motor is
connected to the positive dc bus and the voltage on that phase becomes positive.
When we close one of the bottom switches in the converter, that phase is connected
to the negative dc bus and becomes negative. Thus, we can make any phase on the
motor become positive or negative at will and can thus generate any frequency that
we want. So, we can make any phase be positive, negative, or zero.

The blue sine-wave is shown for comparison purposes only. The drive does not
generate this sine wave.
Notice that the output from the VFD is a “rectangular” wave form. VFD’s do not
produce a sinusoidal output. This rectangular waveform would not be a good choice
for a general purpose distribution system, but is perfectly adequate for a motor.

If we want to reduce the motor frequency to 30 Hz, then we simply switch the
inverter output transistors more slowly. But, if we reduce the frequency to 30Hz,
then we must also reduce the voltage to 240V in order to maintain the V/Hz ratio
(see the VFD Motor Theory presentation for more on this). How are we going to
reduce the voltage if the only voltage we have is 650VDC?

This is called Pulse Width Modulation or PWM. Imagine that we could control the
pressure in a water line by turning the valve on and off at a high rate of speed. While
this would not be practical for plumbing systems, it works very well for VFD’s. Notice
that during the first half cycle, the voltage is ON half the time and OFF half the time.
Thus, the average voltage is half of 480V or 240V. By pulsing the output, we can
achieve any average voltage on the output of the VFD.

See the Pictures below to understand what the different


parts of a drive look like.
Why should I use a VFD?
1 - Reduce Energy Consumption and Energy Costs
If you have an application that does not need to be run at full speed, then you can
cut down energy costs by controlling the motor with a variable frequency drive,
which is one of the benefits of Variable Frequency Drives. VFDs allow you to match
the speed of the motor-driven equipment to the load requirement. There is no other
method of AC electric motor control that allows you to accomplish this.

Electric motor systems are responsible for more than 65% of the power consumption
in industry today. Optimizing motor control systems by installing or upgrading to
VFDs can reduce energy consumption in your facility by as much as 70%.
Additionally, the utilization of VFDs improves product quality, and reduces production
costs. Combining energy efficiency tax incentives, and utility rebates, returns on
investment for VFD installations can be as little as 6 months.

2 - Increase Production Through Tighter Process Control


By operating your motors at the most efficient speed for your application, fewer
mistakes will occur, and thus, production levels will increase, which earns your
company higher revenues. On conveyors and belts you eliminate jerks on start-up
allowing high through put.

3 - Extend Equipment Life and Reduce Maintenance


Your equipment will last longer and will have less downtime due to maintenance
when it’s controlled by VFDs ensuring optimal motor application speed. Because of
the VFDs optimal control of the motor’s frequency and voltage, the VFD will offer
better protection for your motor from issues such as electro thermal overloads,
phase protection, under voltage, overvoltage, etc.. When you start a load with a VFD
you will not subject the motor or driven load to the “instant shock” of across the line
starting, but can start smoothly, thereby eliminating belt, gear and bearing wear. It
also is an excellent way to reduce and/or eliminate water hammer since we can have
smooth acceleration and deceleration cycles.

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