Available with power ratings from 0.55 kW to 160 kW, the new Vacon 100 Flow drives are based on the technology used in Vacon’s Vacon 100 family of multi-purpose ac drives.

Features include dual-zone PID control, which allows two process parameters to be controlled simultaneously; integrated frost protection; start and sleep boosting; soft pipe filling, which runs pumps at low speed until the pipe are filled; and an anti-ragging function that detects when a pump is blocked and initiates a user-defined cleaning sequence.

Vacon 100 Flow drives incorporate a real-time clock that allows pump duties to be rotated at preset times to equalise wear. The clock can also be used for other forms of scheduling and to generate time-stamped diagnostic information.

Vacon 100 Flow drives also support multi-motor operation, which allows a single drive to control up to eight pumps. When used in this way, the drive controls the leading pump, but when the demand exceeds the capacity of this pump, the drive provides control signals that can be used to start additional fixed-speed pumps. Multi-motor operation can be optionally configured so that, with up to eight drives, the lead pump duty is automatically rotated among the available pumps to help equalise wear and tear without the need of contactors.