Page 36 - Food&Drink Business Magazine June 2019

SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
Intelligent drive technology is the prerequisite for digitalisation and automation of production, NORD DRIVESYSTEMS managing director Martin Broglia writes.
Drive solutions for the digital revolution
PROGRAMMABLE logic controllers (PLC) as decentralised intelligence with extensive communication options is the prerequisite for an Industry 4.0 environment.
Intelligent, networked drives enable continuous condition monitoring and forms the basis of predictive maintenance.
They also offer intelligent digitised production, advanced maintenance concepts and new services.
ACTION INSTEAD
OF REACTION
Fast, efficient and comprehensive evaluation of analogue and digital data by the intelligent PLC in the drive electronics forms the basis for modern maintenance and servicing concepts. This includes condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.
Due to continuous monitoring of the field level, linking communication,
sensors, process data and vital parameters of the drive, means deviations from
the normal state can be quickly detected.
Drive operators therefore have the possibility of responding in good time before damage or breakdowns occur.
It means condition-oriented maintenance replaces time-based maintenance. User benefits are an increase in plant availability, prevention of unscheduled down times, improved planning of service and maintenance, as well as a significant reduction in costs.
VIRTUAL SENSORS
At present, we are investigating sensorless monitoring of oil ageing and the condition of geared motors with virtual sensors. The aim is a predictive maintenance concept which determines the optimum oil change and maintenance intervals for each individual geared motor, oriented to the actual condition of the geared motor and the gear oil.
For this, intelligent algorithms evaluate the operating data of the frequency inverter and determines the oil temperature from this information.
Without the hardware costs for external sensors, oil ageing and the optimum time for replacing the gear unit lubricant can be determined with great reliability. Tests have shown that the oil temperature as measured in tests can be reliably calculated.
All NORD drives are Industry 4.0 ready and can be directly integrated as active components in Industry 4.0 environments around the world. The drive units are compatible with all common field buses and ethernet-based protocols and provide analogue and digital interfaces for sensors and actuators. They are prepared for integration into a cloud and can be connected to various external cloud systems. ✷
36 | Food&Drink business | June 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au