Drives for pumps in commercial buildings

  • Overview
  • Products
  • Case studies

Optimize comfort, reliability and energy efficiency

With multiple pump-dedicated control features, intelligent protection capability and sensorless pump control, Danfoss AC drives optimize comfort and energy efficiency and protect the drive, the motor and the equipment in the system. They also ensure optimized liquid supply in the event of leakage or a broken pipe. Dedicated features include:

Embedded multi-pump controller

The Pump Cascade Controller distributes operation hours evenly across all pumps. Wear and tear on individual pumps is therefore reduced to a minimum, extending their lifetime expectancy and reliability considerably.

Dry pump protection and end of curve detection

If the pump runs without creating the desired pressure, the drive sets off an alarm or performs another pre-programmed action. This happens, for example, when a well runs dry or a pipe leaks.

Auto tuning of PI controllers

Auto tuning enables the drive to monitor how the system reacts to corrections made by the drive constantly. The drive learns from it and calculates the P and I values, so precise and stable operation is restored quickly.

Flow compensation

A pressure sensor mounted close to the pump provides a reference point that enables pressure to be kept constant at the discharge end of the system. The drive constantly adjusts the pressure reference to follow the system curve. This method both saves energy and reduces installation costs.

No/low flow detection and sleep mode

In situations with low or no flow, the drive enters sleep mode to conserve energy. When the pressure falls below the predefined set-point, the drive starts automatically. Compared to continuous operation, this method reduces energy costs and equipment wear and helps extend the lifetime of the application.

Pipe fill mode

Useful in all applications where controlled pipe filling is essential, such as water supply systems. Controlled (closed loop) filling of pipes prevents water hammering, bursting water pipes or blowing off sprinkler heads. Pipe fill mode can be used in both vertical and horizontal pipe systems.

Initial/final ramp

The initial ramp provides fast acceleration of pumps to minimum speed, from where the normal ramp takes over. This prevents damage to the thrust bearings on the pump. The final ramp decelerates pumps from the minimum speed to stop.

Flow confirmation

The flow confirmation monitor protects equipment from unexpected flow stoppage. The monitor communicates on an ongoing basis with an external device such as a valve or flow switch. If the signal from the external device times out, the monitor trips the AC drive.

Pre/post lubrication

Some machines require lubrication of their mechanical parts before and during operation to prevent damage and reduce wear. During lubrication, certain equipment must remain active, for example exhaust fans. To achieve this, the Pre Lube feature supports a signal to an external device to perform a specific action for a user-defined time period. Configurations available: “Pre Lube Only”, “Pre & Running” and “Pre & Running & Post”.

Freely programmable texts

This function supports versatile adaptation to the application. Use freely programmable text messages, based on internal or external events, for information, warnings or alerts. The function also supports actions based on events, for example initiation of a ramp down triggered by a valve opening.

Advanced minimum speed monitor

Submersible pumps can suffer from insufficient cooling and lubrication when pump speed is too low. The advanced minimum speed monitor protects the pump by monitoring and adjusting the trip speed to reduce wear and tear. Downtime for maintenance is minimized, with no need for external monitoring equipment.

Check valve ramp

The check valve ramp prevents water hammering when stopping the pump, by ensuring slow pump speed ramp down just as the check valve ball is almost shut.

Sensorless pump control

Sensorless Control is a distribution pump control method which infers the average HVAC system heating or cooling demand from the hydraulic system resistance, and then adjusts the pump(s) speed to balance satisfying that demand with minimizing the energy used. Sensorless pump curves are embedded in the drive.

AC Drives in the pharmaceutical industry

Pumps are required at all stages of processing in the pharmaceutical industry. Danfoss AC Drives provide reliable performance to deliver peace of mind in even the most delicate and critical processes. 

Reliability and Consistency Make Danfoss VFD's a Sure Bet in Las Vegas

Reliability and Consistency Make Danfoss VFD's a Sure Bet in Las Vegas

For the mechanical systems that manage the indoor environment in this desert city, consistency and simplicity are desirable traits. Owners of casino hotels and restaurants that operate around-the-clock require HVAC equipment that is reliable and easy to operate and maintain.

Products

Case studies

  • if (isSmallPicture) { Gunn Hill Cheese; } else if (isBigColumns) { Gunn Hill Cheese } else { Gunn Hill Cheese }
    VFD's are Secret Ingredient for Artisan Cheese Maker

    Recipes for cheese are thousands of years old, passed down through generations and crossing continents —like the Swiss cheese recipes used by Shep Ysselstein, owner and “grand fromage” of Gunn’s Hill Cheese in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.

  • if (isSmallPicture) { Enercare Centre; } else if (isBigColumns) { Enercare Centre } else { Enercare Centre }
    Convention Center Exhibits Major Pump Energy Savings

    Danfoss Drives VFD retrofit project helped the one million square foot Enercare Centre in Toronto, Canada save energy with dramatically improved pump motor efficiency, cut electricity costs, and helped achieve the center's sustainability goals.

  • U.S. Steel Tower Saves $1.1M with VLT® Retrofit

    After several retrofit projects, the U.S. Steel Tower has installed more than 150 Danfoss VLT® Drives, which are producing more than $1.1 million in documented energy savings and helping to give the building a greener reputation.

  • if (isSmallPicture) { Las Vegas City Center; } else if (isBigColumns) { Las Vegas City Center } else { Las Vegas City Center }
    Reliability and Consistency Make Danfoss VFD's a Sure Bet in Las Vegas

    For the mechanical systems that manage the indoor environment in this desert city, consistency and simplicity are desirable traits. Owners of casino hotels and restaurants that operate around-the-clock require HVAC equipment that is reliable and easy to operate and maintain.

  • if (isSmallPicture) { ; } else if (isBigColumns) { } else { }
    Healthcare Data Center Takes Control of Uptime and Energy with Danfoss VLT® Drives

    The data center industry has standards to define the level of uptime required for a given class of application and the infrastructure needed to maintain that level. The standard being applied to medical data centers — known as the Uptime Institute’s Tier III standard — calls for 99.982 percent uptime, which translates to no more than 1.6 hours of downtime per year. This standard requires an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system that can handle a power outage of at least 72 hours, and Danfoss was selected to help meet this standard.

  • if (isSmallPicture) { Len Busch Roses; } else if (isBigColumns) { Len Busch Roses } else { Len Busch Roses }
    VLT® Makes Quality Grow at Len Busch Roses

    Water and sunlight are well understood for being essential to plant growth. But one of the largest nurseries for cut-stem flowers in the central U.S., Len Busch Roses in Minneapolis, Minn., knows there is an additional factor: air. In fact, airflow is so important to the growth of LBR's flowers, the company recently turned to Danfoss to provide a variable frequency drive (VFD) to power the fans used in its largest greenhouse.