Design engineer tools:  abb energysave calculator

We love to save engineers time and, sometimes, a few headaches.  It's one of the reasons why our team works hard to help engineers select the right equipment to suit every application.  But sometimes engineers are working on projects before they call us for assistance with their HVAC system designs.  That's when our manufacturing partners come in to help with handy selection tools and calculators to make the life of an HVAC design engineers just a little easier.

With the EnergySave calculator by ABB, engineers can calculate how many energy and money building owners can save by using ABB drives.  The user-friendly, interactive calculator compares AC drive control against traditional flow control methods in different applications like fans, compressors, and pumps.  The formulas used in the calculator have been developed with the assistance of HVAC pump and fan manufacturers for accuracy.

The EnergySave calculator has two modes: Basic and Advanced.  The Basic mode allows you to quickly see potential savings with just a few inputs.  The Advanced lets you provide technical details for more specific calculations and great insight.

There are three applications you can use with the calculator:

1. Drives for fan applications:  A VSD can be used to control a fan's speed-reducing energy consumption from 50-70%.  Energy savings can pay for the drive system in only a few months.  That's worth looking into!
2. Drives for pump applications:  Pump systems are often oversized, even though they are very common in HVAC.  A VSD can be used to control to a required pump speed, resulting in a large energy savings and improved system quality.
3. Drives for compressor applications:  By controlling the compressor and removing burst valves, the pressure can be set at a precise value and the load cycles smoothed.  This leads to typically 15-20% energy savings and longer maintenance intervals.

ABB drives can not only help building owners save energy and money, but they can also increase equipment longevity and performance with soft starting and stopping, improved power factor, and connection into process automation.  The EnergySave calculator is worth a look!

Blog content and image source:  ABB