37kW Soft Starter Pump Panel

37kW Soft Starter Pump Panel

Since electric motors often require large amounts of energy during their accelerating to the nominal speed, a Soft Starter can be used to limit the surge of current known as “inrush current” and torque of the electric motors, resulting in a safer, smoother and gradual build up. Reducing the power reduces potentially damaging electrical and mechanical shocks on the systems. This will help to prevent wear and tear and subsequent maintenance work and down time for your company. These can be used on applications such as

• Conveyors
• Conveyor belts
• Pumps
• Fans
• Compressors
• Automatic doors and gates
• Small cranes
• Belt-driven machinery, etc.

We teamed up with our customer Salvtech to create a control panel with a Soft Starter to assist with their water supply system. When using pumps in a process you must bring them up slowly, if not you will cause pressure surges in the water system that could lead to dangerous conditions. We designed a one pump control panel for outdoor use. This included …

• Lockable isolation
• 63A IP65 400V female plug connection
• Suitable internal breaker
• 37kW Siemens Soft Starter fixed speed single direction

We also designed two float switch inputs that worked as following …

• Liquid enters sump lifting low level switch
• Water rises until high level switch is initiated starting pump
• Pump operates, emptying sump until low level is achieved and pump is off
• Indications on the panel are …
• Pumps Running – Green light on
• Pumps Stopped – Green light off
• Pump tripped red light indicator is activated
• Selector switch on panel for “pump on” “pump off” with light indicating “system active”

We manufactured this system to the drawings generating, point-to-point tested and conducted electrical safety tests ready for the panel to be taken to site in Sandycroft, North Wales and installed. Soft Starters have properties that are more suited to specific applications. To make the proper selection, the following is needed:

• Motor nameplate full load amps, locked rotor amps, HP rating, motor torque / speed curve if available.
• Starting and stopped requirements – Longer start and stop times for smoother operation. Pulse start and/or jog option is useful for dough mixers, coal handlers or plastic extruders. Pump applications require smooth stops to prevent water hammer damage.
• Torque requirements of machinery driven and load inertia.
• Number of starts required per hour
• Overload protection requirement.
• Electrical service range
• Enclosure type

There are wide assortments of soft starters available; before making your final selection please feel free to consult with one of our team of engineers at DBI Control for any advice.