This three-part series on motor management best practices focuses on the importance of instituting a motor management plan as a necessity in effectively administering the electric motors in a facility. The goal of a motor management plan is to take advantage of opportunities for energy savings and increased productivity using energy efficient, reliable motors such as NEMA Premium efficiency motors, herein referred to as “premium efficiency” motors.

Gearing is an essential component in conveyors. The material handling industry appears divided between those who favor high-end three-stage helical bevel gearboxes and those who rely on less expensive worm gearing. But there’s an often over-looked alternative, the two-stage helical bevel gearbox.

As gear efficiency is improved in small steps, it is important to be able to distinguish actual improvements from scatter that can occur while testing. An FZG back-to-back gear test rig was used to investigate how the assembly and re-assembly of the same test setup affects the measurements. A spread in torque loss between one assembly and another of the same test setup were observed. Rig conditions also affected the spread in input torque. With knowledge of how the spread in torque loss varies due to assembly, test results could be distinguished between changes due to assembly and actual differences between tests.

Energy costs and downtime can be greatly reduced by instituting a motor management plan. Part II of this three-part series specifically addresses the establishment of a motor failure policy and the development of purchasing specifications. Part I addressed the general aspects of a motor management plan, including the first steps of creating a motor inventory and guidelines for motor repair and replacement. Part III will examine motor repair specifications as well as preventive and predictive maintenance.

Reducing losses and increasing profits by instituting a motor management plan is what this series of articles is all about. Here in Part I, we discuss how to create a motor inventory and establish repair-or-replace motor guidelines. Subsequent topics in this three-part series will address (Part II) motor failure policies and purchasing specifications, and (Part III) repair specifications and preventive and predictive maintenance, respectively.

The secondhand on the Doomsday dial ominously spins around the face, slowly but ever so surely inching the motor industry towards its inevitable terminus:

Over the past few decades, energy efficiency in motors has become an ever-increasing concern for OEMs and manufacturers alike. With multiple energy bills mandating higher efficiency across ever-broader spectrums of motors, including the most recent Small Motor Rule by the Department of Energy, efficiency has become an essential consideration when choosing a new motor.

The improvement of the energy efficiency of industrial gear motors and gearboxes is a common problem for many gear unit manufacturers and end-users. As is typical of other mechanical components, the radial lip seals used in such units generate friction and heat, thus contributing to energy losses of mechanical systems. There exist today simulation tools that are already helping improve the efficiency of mechanical systems — but accurate models for seal frictional losses need to be developed. In this paper SKF presents an engineering model for radial lip seal friction based on a physical approach.

This paper presents a physically grounded calculation method to determine the efficiency of worm gear drives. This computation is based on the Institute of Machine Elements, Gears, and Transmissions (MEGT) tribological simulation, which can determine the local tooth friction coefficients (Ref. 1). With this knowledge other power losses such as the bearings, oil churnings and seals power losses can also be calculated.

In recent years the estimation of gearbox power loss is attracting more interest — especially in the wind turbine and automotive gearbox industry — but also in industrial gearboxes where heat dissipation is a consideration as well. As new transmissions concepts are being researched to meet both ecological and commercial demands, a quick and reliable estimation of overall efficiency becomes inevitable in designing the optimal gearbox.