It is reported that ABB low voltage
AC drives are saving GKN £20,000 a
year in energy costs on its Toyota
component production line.

GKN AutoStructures, based in
Telford, produces components for
many leading vehicle manufacturers.

The Toyota line makes many
thousands of chassis cross members
each week; an important part of the
process is welding and the line uses
an extraction system to remove
welding fumes from the area.

ABB contacted GKN ASL
with a proposal to investigate
energy usage at the plant and
determine if low voltage AC
drives could make a difference
on any motor-driven
applications. In a two week trial,
ABB installed two temporary
drives of 55 and 30kW and
turned the speed of the motors down
until they were extracting a sufficient
air volume to maintain the proper
air quality for the workers in the
production area.

The optimum speed was found to
be 42.5 Hz. This produced an
average saving on power use of 55%,
with one fan motor saving 64%.