Low and Medium Voltage Motor Control Centres
Motor control centres or MCCs are categorised as low voltage and medium voltage. This centre allows you to control devices away from dangerous locations and the team that is responsible for overseeing the control can be centralised. This increases efficiency. The use of a motor control centre can make maintenance easy and the cost of installation is reduced as well.
When designing a MCC, the designer needs to know all the motors that will be in the MCC, operating voltage, nominal current at full load, whether there is reversible movement etc. When it comes to low voltage motor control units, they are used when low voltage alternating current motors are present with three phase. The voltage range for this is between 230V and 1000V. Motors that have a voltage range of 1000 – 15,000V use medium voltage motor control centres. There is a contactor, circuit breakers or fuses and overload relays in both these categories. The fuses provide protection from short-circuiting. The overload relays are included to keep the motor safe. A motor control centre is usually mounted on the floor. But the floor and the room that it is in should be fire rated. When there are cables that go through the walls or the floor, fire stops are recommended for use. There are many options that a motor control centre can be specified with. There are MCCs that a customer can readily purchase or in the case of large projects, there are companies that engineer and design the assembly of the centre.
Low voltage motor control centre or LVMCC design includes the organisation of enclosed sections that share a power bus. This centre has motor control units and this is a type that has been used since long ago in the automobile industry. These are widely used in many commercial and industrial applications today. When there are processes that generate dust or can cause corrosion, the low voltage motor control centre can be located in a climate controlled room or an air-conditioned room. This is a compact unit that is economical as well. And it allows you to group automation, motor control and the distribution of power in one place. Some of the components that are used in the control unit are programmable logic controllers, soft starters, meters, branch feeder devices and motor starters. This motor control centre has an assembly of many motor starters. When it comes to maintenance, the smaller controls can be unplugged so that they can be tested.
A medium voltage motor control centre has one or more enclosed sections that share a power bus. There are also motor control units in the centre. Just like the low voltage motor control centres, this can be used for a wide variety of applications In different industries. There are freestanding structures that are bolted together in a medium voltage control centre and these structures are completely enclosed. They carry a control unit that has AC drives, direct online starters, meters, motor starters, variable frequency drives etc. You will find several vertical metal cabinet sections in this centre that include a power bus. They also have provision for plugging in separate motor controllers.