Motor and Generator Commander helped VEO emerge as the market leader in 2017

Excitation and protection functions have not been previously combined in one device and this innovative solution makes it possible to replace several old devices at the end of their life cycle with two small units.  Pulp and paper manufacturers Stora Enso, were among the first customers to order the new solution just before the start of 2017 and this autumn the company is set to deploy the final unit included in its order.

Essential functionality in one small package 

Many industrial processes use giant motors which can, in turn, have significant effects on the plant’s electrical network and its operation. For a motor to run accurately and safely, it needs to be “commanded” by an excitation and protection solution. The excitation of large motors is subject to strict requirements, as starting up the motor creates a significant drop in voltage in the network, which could potentially disrupt the operations of the entire plant. Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR) is the basic control setting of the Motor Commander, with reactive power control as an additional setting. This keeps voltage fluctuations under control during motor start-up and where multiple high-power motors are connected to the same power network, the Commander-controlled synchronous machine can be configured to support the motor starting up next to it and compensate for the drop in voltage.  According to Sales Manager Hannu Erkkilä, one of the solution’s developers and the sales manager in charge of VEO’s excitation sales, the solution has been well received: “Our customers’ engineers are usually all business when they come for a factory test, but when they realise what we’ve packed in our little technical box, you can see the excitement on their faces,” Erkkilä says.

At Stora Enso’s Anjala plant, the VEO Motor Commander has been connected to a giant 8 MW synchronous motor that runs Defibrators and Pulp Grinders. The old and complex pieces of excitation equipment for which no direct replacements are available were removed from two cabinets and replaced by the Motor Commander. The Commander was installed in the cabinet on a VEO base plate and the relay unit was installed on the cabinet door. Equipment that used to take up two cabinets’ worth of space now fits easily in one.