How conservative is Oil & Gas industry? Oil & Gas industry is known for its conservative attitude. Such statement is principally correct. However, it depends what you understand under being conservative. Moreover, are there any exceptions? While being generally conservative, oil & gas sector is also implementing very sophisticated and Read more…
VFDs and conventional wisdom Welcome to our blog about variable frequency drives and drive systems. This time on the topic: VFDs and conventional wisdom. The message we try to convey is that what many people usually believe and what seems logical at first point is not necessarily right. Does it Read more…
What VFD properties matter the most to you? Medium voltage VFD is often a long term investment. The expected lifetime is typically at least 20 years. Thus, it is important to make the right choice when purchasing it. That is easily said, right? But there are several products on the Read more…
FIT rate of power semiconductors: What are the main factors? FIT rate (FIT = Failure In Time) is a common indicator to express the reliability of a semiconductor. And, as we know, reliability and availability is crucial for almost any customer. Therefore, the legitime question is: what are the main Read more…
Industry requirements: Oil and Gas Our series on industry specific VFD requirements starts with Oil and Gas industry. What are the most important requirements for VFDs utilized in the Oil & Gas market segment? What is the background of those requirements? And how to specify a VFD that will fit Read more…
Reliability and availabilityPart 5: Factors impacting availability High availability is a key measure for many companies in today’s world in order to be competitive and to survive. If a supplier cannot deliver in contractually agreed date (delay) or cannot deliver the agreed quantity, he might face hard financial consequences (penalties, Read more…
Reliability and availability (Part 4: IGCT based converters) IGCT is a power semiconductor used in medium voltage converter applications. The abbreviation stands for Integrated gate-commutated thyristor. Unlike classical thyristor that can only be switched on, IGCT can be switched on and off through its adjacent gate unit. Therefore, it is Read more…
Reliability and availability (Part 3: Semiconductor redundancy) Today we gonna talk about N+1 semiconductor redundancy. When is it needed? What are the benefits and drawbacks? The main purpose of redundancy is to increase reliability and availaibility of a system. Therefore, to answer if N+1 semiconductor redundancy is needed, we shall Read more…
Reliability and availability (Part 2: MTBF) Let’s start with the mystery around MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures). You may disagree with me, but please give me a chance and read to the end before you make your mind. Many people believe that the higher MTBF figure the more reliable system Read more…
Reliability and availability (Part 1: Introduction) Reliability and availability are crucial characteristics of drive systems and every downtime negatively impacts the productivity and profitability of a plant. In this series we would like to walk through the topic, provide some (theoretical) background and also a more practical approach. We have Read more…