Company Fires Up 2.2 MW Test Motor

Danfoss Drives promoted big news coming out of its Danfoss Drives R&D hub for AC drives, where it also gave a live demonstration from inside its motor room.

If you recall, it’s been about two years since the company acquired the Finnish drives-maker Vacon, and the company is now the second largest AC drives manufacturer on the planet, sitting about three points behind ABB.

The company launched the new Vacon 3000 drive, a new medium-voltage drive that was designed specifically for industrial applications between 3300 and 4160 Volts.

The drive was built to suit specific market segments, particularly HVAC, food & beverage, marine/off-shore, metals, mining, pulp & paper, oil & gas, and water, because, as Heikki Hilturen, the Danfoss Drives SVP of global sales marketing and aftermarket services said, “We cannot be the best in every market, but we can be the best at specific markets.”

Danfoss also provided a tour of its R&D center, a 32,200 square-foot space that employs 19 people and also serves as the manufacturing and test facility for its new drive. Right now, they can build about four drives every day.

What I found most interesting was the motor room, where the company fired up it’s 2.2 MW test motor.

With no gearbox, smooth modulation, and no jump in the magnetic flux, the demo was actually a lot quieter than expected. The room also houses a 4.5 MW motor, and can be expanded to include a 9 MW motor.

Finally, for inspiration, I’ll leave you with a quote that was written atop one of the engineer’s whiteboards in the lab, “If you feel cool, you’re not radical enough.”