Mechanical Methods for Reducing Electric Power Consumption

Not enough information if you really want help. What do the motors drive? Fans/ball mills/generators/pumps

Motors properly sized?

any gear boxes?

In terms of power, each conveyor will consume what it takes to drive the conveyor. This can be reduced by sliding surfaces with low coefficient of friction and better bearings.

That said, if you have a bunch of motors sized for break-away starts and acceleration, then when the conveyor is up to speed it may draw less than the capacity of the motor. In that case, the power factor (cos φ) of the motor will be low. This can be improved with suitable capacitors. The power delivered (watts) will stay about the same, but the apparent power (volt-amps, for which you are billed) will be less, saving money.

No not really. The power used by the motor goes into:

1. Mechanical work

2. Churning air (windage)

3. Magnetising the iron laminations

4. Resistive losses in the copper windings

Modern motors have lower losses in items 3 & 4, so it can sometimes be worth replacing large (>50kW) old motors that run for a long time. It'll depend on the economics. A snake-oil motor salesman may be able to calculate the cost benefit, but be careful as they are prone to "gilding the Lilly".

Most of your savings could come about by turning the things off (or down) when they're not being used.

Like one of the posters said,"snake oil" people will be attracted to you. The first poster is correct, we can be much more help if you tell us what you are doing. Capacitors do solve many motor problems dealing with power acccelerations but they can't be sized without a description.

Have a look at the efficiency curve for your motors and try to run them at the RPM/LOAD where the max. eff. is (if possible).

Make sure proper lubrication is present.

Inspect for worn parts.

Generic answers to a generic question.

At what power factor are you running your plant presently?

Your power factor could be low and you just have to correct it to at least about O.95.U will save much on your monthly bill if u do this.

There are also other mechanical methods,but i think power factor will avail much.U also need to check proper connection of yr motors in star or delta,because delta connection draws more power than star connected motors.the power in delta is 3 times the power in star.

Patrick Whowha