Fuji Electric Review
Vol.70-No.1,2024
Power Electronics, Contributing to the Reduction of Global Environmental Impact and the Improvement of Productivity
Power Electronics, Contributing to the Reduction of Global Environmental Impact and the Improvement of Productivity
In the plant and infrastructure sectors, efforts are underway to promote not only automation and labor saving but also reductions in environmental load. These initiatives include energy saving and resource conservation measures and are aimed at achieving a sustainable society.
This special issue presents power electronics products offered by Fuji Electric that contribute to reductions in global environmental load (energy saving and decarbonization) and productivity enhancement (automation and stable operation of equipment and plants) in the plant and infrastructure sectors.
NAKAGAWA, Toshiko
Current Status and Future Outlook
TETSUTANI, Hiroshi; TOYAMA, Kentaro; LIU, Jiangheng
Fuji Electric provides technologies and products to reduce global environmental impacts across our customers' entire supply chains. In Scope 1, we offer a solution that encourages the transformation from fossil fuels to green fuels, such as electricity and hydrogen, to reduce greenhouse gases that directly discharged by customers. In Scope 2, we provide high-performance, high-efficiency power electronics equipment such as inverters that contribute to the effective use of electric energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions indirectly generated by our customers through the use of electricity and heat. In Scope 3, we help our customers to establish a system of local production for local consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with procurement.
Based on the hierarchy model for production systems presented in ISA-95, Fuji Electric helps its customers improve productivity by providing digital solutions at each level. For drive equipment at L0, in addition to high speeds and high performance, which have been our main areas of focus, we have developed and launched preventive and predictive maintenance functions to avert sudden system stoppages. Furthermore, in order to reduce equipment downtime in the event of accidental failures, we have developed and provided tools that aim to quickly identify the locations and causes of failures.
HINATSU, Ryo; SATO, Kazuhisa; JOICHI, Hiroshi
In the industrial sector, there is demand for higher equipment efficiency as a means of achieving carbon neutrality, as well as saving labor for equipment maintenance to address labor shortages. Fuji Electric has developed the “FRENIC-GS Series” of industrial drives to meet this demand. In this series, we have saved the energy consumption by effectively utilizing regenerative power through the use of DC power distribution systems and by eliminating
the resistor of the harmonic filter to lower loss. We have also reduced the size of the inverter stack and the panel by improving the cooling structure. Furthermore, separating the control LAN and the information LAN allows monitoring data to be used for equipment maintenance without affecting drive control performance.
UEMURA, Yuta
In the steel industry, progress has been made in energy saving by switching to AC drive system of the rolling process. However, 800 and 600 line DC motors have unique specifications, taking a long time to replace them with AC systems. Fuji Electric has developed a DC motor-compatible induction motor with the same dimensions, electrical specifications, and cooling structure as a DC motor. Due to the reduced moment of inertia, it can handle sharp motions of mechanical equipment. In terms of seismic performance, which is required in harsh operating environments, it achieves a level of 5 G, equivalent to that of a DC motor. By using the DC motor-compatible induction motors, the replacement work period can be shortened by 50% compared to cases in which general induction motors are used.
KIUCHI, Tadaaki; YAYAMA, Takahiro; YAMAZAWA, Kotaro
As factory automation becomes more widespread, there is growing demand for low-voltage inverters for use in conveyors, as well as motor drives of fans and pumps. For such applications, Fuji Electric has developed the “FRENIC-Ace (E3) Series” of general-purpose inverters with enhanced motor control methods and line control functions. In addition to the basic type, the lineup includes a built-in Ethernet type that facilitates data collection and analysis, and a finless type that allows users to freely select the cooling method for the inverter exhaust heat according to the operating environment. In addition, the series features enhanced preventive and predictive maintenance functions, such as lifetime forecasting for IGBT modules, which are key components.
MIYASHITA, Hirotaka; SHIBUYA, Takayuki; OMICHI, Keijiro
As a means of achieving decarbonization at ports, the introduction of onshore power supply systems has been expanding, which supply electric power from land to ships at anchor. Fuji Electric has developed an onshore power supply system that complies with international standards and houses a static frequency converter (SFC) and peripheral equipment in a container unit. The SFC has a single unit capacity of 1.25 MVA, which can be expanded to 10 MVA by connecting up to eight units in parallel. Fuji Electric’s original RB-IGBTs are used to achieve 96.3% efficiency, among the highest in the industry. Having the system packaged at the factory before shipping can significantly reduce the construction time and cost.
MIYAKE, Kaoru; UEHARA, Fukashi; UCHIDA, Yukiko
Fuji Electric has developed a fuel cell system to be used for the power supply of self-propelled gantry cranes for port operation, and this is a product that contributes to the formation of carbon neutral ports that is an effort led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. By replacing conventional diesel engine generators with the system, it can achieve zero emissions. In the newly developed system, it combines fuel cells and storage batteries, which allows the regenerative energy from an electric motor to be used and the fuel cells to be operated with high efficiency. The system ensures safety of the use of combustible hydrogen as fuel and it has a structure that facilitates maintenance work.
OSHIMA, Masafumi; ONOGI, Rina; UENO, Toshihiro
Fuji Electric offers a lineup of uninterruptible power systems, which provide stable power without being affected by power source issues, with a wide range of output capacities to protect various applications. We developed the new “GX 100 Series (Renewed version)” for industrial equipment. While maintaining the high efficiency characteristic of the GX Series with an output capacity of up to 10 kVA, which has been mainly provided for information and communications equipment, this new series introduces additional features for industrial equipment applications. These include enhanced tolerances for temporary load fluctuations such as inrush currents, a new bypass circuit that allows for maintenance without any momentary interruption, and a simplified operation setting function.
Regular Paper
YASUMOTO, Koji; IKI, Hiroyuki; KITADANI, Yuji
In parallel systems, which are often used for emergency power generation equipment in data centers, multiple generators are connected in parallel and operated simultaneously, resulting in high generator utilization. However, short-circuit protection coordination must be established to prevent all generators from stopping due to heavy faults and disrupting power supply in the event of a short circuit fault. In addition, overvoltage suppression after short circuit release and avoidance of undervoltage due to transformer magnetizing inrush current after voltage recovery are also required. Based on the results of simulation analysis of voltage and current characteristics during a short circuit, the ideal short circuit protection coordination between generator circuit breakers and generator feeder circuit breakers or substation equipment was studied.
YASUMOTO, Koji; SORIMACHI, Naohiro; KIMIZU, Takuya
In recent data centers, servers and storage devices have become increasingly sophisticated and highly integrated, consuming large amounts of power. For this reason, highly reliable distributed redundancy systems that use multiple large-capacity UPSs are being adopted. With a distributed redundancy system, however, there is a risk of the output voltages of the respective UPSs becoming asynchronous, affecting the load. Accordingly, Fuji Electric has implemented voltage phase synchronization control to align the UPS output voltage phase of the representative unit with that of other units. Whether during an input failure, UPS failure or maintenance, aligning the phases of the respective UPS output voltages and transfer between synchronized power supplies enables uninterrupted switching within 5 ms, allowing a more reliable system to be constructed.
New Products
OKUBO, Koji
In recent years, there has been increasing demand in the market for safety and environmental protection features, in addition to further miniaturization and reduced power consumption. To meet these demands, we completely redesigned our small-and mid-sized models and launched them as the “SC-NEXT Series” in October 2023.
KOWASE, Shunsuke; NISHIKAWA, Yohei; MATSUO, Emiko
Coffee is a very popular delicacy. For this reason, consumers have varying preferences when it comes to coffee, with increasing attention being paid to the origin of coffee beans, roasting and extraction methods, and other factors that affect taste. Coffee is also served in a variety of places, including restaurants, hotels, and offices. Against this backdrop, Fuji Electric has developed and launched a fully automatic drip coffee machine called “Cafe Mania,” which incorporates a proprietary extraction technologies as well as user-friendly features for cleaning and maintenance.
YAMAMOTO, Takuya; KAWABATA, Junya; NARA, Yoshiki
Fuji Electric has made many technological innovations to reduce the size, lower the loss, and improve the reliability of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules in order to contribute to the miniaturization, cost reduction, and performance enhancement of power conversion equipment. Our latest 7th generation “X Series” IGBT modules have achieved even higher power density thanks to innovations in chip and packaging technology. In order to meet the demand for higher capacity power conversion equipment for solar and wind power generation applications, we launched PrimePACK™3+ as a lineup of IGBT modules rated at 1,200 V/1,800 A with an additional output terminal.
