Reduced energy costs and downtime through better management of electric motors is the goal of a comprehensive three-part information program from Copper Development Association (CDA) Inc.
Part I of the program—“Creating a Motor Inventory, Repair/Replace Guidelines”—is available at http://bit.ly/CDA-motors, with links to parts II (“Motor Failure Policies and Purchasing Specifications”) and III (“Repair Specifications, and Preventive and Predictive Maintenance”).
“The goal of a motor-management plan is to take advantage of opportunities for energy savings and increased productivity using energy-efficient, reliable motors,” Richard deFay, project manager for CDA’s Sustainable Energy Program, said. “... This allows maintenance supervisors and facility managers to make easier replace-vs.-repair decisions and see fewer motor failures in the field.”
Once a plant’s motor population is inventoried, a data-management software application such as MotorMaster+, which is available free of charge from the U.S. Department of Energy, can be used to compare the cost of repairing a motor with that of replacing it.
CDA, in conjunction with the Washington State University (WSU) Energy Program, offers hands-on training and assistance toward the development of motor-management plans.
“The object is to identify the energy-savings opportunities,” Gilbert (Gil) McCoy, an energy-systems engineer with WSU, said. “The motor-management plan not only indicates savings in dollars, but also gives the user a path that describes how those savings can be obtained.”