Electric Motors are Helping
to Keep Our Environment Green!
Keeping our world clean does not always require a brand new invention. It often
simply requires a willingness to examine the efficiency and safety of products
that already exist. Electric motors are not new. However, there have been
improvements in the past decade that bring less mechanical breakdowns and huge
cost savings.
Electric motors are used in windmills
Across the United States, windmills are being used to generate electrical power
to communities. Wind energy creates electricity. Harnessing that natural current
of wind makes for a very profitable energy source without harming the
environment. Electric motors are used to rotate the heads of windmills 360
degrees to keep the blades in the wind’s current. In the early 1990s, these
particular electric motors used inferior technology and failed. Windmills use
common electric motors that are easily overhauled. With improvements in the past
decade, these updates that make them better than new.
Electric motors are used in gate-operated dams
Not only is wind being harnessed to create electricity, water is being used.
Gate-operated dams require electric motors to open and close the gates. Nine
times out of ten, these motors are obsolete. This makes it difficult to find
replacement motors. Now, with the latest technological advances, these same
motors can be upgraded. This saves time and money. Since the same motor housing
can be used, there is no longer a need to change the mounting hardware, pulleys
and wiring. Even the same electrical phase can be used. When these motors are
upgraded, they are better than when they were new.
What improvements have been made to these motors?
It can truly be said that updating existing motors make them better than they
ever were. Now that standards have been raised, old motors can be retrofitted
into high-premium efficiency motors. Here is why.
Rewinding materials and techniques rise above the standards of decades past.
Now, spike-resistant wire (also called inverter duty) replaces the older wires
that failed sooner. The bearings used on the spindles and shafts are made of
harder steel and alloys creating a longer-lasting bearing. The H-class
insulation now used in the motor case can withstand higher temperatures and
allows the motors to run cooler. This cooler motor will run more efficiently and
last longer. The wire is now chemical resistant. Therefore, in those
applications where harsh chemicals are used around electrical motor equipment,
this improvement is very welcome. Heat-resistant polyurethane varnish reduces
the amount of air that floats around the wire. When properly applied, this
improved varnish improves the life of the wires, keeping your motor running
efficiently and faster. Lithium grease, an old standard in electric motors is
now being replaced in the higher heat applications. Newer, heat-resistant
greases enable the motors to run with less friction in the more extreme
elements.
With a renewed awareness on the environment and the desire to use natural,
sustainable resources, the recent improvements in the electrical motor industry
are welcome. The need to purchase new motors is now being reconsidered when
existing motors can be updated with wiring, insulation and greases which create
more efficiency. The forces brought by wind and water can be used with higher
efficiency while keeping costs minimal.
By: Syeda
Mahwish Fatima Naqvi