Controlling pumps – what to look out for
Electrical pumps require short-circuit protection and overload protection to ensure electrical safety. There are various ways of switching them.
Connecting electrical pumps
A distinction is made between the following start types, depending on the design of the motor feeder:
- Direct-on-line and reversing start
- Star-delta (wye-delta) start
- Soft starting
- Speed control
Decision-making criteria: Which pump drive is suitable for which application?
For smaller pumps and simple tasks, direct-on-line starting is the best solution. For larger pumps (7.5 kW and above), it is advisable to limit the starting current with a star-delta connection or a soft starter to save energy costs.
To avoid typical pump problems, such as water hammer, blockage or dry running, and so increase availability, integrated functions are available, for example, for the SIRIUS 3RW55 soft starters.
Also some soft starters, frequency converters and the SIMOCODE pro motor management system provide diagnostic data that can be used for predictive maintenance or operational energy management and ensure transparent operation.
Our products for driving pumps
Solutions for typical pump applications
Pumps in the water and wastewater industry
The SIMOCODE pro motor management system and the SIRIUS 3RW5 soft starter with their integrated functions for the water and wastewater industry were tested at the Hermann Föttinger Institute for Fluid Engineering of the Technical University of Berlin.
