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A motor control center is an electrically enclosed assembly composed of one or more sections with a common horizontal power bus. Each vertical enclosed section contains several motor control starters. The motor starter units get electrical power from a vertical bus installed in each section and these vertical bus bars are connected to the horizontal power bus.
A motor start unit or "bucket" contains electrical components used to control power to the motor or load. The components are electrically rated based on the load information such as voltage, current, frequency, and horsepower with the main function to safely start and stop a motor. A motor starter unit contains a breaker or fuse, a contactor, and an overload relay to protect the combination starter unit from short-circuit, overload and phase failures.
One of the main advantages of MCCs is that motor starter units or “buckets” for applications less than 200HP motors, can be removed from the structure for maintenance, troubleshooting, or repair activities. These units can be arranged in the assembly as necessary before and after delivery. Electrically safe work conditions must be achieved when maintenance activities are performed near energized electrical equipment such as MCCs (refer to Safety Standards per NFPA 70E, CSA Z462, and guide recommendations noted in IEEE 1683).
Depending on the design and application, a motor starter unit has a control and power circuit to permit isolation of voltages, allowing low voltage (typically 120VAC) control of higher voltage (typically 480V). The control circuit consists of control devices such as pushbuttons and selector switches to start and stop the motor locally or remotely. In many cases, indicating lights are used to visually confirm the current state of the motor (running or stop condition). Recently, with the development of Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs), motor starter units are becoming “smarter” allowing the integration of new technology and permitting devices to communicate with each other and through the application of logic within the control circuit, letting personnel remotely monitor and control manufacturing processes.
Motor control centers provide monitoring and control for the operation of a collection of electrical loads. When integrated with communications and smart devices, this equipment becomes intelligent – enabling actionable insight into the power system. Intelligent MCCs allow you to easily access data, make more informed decisions, and control the MCC to optimize facility, process and power system performance.
Intelligent MCCs are characterized by open, secure communications and interoperability with building and facility systems to:
Engineers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contractors, and facility and maintenance managers use intelligent motor control centers to accelerate project timelines, reduce costs, enhance personnel safety, and gain valuable insight into plant operations. Communications, real-time, and historical power system data give engineers the ability to access information from the MCC remotely, providing a new level of building and process oversight that directly impacts the bottom line.
Through new information, remote monitoring, and control functionalities, intelligent MCCs can help enhance personnel safety. Personnel can better access system performance data and status while keeping a safe distance from energized equipment and reducing exposure to the potential arc source.
Intelligent MCCs can help support network reliability and security using proven architectures and adherence to key industry standards. Today, there are many types of industrial networks available, including:
For intelligent MCCs, factory configuration means that MCC’s Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) are configured to specific project parameters, including IP address, motor data, protection features, and other settings. Validation of IED’s parameters is performed via a functional test as part of the internal quality control at the factory.
A pre-configured intelligent MCC can help reduce labor, installation, and material costs, shortening commissioning time. Equipment that can integrate with existing systems and support major network protocols and controllers makes installation and commissioning easier and faster.
Smart MCCs can help support network reliability and security – by using proven architectures and network solutions, factory configuration and adherence to key industry standards.
Subscribe to our webinar library to watch the replay of the Intelligent MCCs: Pillars and Applications for Industry 4.0 and also gain access to various other electrical industry applications webinars.
Hardware proliferation and simplification is enabling more capabilities to be leveraged with MCCs and common solutions.
By integrating IEDs into MCC assemblies, the motor starter units can send and receive data with the purpose of monitoring and control. The exchange of data within the network depends on the communication protocol selected for the MCC.
Across the industry, IEDs are designed with open communication protocols that permit manufacturers to interoperate their components within a system and communicate with each other. The IEDs have ports that are directly connected via networking cabling or wireless connections to a network that ultimately form a node or set of nodes on that network.
Deploying MCC connectivity in industrial environments requires careful consideration of rugged network elements. Typical cabling and switches used in office or server room applications are not designed to withstand industrial conditions and application requirements. Additionally, motor control centers contain a host of voltage ranges to power and control devices, which would normally cause interference to communication signals.
To solve this, intelligent MCCs contain Ethernet cables that are designed to support communications signals that travel with a minimum of interference for reliable data transfer.
With more industrial equipment using industrial Ethernet cable, the physical layer needs to address requirements for monitoring and control, without interfering with plant or installation cable. Basic requirements for cabling include:
Industrial Ethernet switches are the main connection to intelligent MCCs and help ensure messages are delivered reliably and securely from the MCC to the front-end office. Ethernet switches that incorporate high-port density in a compact form factor enable integration into typical MCC bucket construction, while facilitating communications to a high quantity of loads.
Intelligent control and protection devices are typically arranged in a home-run or “star” topology, which enables consistent communications and simple troubleshooting. With home-run topology, communications is maintained across equipment, even in the event that one device losing network connectivity. It’s also easy to identify and troubleshoot a broken link.
With the vast quantity of devices in play, multiple switches are commonly used to link various network sections together.
Managed switching is an important consideration when redundancy, security, traffic control and security are essential. Managed switches enable many more features, for example, a switch-level ring can be established, should a link between the switches fail. Additionally, these switches can be monitored, configured through a variety of Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) mangement software and other tools.
The benefits you receive from an intelligent MCC depend upon the unique requirements of your application. With intelligent MCCs, there is an opportunity to personalize data collection and analysis, so you’re only collecting the system analytics that matter most to your operations.
Smart components within the MCC provide additional benefits in control and protection that yield:
You can right-size the intelligence and communications you need in a smart MCC through the components you choose to incorporate. Whether you need to get the equipment up and running faster, reduce the likelihood of downtime, increase service life and/or a host of other objectives, you can select IIoT devices to match the exact goals you need to achieve. For example, you can connect:
Advanced motor protection devices that provide scalable motor protection and support process monitoring and/or control
Variable frequency drives and reduced voltage soft starters with extensive on-board I/O, communications and active energy controls
Power meters that provide power monitoring for the whole lineup
Intelligent MCCs simplify connectivity to facility systems, enabling streamlined ways to control and monitor equipment and processes. There are new ways to show data-driven insights that enable maintenance and operations personnel to interact with the system remotely. By supporting a wide range of communication options, MCCs seamlessly integrate and expand upon the capabilities of distributed control, programmable logic controllers and SCADA systems.
Distributed control systems (DCS), programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and/or safety systems can leverage the data coming from intelligent MCCs to display operational information, Typically, SCADA or DCS systems are not set up to facilitate the level of operational data essential for electrical equipment maintenance. Without intelligence and communications at the MCC, this operation data would require additional hardware to provide monitoring and control for maintenance and operations staff.
Intelligent MCCs yield real-time information and access to graphical system data to impact equipment and system health and uptime, through targeted maintenance that’s just in time. From in-depth analytics software to simple information presented on a motor protection relay display and fully developed maintenance HMI terminals, intelligent MCCs bring a new level of equipment capabilities to see system information in real time.
Available on Freedom and Freedom arc-resistant MCCs, Eaton’s FlashGard improves arc flash safety during insertion and removal of motor control center buckets
Motor control centers provide monitoring and control for the operation of many critical process loads. When integrated with communications and smart end devices, this equipment becomes “smart” and enables actionable insight into the power system. These facilities have seen operational benefits from the numerous capabilities of an intelligent MCC.
Motor control centers provide monitoring and control for the operation of many critical process loads. When integrated with communications and smart end devices, this equipment becomes “smart” and enables actionable insight into the power system. Intelligent Motor Control Centers allow you to easily access data, make more informed decisions, and optimize the performance of your facility, process and power system. Whether modernizing a facility, expanding operations for new processes or building new facilities, intelligent MCCs can provide powerful system advantages.
Read a case study white paper about the application of Next-Generation Motor Management Relays to improve system reliability in process industries.
As a guest on this episode of "EECO Asks Why" podcast, our own Matt Hussey shares useful considerations when evaluating smart MCC technology.
