Industrial equipment multinational Siemens is extending its portfolio of Simotics synchronous-reluctance motors to include the two new shaft heights, the AH90 and AH225, thereby addressing calls from renowned manufacturers of pumps, fans, compressors and machine builders in general for different shaft heights.

The motors are available in a power range between 0.55 kW and 45 kW, and now also with rated speeds of 1 500 rpm and 3 000 rpm. In conjunction with the recently launched Sinamics Reluctance Control Licence, precise encoderless closed-loop torque control is possible down to a standstill. The licence enables field-orientated (vector) closed-loop control even when at a standstill – reliably eliminating the possibility of the synchronous motor stalling at any time even if the load inertia is not known.

As digitalisation is the key to fast, efficient operations, Siemens has equipped the motors and converters with a data matrix code. Attached to the motor enclosure and the display or converter housing, this code provides users with access to technical data, spare part information and operating instructions at a glance. The data is accessed with the aid of a mobile terminal and the Simotics Digital Data app for motors, or alternatively, the Siemens Industry Online Support app for converters.

The availability of two-dimensional or three-dimensional engineering data makes for shorter, more flexible design and engineering processes.

As an integrated drive system, Simotics reluctance motors and Sinamics converters are specifically coordinated to work together. Compared with induction motors, they offer highly efficient operation, particularly in the partial load range. The coordinated system, comprising a Sinamics G120 converter and a synchronous-reluctance motor, which enables the ideal closed-loop control of pumps, fans and compressors.

By combining the Sinamics S120 converter and Sinamics Reluctance Control Licence, it is even possible to achieve encoderless closed-loop control down to a standstill, enabling applications in conjunction with coilers, servo pumps and extruders.

Synchronous-reluctance drive systems operate with exceptional energy efficiency, while also providing greater power reserves than a comparable asynchronous drive.

with conventional asynchronous technology, with its Simotics synchronous-reluctance motors, Siemens enables extremely high efficiency to be achieved at the rated operating point and in the partial load range while at the same time ensuring high-power density and dynamic performance. The result is cost and energy efficiency.

Synchronous-reluctance drive technology has proven highly successful in countless practical applications in the field. Customers such as machine builder Olbrich, plasterboard manufacturer Knauf and compressor manufacturer Kaeser Kompressoren have opted to use synchronous-reluctance drives, owing to their energy efficiency as well as optimum operating behaviour as a result of synchronous encoderless operation and their simple commissioning with the aid of the motor code.