Whether you’re a distributor of DC drives or work in a facility that uses DC drives for motor control, you’ve probably heard the term “rengenerative control” before and might be wondering what it means. Regenerative or “regen” DC drives basically cause the motor to work as a generator, converting mechanical energy to electrical energy as the motor rotates. Some of the energy can be captured and recycled to enhance efficiency for the entire operation. The word “regenerative” was originally used when describing an SCR-type DC drive. Today, however, the term can be applied to both two-quadrant (2Q) and four-quadrant (4Q) DC drives as well as PWM DC and AC drives. Regenerative describes any motor drive that can handle excess energy and return it to the power source, store the energy for later, or release it as heat.
So how is the excess energy created? Energy can be created when the DC motor is being pushed toward a speed that’s faster than the pre-set speed while the DC drive’s speed setting counteracts with it. There can also be excess energy with regenerative braking, when a reverse torque is applied by the DC drive to stop a load with high inertia at a faster rate than it would normally stop on its own. Excess energy is created when reverse torque is applied because of the drive’s reverse set point that can quickly stop the motor and reverse. If the drive is being used to control a cyclical load, this can produce a regenerative effect as well. And finally, if a large reverse torque is used to hold a set speed in the case of an instantaneous event then the regenerative effect can occur.
If you need assistance with an application that requires regenerative DC drives, consider calling a drive manufacturer such as Carotron, Inc. for one-on-one assistance from an engineer or technician. Allow an expert to help you determine which drive will work best and result in the most energy and cost savings.
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