Emerson Launches Variable Frequency Drives for its Copeland Compressors

U.S. component manufacturer Emerson has launched Copeland Commercial Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs), designed for use in a wide variety of commercial and industrial refrigeration applications, including with Emerson's natural refrigerant compressors.

The new VFDs can normally be installed without any changes to existing equipment and they "can provide significant energy reductions, delivering quick return on investment (ROI) for users," Emerson explained in a statement on May 25. The ROI can be as little as a "few months," the company said. Many U.S. states also have incentives for end users to install VFDs, and in many cases these can come close to covering the upfront installation cost, Emerson stated.

The Copeland VFDs can control the speed of compressors, evaporators and condenser fans, and are capable of saving from 15 to 30% in energy, when compared to a fixed-speed compressor, according to Emerson.

The increased efficiency is a result of better load matching, reducing the number of start/stop events, and pulling down loads faster, said Emerson.

With a Copeland VFD is applied to fans or pumps, these can also be modulated from 10% all the way up to 100%.

"With variable frequency drive technology, the end user typically experiences improved temperature and humidity control, reduced noise, and adaptable capacity for changing loads and weather conditions," said Joe Summers, Senior Product Manager — scroll & drives at Emerson. "Improved reliability is also achieved through proactive motor failure prevention, advanced diagnostics, decreased susceptibility to power instability and by greatly reducing the number of start/stop events."

The new Copeland VFDs will include two lines, the EVM and the EVH series. The Copeland EVM series will cover ranges from 0.5 to 30HP, and has both single- and three-phase input options and onboard Bluetooth connectivity. The EVM units are suited for chillers, medical refrigeration, display cases, walk-ins, reach-ins and other applications.

The advanced Copeland EVH series will cover from 1 to 250 HP and has all standard three-phase options, including 57 volt. It will have expanded control options to handle applications requiring more functionality, like racks, CO2 booster systems and industrial refrigeration.

The VFD platform covers all of Emerson's Copeland compressors, including scroll, semi-hermetic and screw types.

Via its Commercial and Residential Solutions division, Emerson provides a wide range of compressors and other components for CO2, propane (R290) and ammonia/NH3 (R717) systems.