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The Numbers Are In: Important Financial Data Revealed
What is the Cost of Efficiency? 
Van Son explained that the rotor conductor material – copper versus aluminum – presents
the largest increase in cost when using the new copper motor rotor technology. Based
on a 15 hp (11 kW) motor, material for a typical aluminum rotor currently costs roughly $4.00; whereas,
copper rotor material costs roughly $14.00. To this, the costs of the energy
associated with melting and die insert amortization are added. Die insert
amortization accounts for the inserts only or, more specifically, only the parts
that come into contact with molten copper during the process. Van Son says
that's because the inserts are the only parts that would need to be replaced,
as opposed to the whole master die. Insert replacement is based on an estimated 20,000-shot life.
“Roughly 65 cents goes to the electrical energy used to melt the copper. Another 65 cents goes to amortizing the die insert,” Van Son says. “So we're up to about another $1.30 on top of the $10.00 (the additional cost of copper). But, this is a motor that lists at anywhere from $900 to $1,500, depending on enclosure. Now I admit, nobody pays list, but it puts into perspective that, for this type of product, even at wholesale, this is a very expensive motor. Approximately eleven dollars and thirty cents doesn't make that much of an increase in the cost. So, from a user's perspective, if we don't even try to cost-reduce the motor and just change out the aluminum for copper, that is paid back to the user in months – not years – in energy savings as the result of a 1.2% increase of efficiency on the nameplate (label on the motor detailing motor characteristics), if they use that motor for two shifts a day or more,” he said. Van Son also said that some manufacturers looked into how they could save money using this new die casting process to compensate for the added expense of the copper rotor. He said some have reduced costs using a variety of methods such as adjusting the stack length or changing rotor bar size. Cooling requirements were reduced, since copper naturally runs cooler than aluminum. However, the biggest cost reduction resulted from optimizing the motor around the copper rotor. In an optimized motor, rotor losses were down 40%, and total losses were reduced by 23%. Temperature rise was reduced by 41%. “We added 1.6% to the nameplate. Whereas, just a straight change out from aluminum to copper added 1.2%.” MORE >> |
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