2011-12-21 - With more than 10 sags per year, with three-to-four causing shutdown, a petrochemical plant based in China has adopted ABB's PCS100 active voltage conditioning (AVC) produced in Napier, New Zealand, as part of a turnkey solution in order to protect their production line.
Background
The petrochemical plant had suffered ongoing voltage sags and shutdowns since it was first established in 1995. Therefore, they were always looking for a good solution to combat production loss, financial and time issues - and with a factory with more than 10,000 employees and an annual sales volume of more than US $10 billion, it was vital that these issues be addressed.
| When ABB's AVC technology was introduced, the customer concluded that it would be the best solution to use due to the unique compact size, and low ongoing costs compared with the market. Another reason for choosing ABB's technology was that it included maintenance, training, and came with spare parts. ABB also had an AVC in stock which reduced the leadtime for the customer. | 
Outside view of the petrochemical plant |
Solution chosen
The installed AVC in an existing production line, protects the VSD drive of pelletizer and feeder for polypropylene processes. One month after installation, results prove that the AVC protected the load from one deep voltage sag, which saved the plant US $30,000 as well as several hours of shutdown time.
ABB's technology
ABB’s PCS100 AVC technology is available in load capacities from 160 kVA-30 MVA. It has an operating efficiency exceeding 98%, and offers full correction and fast response to three phase sags down to 70%, and single phase sags down to 55% on the AC supply network. All PCS100 AVC models provide continuous regulation within +/-10% of the nominal mains voltage and also remove voltage unbalance from the supply. The plant selected ABB’s PCS100 AVC 30% 400kVA.