2007-09-24 - When Herrenknecht, the world’s leading provider of mechanized tunneling systems, developed a vertical drilling rig to access geothermal energy 6,000 meters below the earth’s surface, they chose ABB’s uniquely powerful and compact liquid-cooled drives to help set new drilling benchmarks for energy efficiency, compact footprint, drill performance and noise reduction.
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Already the world’s leading producer of horizontal drilling systems, Herrenknecht saw a market opportunity for a new type of vertical drilling rig that could bore to depths of up to 6,000 meters to access the hot water reservoirs and beds of hot dry rock that lie deep underground.
The challenge for Herrenknecht was to develop an ecologically compatible drilling rig that could be used in densely populated environments and would set new benchmarks in “energy consumption, space requirements, drill performance, and minimization of noise pollution.”
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Compact, silent, robust and reliable – the ACS800 liquid-cooled variable speed drive is equipped with ABB’s Direct Torque Control technology for the fastest torque and speed response on the market.
Herrenknecht selected ABB’s ACS800 liquid-cooled drives to help them achieve these targets.
The ACS800 is one of the most compact liquid-cooled drives on the market, requiring up to 50 percent less space than air-cooled equivalents and offering an unsurpassed power-size ratio of one megawatt of power per cubic meter of drive.
A reliable operator
Designed to operate in enclosed, compact environments like cranes, offshore platforms and drilling rigs where conventional air cooling requires costly, oversized and noisy air conditioning equipment, the ACS800 is a cost-effective, silent alternative with inbuilt redundancy to ensure operational reliability.
ABB variable speed drives cut energy consumption in pump and fan applications by as much as 60 percent
This, and the vast reductions in energy consumption that ABB variable speed drives provide by eliminating unnecessary throttling, have contributed significantly to the success of the new vertical drilling rig.
To date, Herrenknecht Vertical has delivered two vertical drilling rigs and a third is under construction. Each rig is equipped with either three or four ACS800 liquid-cooled drives that operate the mud pumps that flush the bore hole with water and, depending on customer specifications, the top drive or core pump.
Demand for geothermal energy is booming in Herrenknecht’s home market of Germany. The country’s second and third geothermal power plants will go into operation early next year, and there are plans to build an additional 150 plants within the next few years. Many of these will be small-scale facilities located in built-up areas where the drilling rig’s footprint, noise emissions and environmental impact are key criteria.
Customer benefits:
- The ACS800 LC (liquid cooled) drive is extremely compact and has many applications, including ships, windmills, extruder drivers, pumps and fans and offshore oil platforms.
- Modules can be quickly replaced, and the drive unit can continue to operate at a reduced capacity when one module is removed and under repair.
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