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Integrated Control Technologies LLC (ICT) is introducing two new products which are intended to facilitate the conversion from DC drives and motors to AC in extrusion. The products are also said to provide additional protective features for an extruder that previously required a control upgrade.

First, the Extruder Duty Motor from ICT has a laminated frame design similar to a DC motor frame and eases the physical difficulties normally associated with a retrofit. In addition, it comes with insulated bearings and an Aegis Bearing Protection Ring to resolve premature bearing failures, along with RTDs and thermostats built into the windings. ICT says it carries 100-500-hp motors as standard inventory, reducing the wait of 16 weeks for a custom motor with similar features.

Secondly, what ICT bills as an industry-first development is the Extruder Drive Guardian. The Extruder Drive Guardian is a Plastic Logic Drive (PLD), which is said to be new technology designed for extrusion which combines an AC drive with the logic control of a PLC to provide protective features for an extruder that would previously require a control upgrade.

In addition, it accurately measures the temperature of the new Extruder Duty Motor to anticipate motor problems before a catastrophic failure. It is built on the ABB ACS880 platform with custom firmware to provide a wide range of features which include scripted application configuration; alarms viewed on drive HMI; screen trending; a default display of screw speed, drive amps and pressure; screw-break prevention; high-pressure shutoff; low-pressure start prevention with bypass; motor temperature monitoring (with Extruder Duty Motor); vibration monitoring; and more.

The Extruder Drive Guardian is available from 50 to 500 hp and is the first in the series of Plastic Solution Drives from Integrated Control Technologies.