Project 'DC Industry' - Part 1DC instead of AC in the production grid
Research and industry are working hard to redesign the power supply for industrial systems via a smart, open DC grid. The article describes the challenges of the 'DC Industry' project and the system specification developed so far.
The KHS model system is the first system in the project to be operated entirely in automatic mode. It contains over 30 drives from 750 W to 22 kW, which are integrated into a pallet and a container carousel under the planning and coordination of KHS in Worms. Palletizing and depalletizing are carried out by two robots that link the two carousels, allowing a continuous material flow to be observed. Almost all drive and component manufacturers involved in the project were able to contribute their own test samples to the system in accordance with DC industry system specifications. This demonstrates the open approach of the project. As the system was first built using conventional AC technology and then converted to DC industrial components, direct comparisons of energy consumption can be evaluated. Furthermore, EMC measurements of conducted and radiated emissions were carried out in the DC system in order to provide reference measurements for future EMC standardization.