Bowled over by noise elimination

UK form, Axxa supplies automation and motion control products and services internationally. The company aims to be a helpful partner throughout the entire procurement process, be it a replacement part to get production lines up and running or specifying the best instrumentation system for a new or existing plant.

In this case Axxa’s client All Star Lanes in Bloomsbury London were experiencing noisy vibrations from their ventilation system in their bowling alley that was disturbing diners in the restaurant.

Srdan Stojiljkovic, All Star Lanes technical manager, says: “Separating the seating area in our restaurant from the bowling lanes there is a wall of Perspex panels which were vibrating when our ventilation system was in operation.”

Ventilation system upgrade

Being underground and needing both a constant flow of fresh air in and the capability to extract fumes out, All Star Lanes realised that they needed to upgrade their ventilation system in order to give their customers a better bowling and dining experience.

Axxa worked with All Star Lanes to come up with a suitable solution, they supplied the drive and enlisted, locally based, APS Engineering to install it into the system.

The solution came in the form of the Control Techniques Commander drive. Commander delivered big benefits for the bowling alley. First, the NEMA bracket provided safe mounting onto the wall. It protects all the cables going in, ensuring the safety of the general public. Furthermore, the new drive is half the size of the original one, creating extra space.

Previously, the system ran continuously at 30 amps. Commander runs at a much lower rate of 10-15 amps, generating significant savings of 50%, resulting in a better flow of air both in and out.

No more noisy vibrations

The old system had too much vacuum. This caused buckling of the ducting and made it vibrate like a drum. By tuning the drive to a lower level, not only did it use less power, but it also stopped the noisy vibrations going through the ducting.

Per Lutteman, APS engineering director comments: “From my point of view, this was a very simple project for us. Setting the drive up was very easy; it was up and running, the way we wanted, within half an hour. It was also easy to program; All Star Lanes have excellent support on hand if they ever need it.”

Srdan Stojiljkovic added: “The fan motor works at a lower rpm than the old drive and has made a significant difference in our restaurant area. With the new drive, the wall has stopped shaking and the venue is not noisy anymore, our customers are very happy.”

This is just another story of a successful application of Control Techniques’ Commander drives where the drive not only solved the ventilation problems but also generated additional energy savings for the customer.

With our Commander drives now being available from stock here in the UK, if you rely on AC drives to keep your business moving, you can rely on us to come up with the solution to your problem with no long lead time for drives.

www.controltechniques.com