Advantages of Electrical Drive:
- It is simple in construction and has less maintenance cost.
- Its speed control is easy and smooth.
- It is neat, clean, and free from any smoke or flue gases.
- It can be installed at any desired convenient place thus affording more flexibility in the layout, being compact, it requires less space.
- It can be started immediately without any loss of time.
- It has a comparatively longer life.
Disadvantages of Electrical Drive:
- It comes to stop as soon as there is a failure of the electric supply.
- It cannot be used at far-off places that are not served by electric supply.
AC Drive:
- AC drives are used to step-less speed control of motors mostly used in process industries due to their ruggedness and maintenance-free long life.
- Speed control of AC drive mainly achieved by voltage-frequency speed control by means of a power semiconductor-based device.
- Squirrel cage induction motor is widely used in AC drive due to its simple and rugged construction.
- AC drive is available at various voltage levels and there is no limit on the operating voltage.
- For the same power rating, the weight of the AC motor drive is less than that of the DC motor drive.
DC Drive:
- The main reason for using a DC drive is that it has a wide range of speed control.
- It has high starting torque (DC Series motor) hence can be used in traction, steel rolling mills, etc.
- It gives a fast response with the input parameter and can provide smooth speed control.
- It has the ability to quick starting and stopping.
- The cost of a DC motor drive is more than that of an AC motor drive because of additional equipment required for DC supply such as converter, battery, etc.
Individual Drive:
- In the case of an individual drive, each machine is driven by its own separate motor with the help of gears, pulley, etc.
- It is most economical, with less maintenance.
- Application: Ceiling fan, drilling machine, etc
Group Drive:
- In group drive, a single motor drives a number of machines through belts from a common shaft.
- It is also called line shaft drive
- It is more economical as compared to Individual drive.
- Application: Several machine tools perform their option by using a single motor in a belt or rope drive.
Multi motor Drive:
- In multi-motor drives, separate motors are provided for actuating different parts of the driven mechanism.
- Application: Cranes
