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X-FAB UK Ltd., the semiconductor manufacturer, has announced that it has cut its annual energy costs by over £30,000 following the installation of six 37kW ABB HVAC drives on its three cooling towers. The installation of the ABB drives by Drive Control, the local ABB HVAC partner, cost £15,000, according to the company, all of which will be recouped by the company in the space of six months.

The three cooling towers cool water for use in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Prior to adding the ABB drives, the cooling tower’s energy needs would involve a huge consumption of start-up current for the fans that were switched on and off – one by one - according to need.

The drives work in a more energy efficient manner, saving significant amounts of energy for the company by cooling the first tower using two fans initially, then if more cooling is required, the second pair are switched on, and if even further cooling is then required, the third pair of fans are turned on. The company has also reported maintenance cost reduction, as the old system regularly broke down and required replacement parts.

“We have great experience from installing drives in cooling towers so we knew the savings would be massive,” says Jez Wyant, engineer with Drive Control. “We worked out the cost at fixed speed, measuring power consumption and power factor and then estimated the savings at variable speed. Erring on the side of caution, we predicted 18 months payback but in the event, X-FAB actually got the money back in six months.”