QUANTUM CONTROLS'
TODAY’S ENGINEER
Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018
Quantum Controls wins prestigious ‘UK Drive
Rental Company of the Year’ Award 2018
“We are delighted to win this prestigious award, working with market leading products makes our work much
easier.” says Mark Hodgkinson UK Drive Rental Fleet Manager.
S ince launching the Rental Department
back in 2015, it has been a steady
increase for the department. During
2016 we saw our business double in size
as we have increased our portfolio of
products and really targeted the market.
“Mark and his team, and the whole of
Quantum Controls, have worked extremely
hard to get this award. I am very proud
and look forward to what the rest of 2018
and the future brings. Hopefully we will
win UK Drive Rental Company of the Year
2019. Keep your eyes peeled.” Adds Kevin
Brown, Managing Director. This award
comes at a wonderful time as we are
investing a further £1.2 million in 2018 to
extend the hire fleet stock to keep up with
customer demand.
The highly celebrated Corporate LiveWire
Innovation & Excellence Awards 2018
give recognition to businesses that are
transforming their respective industries
and the standard-bearers of excellence by
Quantum Controls, Quantum House, Low Prudhoe Industrial Estate, Prudhoe, Northumberland NE42 6PQ
T: 01661 835 566 F: 01661 833 868 E: sales@quantum-controls.co.uk W: www.quantum-controls.co.uk
Published exclusively for members of Quantum Controls' VIP Inner Circle
continually setting industry trends as well
as showing significant advances in terms
and excellence team as the main reason
for winning the prestigious award.
of innovation and improvement. Winners “Quantum Drive Rental Service ensures
were announced earlier this year, judges that costly downtime is kept to an
choosing based on innovation, industry absolute minimum when a client has their
recognition, service excellence, marketing production process down due to a failed
& branding and those who are successful variable speed drive unit” says Hodgkinson.
in their industry.
Quantum Controls are the UK's
leading supplier of Variable Speed
Drives & Support Services.
Our unique Drive rental Fleet and on-site
services offer UK manufacturing access to
our broad range of weather proof panels
suitable for mounting indoor or outdoor
installations.
“Our drives are supplied in our own
purpose built W5P Weather Proof
Enclosures, which are the product of
4 years research and development to
develop a drive enclosure system that
delivers everything that our clients could
want in a rental Drive. Our drives are “When our 800Kw Pulper Drive failed at
suitable for any application from basic 2am we contacted Quantum Controls who
pump and fan to the most demanding had a hire drive on its way to us within the
application you can think of. Suitable for hour. We were losing £20k an hour in lost
positioning in switch room, on plant or production but Quantum Engineers met
even outdoors in any weather our unique the Drive at site, installed, commissioned
WP5 range provide the best rental solution the drive and the plant was up and
for your application.” Says Hodgkinson. running by 11am. Excellent Service that
saved us a lot of money” adds Steve Smith,
Quantum Controls are the only Electrical Engineering Manager for one of
company in the UK offering customers Quantum’s long standing customers.
a “on site first visit fix Guarantee”.
With over 1500 drives stocked Get access to our 24/7 Emergency Phone
throughout the UK in our local service Number and order your free 48-page
centres, these are available with Variable Speed Drive Guide at https://
engineers being cited by the innovation www.quantum-controls.co.uk/hire.html
 Vol
Vol2813Issue 18:August
Issue34: Aug 2016
2018| Engineers’
| Engineers’Q&A's
Q&A's2016
2018 Engineers’ Q&A's 2018 | Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018

ENGINEERS' Q & A

Every month we will put your questions to one of our engineers.

Here are the questions for August

Question
Do you have any tips for keeping our Variable
Speed Drives running to their full potential?

Answer...
Here are 10 top tips we swear by:

1. Understand Your Installed Base 4. 24/7 Emergency Engineer Response available within hours so in the event of a breakdown requires, all contracts should have provision for all
An initial on site assessment should be carried out Ensure your drive supplier can also offer after lost production can be kept to a minimum. the ‘secrets’ listed here for you today.
by a qualified Drive Service Engineer, they should log sales services which include ‘immediate engineer 7. Maximise Drive Life Span 10. Set and Monitor KPI’s
the drive location, part numbers, specification and response’ 24 hours a day 7 days a week along with Efficient Life Cycle Assessment defines clearly when Implementation of these keys steps will deliver
maintenance status and criticality to the process or direct telephone access to experienced and qualified to upgrade, retrofit or replace existing drives while drive optimisation for you and your organisation,
application for the future maintenance planning. local engineers. proposing the right maintenance plan to ensure the but having defined set goals which you and your
2. Preventative Maintenance Schedule 5. Spares Access longest life of your drive asset is realised. team are trying to achieve such as ‘Improved
As the level of criticality of your applications are Ensure that your drive supplier carries the correct 8. Drive Upgrades Overall Equipment Efficiency’ and ‘reduction of lost
assessed, clear priorities for maintenance actions spares in stock to cover your installed base of drives. Upgrading old drives that no longer have spares production due to downtime caused by drive failure’
can be set. The maintenance planning should Ask them to show you their stock inventory of available from the manufacturer can be done will ensure you monitor performance as part of your
be done according to the drives manufactures genuine manufacturer’s parts and ensure you have utilising new more efficient drive ranges and you can continuous improvement policies.
recommendations. access to these 24/7. usually use the same control panels or motor control
3. Prevent Breakdowns 6. Temporary Drive Rental centres minimising capital costs.
As maintenance actions are performed according Ensure you have access to VSD hire drives, these can 9. Consider a Service and Maintenance Contracts to
the schedule your drives will be constantly serviced be supplied in IP66 easy to manoeuvre enclosures Suit Your Needs Our Quantum Engineers are fully qualified and
and checked thus extending the life of the asset and enabling temporary installation anywhere on your Contracts from recognised industry experts can accessible 24/7, you can get free access to them at
preventing unwanted and costly failures. plant or outside. Power rating up to 1.5 MW are deliver the exact level of service your organisation anytime just call us on 0330 9000 247

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 Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018 | Golf Day Golf Day | Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018

GOLF DAY

Quantum Controls’ Technical Seminar

and Golf Day at Close House, Golf &
Country Club
We had 89 customers attend our Annual Seminar and
Golf Day” on Monday 16th July 2018, with presentations
from Paul Pryor at Schneider Electric on the “Industrial
Internet of Things”, Richard Gee from ABB on Motor
Management and ABB Ability Smart Sensor. Starting the
morning off with our very own Kevin Brown with the
latest on advances in Drive Maintenance.
After Lunch, the teams set off to start the 18 holes
of Golf, with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, overall
winning team, nearest pin and longest drive. We had
a Lexus CT200h if you could get a hole in one on the
10th hole, unfortunately no winners there but we had
some very close shots! Once all teams had made their
way back, we had the Trophy Presentation and a few
drinks to end the day.
If you don’t want to miss out next year, contact
w.morley@quantum-controls.co.uk to reserve your
space. It was a great day for everyone involved and
always very popular, so make sure you get your space.

1st Place -
Paul Colley from Elementis
2nd Place -
Keith Donaldson from Yorkshire Water
3rd Place -
Peter Stephenson from E4
Winning Team -
Peter Stelling from Quantum Controls, Arron Gaskell from Gaskell Safety,
Joe Bygroves from Entrek and Andy Darroch from IGF
Quantum Controls Staff Winner -
Dan Fitzsimmons
Nearest Pin -
Darren Mixon from Hydrainer
Longest Drive -
Andy Darroch from IGF

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 Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018 | Engineer of the month Engineering Mastery | Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018

ENGINEER OF THE MONTH ENGINEERING MASTERY

This month we’re talking to Kyle Clark -

Senior Sales Engineer, Quantum Controls Ltd What is the operating principle
Question 1 - Let’s start by telling us your background and when you started at Quantum Controls?
Kyle Clark
of a 3ph induction motor
A
n electric motor converts electrical energy into a The rotor windings in an induction motor are either closed
Answer
mechanical energy which is then supplied to different through an external resistance or directly shorted. Therefore, the
I started at Quantum Controls three and a half years ago, started in sales. I then took and passed all my ABB, Schneider,
types of loads. A.C. motors operate on an A.C. supply, and e.m.f induced in the rotor causes current to flow in a direction
Danfoss, Vacon, Mitsubishi and Control Techniques accreditations. Which means I can now advise all my clients when they
have any issues. they are classified into synchronous, single phase and 3 phase opposite to that of the revolving magnetic field in the stator, and
induction, and special purpose motors. Out of all types, 3 phase leads to a twisting motion or torque in the rotor.
Question 2 - How would you describe your day/job to a child? induction motors are most widely used for industrial applications As a consequence, the rotor speed will not reach the
mainly because they do not require a starting device. synchronous speed of the r.m.f in the stator. If the speeds match,
Answer A 3 phase induction motor derives its name from the fact that there would be no e.m.f. induced in the rotor, no current would
My day consists of eating chocolate, having temper tantrums and lots of adult talk. the rotor current is induced by the magnetic field, instead of be flowing, and therefore no torque would be generated. The
electrical connections. difference between the stator (synchronous speed) and rotor
Question 3 Question 4 The operating principle of a 3 phase induction motor is based on speeds is called the slip.
Describe your role in 3 words. What do you enjoy the most and least about engineering? the production of r.m.f. The rotation of the magnetic field in an induction motor has the
Production of a rotating magnetic field advantage that no electrical connections need to be made to
Answer Answer The stator of an induction motor consists of a number of the rotor.
Chasing a challenge. I enjoy helping my clients and accounts the most. Dealing with couriers is my overlapping windings offset by an electrical angle of 120°. When What results is a motor that is:
least enjoyable part of my job. the primary winding or stator is connected to a three phase • Self-starting
alternating current supply, it establishes a rotating magnetic field • Explosion proofed (because of the absence of slip rings or
Question 5 - If you could switch jobs with someone, who would it be? which rotates at a synchronous speed. commutators and brushes that may cause sparks)
The direction of rotation of the motor depends on the phase • Robust in construction
Answer
sequence of supply lines, and the order in which these lines are • Inexpensive
My Dad, he’s an airline pilot!
connected to the stator. Thus interchanging the connection of • Easier to maintain
any two primary terminals to the supply will reverse the direction
Question 6 - What new engineering skills have you developed over the past year? of rotation.
Answer The number of poles and the frequency of the applied voltage
Drive application, new manufacturer’s and new product training for all our Drive Partners. determine the synchronous speed of rotation in the motor’s
stator. Motors are commonly configured to have 2, 4, 6 or 8
poles. The synchronous speed, a term given to the speed at
Question 7 - What is your biggest achievement to date - personal or professional?
which the field produced by primary currents will rotate, is
Answer determined by the following expression.
Professionally, my role at Quantum, I have secured and maintained some of our biggest major international clients. Synchronous speed of rotation = (120* supply frequency) /
Number of poles on the stator
Question 8 Production of magnetic flux
A rotating magnetic field in the stator is the first part of
Last but not least, do you have any advice for someone who has just joined the engineering industry? operation. To produce a torque and thus rotate, the rotors must
be carrying some current. In induction motors, this current
Answer comes from the rotor conductors. The revolving magnetic field
The best advice I can offer is to check and double check the smallest details. Slightest error could have a massive financial
produced in the stator cuts across the conductive bars of the
implication to all involved.
rotor and induces an e.m.f. Fig. Production of rotating magnetic field in a three phase induction motor.

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 Vol 28 Issue 34: August 2018 |Advertisement

STEVE DID IT!

He called Quantum when
his VSD failed saving his
company hours of downtime
‘When our 800Kw Pulper Drive failed at 2am we contacted
Quantum Controls who had a hire drive on its way to us within
the hour. We were losing £20k an hour in lost production
but Quantum Engineers met the Drive at site, installed,
commissioned the drive and the plant was up and running by
11am. Excellent Service that saved us a lot of money”
Steve Smith – Electrical Engineering manager

Claim your free VSD guide and

your first week free on all rentals.
www.quantum-controls.co.uk/hire.html

0330 057 3468 rental@quantum-controls.co.uk

Test your little grey cells with this month's crossword

Across
3. A static electrical device that transfers
electrical energy
5. Action of applying a substance to minimize
friction
6. Harmonic control
8. An electrical resistor whose resistance
is greatly reduced by heating, used for
measurement and control
9. A collection of laws
10. Leaking dust or water

Down
1. The measurement of rotational force
2. A scaled value which changes as you rotate
the knob
7. A measure of one thousand watts of
electical power