US President Barack Obama has visited Vacon's Research and Development Centre in Durham, North Carolina, USA, where he came into contact with an example of IHC Merwede's advanced equipment.
During his tour of the facility, the President was shown a pilot version of the company's Medium Voltage (MV) Drive.
IHC Merwede has designed the MV Drive in cooperation with Vacon, which develops, manufactures and sells AC drives and inverters on a global basis. The MV Drive has been built by IHC Merwede in Sliedrecht, the Netherlands, before being tested by the Finnish company's American subsidiary.
Energy Efficient Speed Variation
The 4.16 kilovolt drive has been specially designed for marine applications and can withstand heavy vibration, dirty working environments and high temperatures. The water-cooled frequency converter is available in a range of 1 to 11 megawatts, and will be applied to dredging and offshore vessels by IHC Merwede. The drive is able to vary the speed of electric motors in an energy efficient manner.
