January 31, 2006
Joint IEEE and ISA meeting

Intelligent Motor Control Centers
Speaker: Dave Sterlace, ABB Inc
Location: Del Tech, Stanton Campus

Dave Sterlace talked to a packed house; about 50 engineers attended.

The "intelligent" motor control center is a description of the compact and organized physical and functional layout of the elements of the center. The ABB company's latest offering for this kind of product has a general layout as shown below:

Back Side; could be against the wall

User access for maintenance and control

Objectives for a layout that: 
1. Integrates like elements and
2. Segregates by function; e.g. controls from power, high and low voltage, controller and starter
are:

• Design flexibility
• Reduce wiring complexity
• Segregating, for example, high voltage from low voltage promotes a safer installation
• Increase process uptime
• Save energy through better control of function
• User friendly control interface
• Smaller physical size