White Paper | Reinforcing Reliability: Advanced Cell Bypass | 2 January 2014

Mark Harshman, Principal Engineer, Siemens LDAM

Reinforcing Reliability:
Advanced Cell Bypass
VFDs offer effective process control, but only Siemens SINAMICS PERFECT HARMONY VFDs
reinforce critical process reliability with fault-tolerant Advanced Cell Bypass technology.

White Paper | 2 January 2014

For decades, versatility and potential cost savings have Leading Medium Voltage VFD Applications
spurred the use of medium voltage variable frequency drives in Major Vertical Industries
(VFDs) in a wide range of applications (Table 1). Very few
medium-voltage applications require full motor use at all Building Cooling tower pumps, cooling tower
times, so VFDs are an effective way to adjust the power automation fans, chiller fans, chilled water
accordingly and reduce superfluous energy consumption. pumps, refrigeration compressors
Chemical and Utility pumps, process pumps, fans,
From pipelines with fluctuating flows to mine conveyors with
petrochemical blowers, air compressors, process
variable throughput, even trimming a small percentage of an
compressors, coolers, cooling tower
applications operating load can lead to significant energy
pumps, cooling tower fans
savings. In this way, VFDs give manufacturers greater control
over their processes and energy costs; but aside from Food and Beverage Utility pumps, fans, blowers
reducing motor wear and tear, they dont inherently prevent Mining Conveyors, ball mills, grinders,
process breakdown. crushers, mobile equipment
The Advanced Cell Bypass technology found in Siemens (haul trucks, draglines, shovels)
SINAMICS Perfect Harmony VFDs adds reliability to the list of Oil and gas Utility pumps, process pumps, fans,
advantages offered by VFDs. Drawing on the drives modular process compressors, air compressors
series-cell topology, Advanced Cell Bypass keeps the cells in
each phase isolated, allowing the drive to bypass failed cells Power Induced draft fans, forced draft fans,
and maintain a balanced power output. Other popular cooling tower pumps, cooling tower
multilevel topologiessuch as the flying capacitor circuit, fans, atomization air compressors
NPC and CSI topologiesare unable to tolerate power Water/ Process pumps, fans, blowers,
component failure without total VFD system shutdown. wastewater air compressors
To optimize production, the ideal drive solution for a Table 1
medium-voltage application is one that matches power
output with load demand and promotes fault-tolerant
reliability. Any VFD can improve process efficiencies, but
only Siemens SINAMICS Perfect Harmony VFDs also reduce
downtime by integrating the failsafe assurance of Advanced
Cell Bypass.

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 1

Siemens LDAP 2014. All rights reserved.
 White Paper | Reinforcing Reliability: Advanced Cell Bypass | 2 January 2014

The Impact of Costs related to downtime include:

Wages of idle workers

Failed Power Overtime wages for maintenance workers

Spare part and repair expenses

Components Startup power consumption

Waste due to incomplete production
In traditional VFDs, if a power component fails, it brings
Delayed shipment charges
the entire processand sometimes the entire plantto a
standstill. Before the cell component can be replaced, the Damage to stakeholder relationships
drive and motor have to wind down; once it is replaced,
If no replacement components are on hand, lengthy
more production time is lost while the drive restarts and
lead times can render equipment inoperable for weeks,
the motor gets back up to speed. These interruptions not
extending downtime to the point where, for some facilities,
only affect the production line, but also have an impact on
it actually becomes more cost-effective to purchase an
the entire supply chain. Fines and business relationships
entire new drive. For many topologies, component failure
damaged by missed delivery dates can quickly snowball
and system shutdown are virtually unavoidable due to a
into significant losses. In the year 2000, unexpected
lack of redundancy. But with SINAMICS Perfect Harmony,
downtime cost U.S. manufacturers an estimated $1.5
Advance Cell Bypass protects critical process reliability by
million per hour in revenue.
ensuring 99.99 percent availability even in the event of
power component failure.

Typical Power Schematic of SINAMICS Perfect Harmony Drive

Cell
A1
Typical power cell
Cell
B1

Three-phase
AC power at Cell
constant C1
voltage and
frequency Cell
A2

Cell
B2

Cell Local
C2 controls
Cell
A3 Fiber
optics
Integral
drive-isolation Cell
transformer B3

Cell VFD control

C3

{
Three-phase
AC power at Medium
variable voltage
voltage and motor
frequency
Figure 1

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 2

Siemens LDAP 2014. All rights reserved.
 White Paper | Reinforcing Reliability: Advanced Cell Bypass | 2 January 2014

Fig.2

How Advanced 15-cell drive with no A 100% of the cells

G_D015_EN_00013
no modules bypassed. are in use.
100% of full voltage
A5
is available.

Cell Bypass A4

A3

Prevents V AC
A2

A1 120
V BA

Shutdowns C2
C1 N B1
B2

G_D015_EN_00013
C5 B3
C4 B4
C5 B5
In the SINAMICS Perfect Harmony topology, a series of C B
V CB
low-voltage cells are linked together to provide the power
output of the drive system (Fig. 1). This provides the Figure 2Simplified
Simplified
Fig.3 diagram ofdiagram
a 15 cell of a 15-cell drive
drive
modularity needed to achieve optimal reliability and power
quality. SINAMICS Perfect Harmony is unique because its 15-cell drive after A 87% of the cells

G_D015_EN_00014
bypass of two modules are in use, but the
redundant bypass controls are kept separate from each in Phase A.
A3
output voltage is
available unbalanced.
cell, allowing the drive to withstand failures that would
A2
overwhelm conventional drives.
A1 120
Figure 2 illustrates a simplified diagram of a 15-cell V AC V BA

drive under normal operating conditions. 100 percent C1 N B1

C2 B2

G_D015_EN_00014
of the cells are functional and producing 100 percent of C3 B3
the voltage required by the application. Figure 3 reflects C4 B4
C5 B5
a scenario in which two of the cells in phase A have C B
V CB
failed and are automatically bypassed. Here, 87 percent
of the cells are in use, but because the star point is Figure 3Drive with two cells bypassed in Phase A
Drive output with 2 cells bypassed in phase A
Fig.4
fixed to the neutral of the motor, the output voltage
becomes unbalanced. 15-cell drive after A 87% of the cells

G_D015_EN_00007
bypass of two modules are OK, but only
The simplest way to bring the voltage back into balance in all phases.
A3
60% are in use.
Balance is restored. 60% of full voltage
would be to bypass an additional pair of cells in each of is available.
the other phases (Fig. 4). However, this approach reduces A2
the drives output capabilities, delivering only 60 percent
of the original voltage. The optimal solution, then, is a V AC
A1 120
V BA

series-cell configuration in which the star point is not

connected to the neutral of the motor. C1 N B1

G_D015_EN_00007
C2 B2
Because the cells in each phase of a SINAMICS Perfect C3 B3
Harmony drive are in series, the star point is floating and C
V CB
B

can be shifted away from the motor neutral to adjust the

phase angles and maintain a balanced output. Figure 5 FigureDrive
4output rebalanced
Bypassing by bypassing
functional cells functional cells drive output
to rebalance
Fig.5
illustrates how this neutral-shift approach rebalances the
drive output by adjusting phase angles rather than 15-cell drive after A 87% of the cells
G_D015_EN_00008

bypass of two modules are in use.

bypassing functional cells. in phase A only 80% of full voltage
and adjustment of A3 is available.
If a cell in a SINAMICS Perfect Harmony drive fails, phase angles.
A2
Advanced Cell Bypass automatically isolates the cell by
activating its mechanical bypass contact (Fig. 6) and then A1
132.5 132.5
adjusts the phase angles of the remaining cells V AC V BA
C1 B1
accordingly. As a result, the drive is able to bypass failed
C2 95 B2
cells and resume operation in less than 0.25 secondsat C3 B3
G_D015_EN_00008

a balanced voltage of up to 80 percent C4 B4

effectively preventing process interruption (Fig. 7). C5 B5
C B
V CB

FigureDrive
5output rebalanced
Adjusting phasebyangles
adjusting
to phase anglesdrive
rebalance (Neutral Shift).(neutral shift)
output

A white paper issued by: Siemens. 3

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 White Paper | Reinforcing Reliability: Advanced Cell Bypass | 2 January 2014
Fig.6 (from Word doc)
Bypass
contactor
Coil
{
From
dedicated
secondary
of input
transformer
Fiber optic signals
Local control circuits to and from master control
Figure 6Power cell with mechanical bypass contactor
A Reliable Process
Maximizes Profits
Unplanned shutdowns are anathema to manufacturers in
any industry. Downtime not only halts production
cutting into profitsit also results in additional
maintenance costs and drives up the total cost of
ownership for critical equipment. When it comes to drive
systems, reliability is the industry watchword for good
reason: A more reliable drive facilitates a more reliable
process that, in turn, yields a more reliable product. In this
way, reliability directly contributes to profitability.
The SINAMICS Perfect Harmony drive is engineered to
maximize productivity and protect manufacturing
processes in a way other drives cannot. Its modular
topology and Advanced Cell Bypass technology allow for a
scalable, fault-tolerant solution with more than 200,000
hours MTBF. This translates to greater throughput, superior
reliability and a significantly reduced total cost of
ownership over the drives lifecycle.
As mentioned before, energy efficiency is another cost-
effective benefit of VFDs with high reliability. VFDs can
help minimize energy consumption, but in many cases all
it takes is a single cell fault for downtime costs and restart
expenditures to negate any cost savings. The inherent
reliability of the fault-tolerant Advanced Cell Bypass
technology found in SINAMICS Perfect Harmony VFDs
protects against these losses to maximize the savings
gained through precision process control.
A white paper issued by: Siemens.
Siemens LDAP 2014. All rights reserved.
{
Output
of power
module
Figure 7Failed cells bypassed and power restored in < of a second
Conclusion
VFDs have long been the industry go-to for improving the
efficiency of variable processes, and their economical energy
use has saved manufacturers significant sums in operating
costs. But they can only provide these benefits when theyre
up and running. If a VFD is unreliable, unexpected downtime
expenses have the potential to not only wipe out the cost
savings associated with VFDs, but also chip away at profits.
This means that, ultimately, the ideal solution is a VFD with
proven reliabilityand the Siemens SINAMICS Perfect
Harmony VFD delivers just that. With 50+ patented
technologies, a modular series-cell topology, cell redundancy
and Advanced Cell Bypass, it offers 99.99 percent availability
for critical applications.
Advanced Cell Bypass prevents process interruption by
bypassing failed cells in less than a quarter of a second and
adjusting the phase angles to provide continuous balanced
output voltage. The reliability this technology offers
manifests itself as a precision-controlled process that yields
greater profits by minimizing unplanned downtime. This has
led the SINAMICS Perfect Harmony VFD to become the only
drive approved for use in nuclear applicationsand the
No. 1 selling drive worldwide.
Siemens Industry, LDAP
500 Hunt Valley Road
New Kensington, PA 15068
info.us@siemens.com
(800) 241-4453
Subject to changes without prior notice.
All rights reserved.
Order No: LAWP-0030-0114
Printed in USA
2014 Siemens Industry Inc.
4