Toshiba's Newest HVAC Adjustable Speed Drive, Q9, Wins Plant Engineering Product of the Year Award
Toshiba is proud to announce that its newest adjustable speed drive for the HVAC market, the Q9, has won the Plant Engineering 2008 Product of the Year Award.
The annual Product of the Year recognition, now in its 21st year, is the manufacturing industry standard for new product achievement. According to Bob Vavra, editor of Plant Engineering magazine, winners are selected by a vote of qualified Plant Engineering subscribers. Since voters buy, specify, and use these products on a daily basis, they are the most qualified to understand how new products reduce energy costs, ensure safety, and improve productivity in manufacturing facilities.
The Product of the Year awards will be presented at the 2009 Plant Engineering Manufacturing Summit, to be held March 29-31 in Charleston, SC. Awards will be presented at the Product of the Year dinner on Monday, March 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Charleston Place Hotel, site of this year's Manufacturing Summit.
The Q9 is designed for commercial variable torque applications such as fans and pumps for VAV Systems, cooling towers, and pump systems. The Q9 is offered in 460 V, 1 to 100 HP and 230 V, 1 to 60 HP. The Q9 is user-friendly and provides the most popular features found in other Toshiba drives. It has an overload rating of 100% continuous and 110% for one minute. The Q9 features damper-permissive control which prevents the drive from running when the dampers are closed. This feature is available for use in bypass mode and if the drive is being used alone. The drive also offers a Low Output Disable function w h i ch forces the drive to zero-speed if it operates at the lower limit frequency for a user-defined time span, commonly referred to as the Sleep function. This allows for additional energy savings during times when there is not a demand for heating or cooling. The Q9's Speed Search function allows the drive to detect the speed and direction, and then adjust to a spinning motor in case of power outage.
In addition to the popular drive features mentioned above, the Q9 sets a new standard for HVAC drives. The Q9 comes standard with an EMI filter that reduces the amount of ASD generated RF/EMI interference that can negatively affect the operation of sensors, relays, and other electronic devices on the same electrical system. This grounding capacitor brings the Q9 into compliance with the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) directive. The Q9 is capable of communicating with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) approved communication protocol, BACnet. In addition, the drive contains a PID setup sub-menu that allows for quick PID control configuration.
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