Atlas Copco’s Neos drive wins Plant Engineering 2014 Product of the year Silver Award

Atlas Copco’s Neos Variable Speed Drive (VSD) was honored with the Silver Award at Plant Engineering’s 2014 Product of the Year contest. The Neos is Atlas Copco’s in-house designed inverter for Variable Speed Drive technology for the 30 to 90 kW oil-injected screw compressors. Robust, efficient and reliable, the Neos drive is specifically designed to meet the demands of heavy duty air compressor applications.

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In comparison to traditional drives that are typically designed for light duty applications with quadratic torque curves, the Neos drive technology is designed specifically for applications that have a constant torque curve, which is much more suitable for air compressor applications. Bert Derom, vice president marketing at Atlas Copco’s Industrial Air Division states: “At Atlas Copco, we are committed to innovation, and we designed the Neos drive because we wanted an inverter that could meet the specific needs of our GA VSD oil-injected screw compressors that operate in hot and dusty environments. The Neos drive is now the most compact, efficient and reliable solution available, especially when compared to off-the-shelf offerings.”  Also in 2013, Atlas Copco won Plant Engineering’s Product of the year Silver award for their breakthrough technology of the VSD+: innovative variable speed drive technology for oil-injected screw compressors saving on average 50% of energy. 

Designed for robustness

The Neos has an IP5X protection degree. A compact, robust aluminum enclosure protects it from dust and moisture, making it suitable to operate in the harshest conditions. Atlas Copco made sure high protection and optimized cooling go together. Where other brands are rated for 40°C (and de-rated up to 50°C), the Neos is designed to operate continuously at 50°C ambient conditions and up to 60°C by de-rating. Maximum uptime and productivity are guaranteed.

Less is more

The Neos has everything on board to function optimally, nothing less, nothing more. As the Neos only has to work for Atlas Copco’s GA compressors, there are no excess components. There are no unnecessary digital in- and outputs, no options like communications modules, resulting in a compact design. The same goes for the software, with less parameters than traditional systems, the Neos is user-friendly and easy to configure. All communication is done via the Elektronikon® Mk. 5 controller, so no extra control panel is needed. This in-house design allows for an improved control over the lifecycle of the application and guarantees the availability of spare parts and replacements. 

Sustainability

Less is also for sustainability more. Less components, also means the Neos has less impact on the environment at the end of its lifecycle. For Atlas Copco, long-term sustainability is a crucial part of innovation.