Motor kW, current, efficiency and power factor: keep the quantities straight
A three-phase example distinguishes shaft output, real input power, apparent power and running current, with the limits of a simple estimate.
Energy & Sustainability
Energy management, efficiency, and sustainability in industrial operations.
Compressed air leak cost: turn flow estimates into verified savings
Calculate a leak energy equivalent, keep free-air reference conditions consistent, and check compressor response before promising a saving.
Industrial flowmeters: selecting across magnetic, Coriolis, ultrasonic, and DP
How to select industrial flowmeters — mag, Coriolis, ultrasonic, vortex, and DP — by fluid, accuracy needs, and total installed cost.
IEC 61850: substation automation beyond hardwired interlocks
GOOSE messaging, sampled values, and SCL engineering — what IEC 61850 changes in substations and how to plan a migration from legacy RTUs.
VFD selection and harmonics: what to get right before the drive arrives
Sizing, bypass, braking, cable, and the harmonic distortion that variable-frequency drives push back onto your plant power.
Plant energy management basics: metering, baselines, and ISO 50001
Where industrial energy actually goes, how to meter it so the data is trustworthy, and how ISO 50001 turns projects into persistent savings.
Tools
Industrial energy cost calculator
Estimate annual kWh, energy charges and assumed savings from electrical power, operating schedule and tariff.
Motor running current calculator
Estimate single-phase or balanced three-phase AC running current from shaft kW, voltage, efficiency and power factor.
Compressed air leak cost calculator
Estimate the annual energy equivalent of a leak from free-air flow, measured specific power, pressurized hours and tariff.
Terms in this topic
- Compressor specific power
- Electrical input power per unit of delivered free-air flow under specified operating and reference conditions.
- Free-air delivery
- Compressor air flow expressed at stated inlet or reference conditions rather than compressed pipe-volume conditions.
- Harmonics
- Distortion from nonlinear loads.
- Line reactor
- Inductive filter ahead of drives.
- Motor efficiency
- Mechanical shaft output power divided by real electrical input power at the stated operating point.
- Power factor
- The ratio of real electrical power to apparent power at a defined AC operating point.
Related topics
Industrial Hardware · Process Automation · Manufacturing · Motion Control · Factory Software · Industrial Networking