VFD supplying electricity to a VFD?

[oke]

This is a tough configuration to describe...We have a 5hp motor controlled by a 3 phase input VFD. The VFD is a subset of a piece of equipment that uses one leg of the 3 phase power coming in to control other equipment. Only 240V single phase is available at the site, so a rotary phase converter is used to create the 3 phase power.

Question - can I use a larger single phase input VFD (~10hp) to supply 3 phase power to the entire unit as described above? Essentially I would be using a VFD in place of the phase converter. The 5HP VFD is rarely used, maybe twice a year, but are at a remote location and are controlled remotely.

I am considering installing a single phase input 5 HP VFD and rewiring the unit to accept single phase, but am curious if I can just change out the phase converter.

 

[weressl]

This is a tough configuration to describe...We have a 5hp motor controlled by a 3 phase input VFD. The VFD is a subset of a piece of equipment that uses one leg of the 3 phase power coming in to control other equipment. Only 240V single phase is available at the site, so a rotary phase converter is used to create the 3 phase power.

Question - can I use a larger single phase input VFD (~10hp) to supply 3 phase power to the entire unit as described above? Essentially I would be using a VFD in place of the phase converter. The 5HP VFD is rarely used, maybe twice a year, but are at a remote location and are controlled remotely.

I am considering installing a single phase input 5 HP VFD and rewiring the unit to accept single phase, but am curious if I can just change out the phase converter.

Standard ASD's provide a pseudo-sinewave that is suitable(close enough) to generate the magnetic field/flux that is necessary to operate motors. However other users may NOT operate satisfactorily and/or may get damaged or destroyed. Each type of user would need to be evaluated separately for suitability. There are costly - relative to the plain-vanilla ASD cost - adders available for some of the larger size drives that further smooth and 'fill' the output so it is more close to a perfect sine-wave.

A rotary converter will provide you with a satisfactory supply since it uses the same principle to generate power as the on-line utility generators.