Actual measurement on regenerative elevator drive and energy saving benefits

Abstract

The present study focuses on the effect on power consumption and analysis of the amount of regenerative power that could be generated after the regenerative drives of elevators have been installed. The elevator regenerative drives transform gravitational potential energy into electrical energy by utilizing elevators’ operation characteristics and weight difference between carriage and counterweights. The regenerative power is then fed back into electrical grid of a building and afford other electrical equipment to achieve energy saving. This paper investigates the operating principle of elevators, describe the mechanism of regenerating power, distinguish the terminologies of the power saving rate and the regenerative energy ratio, and finally use a power analyzer to monitor the experimental data of an elevator before and after installing a regenerative power drive.