Comparing the Energy Consumption of Elevators with Different Drive Technologies

In the last decades the drive and machine technology has made a big step forward also in regards of energy efficiency. This also improves the energy efficiency of lifts, significantly, which strive towards the ultimate and unattainable goal as a perpetual motion machine. While lifting loads and persons, electrical energy is converted into potential/kinetic energy and reconverted later. Measurements which compare different drive technologies are usually conducted at different lifts, where also the mechanical system varies. An increase or decrease in energy consumption may be caused by the mechanical system and not by the drive. This paper introduces measurements of different drive technologies used in the last decades and compares lifts, where also the mechanical part is the same. Furthermore, these lifts are simulated with state of the art drive technologies. The energy saving potential is identified and the different drive technologies are being compared.