If you are considering using AC motors you might
want to look at the "Sterliseal" all stainless motors
from Sterling Electric. They are made for wash down
environments and are relativly inexpensive. Visit their web
site at www.sterlingelectric.com. I am sure they have
reps and distributors in your area. These will require
a 230 VAC 3 pase power. If you have 230 3 Phase
available you can the use any good ac Variable frequency
controler which would control the speed and also provide
reversing. At 230 Volts you would draw about 16 amps per
motor. These controler cost about $1500 each. The
advantage to this setup is you have a NO maintence motor.
<br>As a side note, a company in San Diago (ISE
research) is building a hybred electric garbage truck with
a 300 HP AC motor for propulsion. They power the AC
controler with a 100 KW Generator driven from a Natural Gas
engine running at a constant speed. They also have
batteries hooked into the controler so when they need more
power the controler can draw it from the batteries.
This type of Hybred design is becoming very popular in
the EV field for extended range EV's. Several cars
will be hitting the market this year with similar
propulsion systems.<br><br>I hope this helps. <br><br>Don
Baer
