Variable frequency drives save plant EUR 1000/day

By installing eight 280kW IMO Jaguar drives to grinding mixers, IMO Precision Controls reported saving a paper beaching agent manufacturer some EUR 1000/day in production costs.

IMO Precision Controls reported it has helped Tielle - a manufacturer of paper bleaching agents - to counter rapidly rising energy costs.

Some saving of EUR 1000/day in production costs has resulted following the installation of eight 280kW IMO Jaguar drives to grinding mixers at Tielle's plant in North West Italy.

IMO product manager for drives, Stuart Kemp, said: "This application ably demonstrates the potential for energy saving with AC drives, outside of the normal areas such as pumps, fans and compressors".

He continued: "The rapid rise in the price of oil is hurting manufacturers all across Europe; but with applications like this we are opening up possibilities for reducing energy costs across a wider area of a company's operations".

The Tielle application was initiated by Claudio Bozza, at IMO's Italian office.

He visited the company following attempts by Tielle personnel to use mechanical means to reduce some of the huge energy costs associated with the mixing application.

These involved modifying the diameter and shape of the paddles in the eight large mixing vessels, which are used sequentially in the manufacture of the bleaching agent.

However, the quality of the finished product could not be guaranteed using this method, and so another solution was sought.

Each of the mixing vessels is equipped with a vertically mounted 250kW/400V/four-pole motor, which drives the grinding paddles through reduction gearboxes.

IMO's proposal was to equip these motors with energy-saving IMO Jaguar drives.

Working closely with IMO, a local system builder Delta-I installed the eight IMO Jaguar VXM280K Variable Frequency Drives in a substation, adjacent to the mixing hall.

This involved leaving the original motor cables in place, but diverting them from the existing starter panels into the inverter modules.

In addition, local and remote controls were installed for stop, start, frequency control and monitoring.

Finally, each inverter was fitted with a suitable DC reactor to limit the harmonic distortion in the factory power supply.

Once installation was complete, each inverter was tuned to its respective motor and commissioned by IMO engineers.

The result was that the original mixer configuration has been reinstated, but, crucially, operating at a reduced inverter/motor frequency of approximately 42Hz.

This reduction in running speed and motor current is not causing any quality issues, but is saving Tielle in the order of EUR 1000/day in production costs.

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