Industrial Utility Efficiency
The new solution also saves close to 90 percent of the annual maintenance costs. The side channel blowers required intensive repairs and were therefore a source of high costs. MINK MV claw vacuum pumps provide completely dry compression of intake air and thus work without operating fluids such as oil or water. This makes the vacuum pumps virtually maintenance-free.
Vacuum can be used in many ways for the meat processing and packaging industry. From mixing ingredients to evisceration (removing organs, excess fat, bones, etc.), to the washing/preparation of the meats or even in the packaging of the meat itself, vacuum is critical to the industry.
A major challenge our customers face is the way bulk materials are supplied to the market. We needed a material handling system that would keep up with our demand, ensure worker safety and limit manual manipulation of material. The VAC-U-MAX team designed and manufactured a material handling system capable of conveying over four and half million pounds of powders per year that now allows us to continually meet our growing business.
Leidos Engineering, LLC., is responsible for implementing the Wisconsin Focus on Energy® Large Energy Users (LEU) Program in Wisconsin. Blower & Vacuum Best Practices interviewed Leidos Engineering’s Joseph Cantwell, P.E., Senior Energy Management Professional, Focus on Energy – LEU Program, to learn how the firm works with Focus on Energy to help wastewater treatment facilities in the dairy state reduce energy consumption and save costs.
In the world of semiconductor manufacturing, it’s an understatement to say peak productivity and uptime are top priorities. It’s why a leading semiconductor equipment manufacturer in Silicon Valley, California, relies on EnergAir’s Metacentre and Airmaster modular control technology to automate the vacuum system at its plant – and in turn – significantly minimize the risks of unplanned downtime, while also ensuring peak operational efficiencies.
In 2010, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) established the PTC 13 Committee to establish a power test code for all blower technologies. Blower & Vacuum Best Practices Magazine interviewed Committee Chair Jacque Shultz, HRO-Turbo Product Technical Leader, Howden North America, Inc., for an update on the new code.
Sizing, selection, and adjusting control valves often causes confusion for process and control system designers. Improper valve application can cause operating problems for plant staff and waste blower power. Basing the airflow control system design on fundamental principles will improve valve and control system performance.
When Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) set a goal to dramatically reduce water consumption at its Widmer Brothers Brewery in Portland, Oregon, it focused its efforts on its bottling process – and implemented a solution engineered by Atlas Copco that saves 5,000 gallons of water per day. In addition, it saves the craft brewer $39,000 per year, thanks to the elimination of water treatment costs and reduced energy use.
After auditing and field-testing, the Sni-A-Bar Municipal Wastewater Plant in Blue Springs, Missouri, partnered with Inovair to replace 4 fixed-speed rotary lobe blowers on its aeration system with 4 Variable Frequency Drive (VFD), integrally geared centrifugal blowers. The new blowers, along with improvements in blower controls, reduces annual energy use by 442,664 kWh and peak electrical demand by 48.76 kW, which translates to an annual energy reduction of 37 percent and anticipated savings of \$42,000 per year. Additionally, a rebate of \$45,799 from the local utility resulted in a payback of less than six years.
Blower & Vacuum Best Practices interviewed Deepak Vetal, National Sales Manager, Blowers and Low-Pressure Compressors, Atlas Copco Compressors, LLC.
To put it in perspective, the food and beverage industry accounted for 12 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product in 2017. The main subsegments that use low-pressure air for numerous applications in this industry include meat processing, poultry, dairy product manufacturing, preserved fruits and vegetables, as well as brewing and beverage processes.
DMK Deutsches Milchkontor GmbH produces sliced cheese and Mozzarella at its production facility in Georgsmarienhütte, Germany. The various types of sliced cheese and Mozzarella blocks are vacuum packed after processing in several packaging lines. The vacuum supply for the packaging machines is provided by a Busch centralized vacuum system, which supplies both the packaging lines and the thermoforming machines.
