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Feature Energy management


Variable speed drives make jeans with less energy for Levi Strauss


Vacon NXS AC variable speed drives supplied and fitted by Digicon Solutions are delivering large energy savings at the Northampton plant of Levi Strauss


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he drives were installed as part of a continuous improvement pro- gramme at the site that supports Levi Strauss’ commitment to ensuring that its operations always have the minimum possible impact on the environment.


Retrofitted to fan coil units that form part of the site’s air handling and chilled water systems, the new drives allow the running speeds of the fans to be reduced by up to 10 per cent, with- out in any way compromising the per- formance of the plant. At the present time, 12 Vacon NXS drives have been fitted on the site, with ratings from 5.5kW to 22kW, and there are plans to fit further drives of a similar size in the near future.


Prior to the installation of the drives, Digicon carried out a trial to verify the level of energy savings that would be achieved. This involved equipping one fan with a drive, and monitoring the before and after energy usage. The trial was carried out at no cost to Levi Strauss. “Vacon NXS drives are ideal for this


type of application,” says Karl Jones of Digicon, “especially in their IP54 ver- sions. These are completely self-con- tained with integrated EMC filters and chokes, which means that they can simply be fixed to a convenient wall without the need to be fitted in an enclosure. That saves a lot of time and money. In addition, these drives are compact, reliable and quiet in opera- tion and, of course, they offer excellent value for money.”


“The new drives are really proving their worth,” said Keith Jackson of Levi Strauss. “As is almost always the case, the fans were designed to have some capacity to spare when running at full speed. Now we can reduce their running speed so that their output accurately matches demand, and that is allowing us to cut our energy bills and to reduce our carbon footprint. The drives will pay for themselves in a relatively short period, and after that, they’ll just be saving us money.” The Vacon AC variable speed drives for this project were supplied by Digicon within just two weeks of an


Variable speed drives from Vacon are helping Levi Strauss to become more energy efficient at its Northampton plant


order being placed. The installation and commissioning of each drive took less than a day and the work was car- ried out with minimal disturbance to Levi Strauss’ operations.


Vacon T: 01455 611515 www.vacon.com Enter 301


he revolution in hand drying has cranked up a gear, with the launch of a new model of Mitsubishi Electric’s Jet Towel, the original high speed, low energy dryer which is said to be saving on energy costs in food industry facilities around the UK . The 8th generation of the Mitsubishi Jet Towel - the first hand dryer to use high-speed air jets to hygienically dry hands rather than classic hot air dryers - is easier and quicker to use; offering extremely high energy efficiency, improved hygiene and an compact footprint. It is available in a choice of three colours – silver, white and black.


High-speed hand dryer sets new standards for energy efficiency T


Fawn Litchfield, Mitsubishi’s UK sales and marketing executive for Jet Towel, explains: “Unlike a conventional hand dryer, Jet Towel does not use hot air to evapo- rate moisture from just-washed hands. Instead, it uses a high speed jet of air to blow it off. Hot air dryers can act as incubator-distributors for bacteria while Jet Towel dri- ves the moisture and any germs down into a drain, so is fundamentally hygienic. Additionally it is made with an anti-microbial material on all its major areas. “Perhaps most significant is that Jet Towel takes from only nine seconds to com- pletely dry hands, whereas hot air dryers take so long that most people walk off with still damp, germy hands.”


Its compact dimensions make it easier to mount on the wall, and is likely to open


up more positioning options in many washrooms. The Jet Towel is completely non- contact during operation, which improves hygiene; hands are simply inserted into the drying chamber and the air jets automatically switch on. The drying chamber is 40


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per cent larger than on earlier models; making usage easier for everybody. Litchfield continues: “Noise levels are down by one decibel to 58dB. This doesn’t sound like much, but is in fact quite significant as decibels are a logarithmic scale rather than linear. Amazingly, despite this the air flow is almost 25 per cent faster, up from 80m/s to 98m/s, which improves drying time. “You might think that drying your hands doesn’t use much energy, but you need to multiply that by the three to 10 times most people wash their hands daily – and then multiply it again by the number of people using a busy washroom. The bottom line is that, in facilities management, hand drying is expensive unless you use a Jet Towel.” Earlier models of Jet Towel were always noted for their frugal energy consumption - about one-tenth that of a hot air dryer - and the new unit once again redefines the standard using from only 550 watts. A technical analysis shows that 20 per cent less air by volume is used which, when coupled with a 40 per cent reduction in resistance at the jets, adds up to a 15 per cent saving in energy and reduced running costs. The cost of running Jet Towels also stacks up favourably compared to paper towel dispensers or laundering linen towels. Used paper towels are increasingly expensive and of course go to land fill, so are not environmentally sympathetic. In contrast, since March 2011 high speed hand dryers attract tax relief under the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme. The Mitsubishi design team has also addressed the hid- den costs of maintenance. The new design is sleeker and smaller with fewer joint lines, helping speed up cleaning of the unit. Mitsubishi Electric Europe www.jettowel.co.uk


T: 01707 276100 Enter 302


MARCH 2012 Factory Equipment


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