GREEN PRODUCTION SUPPLEMENT NEWS


Compressed air energy savings of up to half


For EU industry, where over 70% of manufacturers use a compressed air system and generate as much as 55 million tons of CO2


every year, there


is opportunity to sharpen environmental practices and reduce related energy costs, which can account for 20% of a factory’s entire energy bill, says SMC. As much as 50% of the energy


consumed can easily be saved – 20% from air leakage monitoring and control, and 30% from optimisation, which includes working with the right pressure and sectorisation, or using energy- efficient components. SMC’s energy-saving


components feature the air amplifier, energy-efficient air blow guns, nozzles, actuators or the multi- stage vacuum ejector, all of which provide significant savings both


financially and environmentally. SMC’s online Saving Assessment Tools offers valuable guidance. (http://is.gd/UKTz3P). Festo also offers a service to


industry. Its Compressed Air Consumption Analysis (http://is.gd/mDVG8j) is aimed at helping both end users and machine-making OEMs.


Cleaner air, lower energy bills, fast payback


Air filtration technology specialist Reven carried out tests at automotive parts maker GKN Driveline, Spain, last year to analyse the cost of running centrifugal oil mist extraction units, compared to the Reven X-Cyclone (UK agent, CS Technics, Bridlington, 01262 606866).


The purpose was to improve


energy efficiency and reduce energy costs. A couple of well-known brands popular in the UK were analysed in a six-month trial. This saw units used without any


maintenance and then tested for the remaining air flow and actual energy consumption. Centrifugal separators, in


particular, performed poorly - often 2 kW was drawn, with a residual effective airflow of below 200 m3


/h.


In the GKN plant in Northern Spain, about 200 of these centrifugal units were run, which led to annual energy consumption worth over £165,000. Reven, through its Spanish


partner SIAISA, received the order to replace all 200 centrifugal units at


the plant. This replacement will ensure that GKN, starting this year, will save approximately £82,000 annually.


In addition, many competitors declare an airflow that is only nominal. After a few hours of operation, absorbent materials become clogged, restricting the filtered airflow to below 50% of declared values, says Reven. The company states its units are


immune, as they do not use media filters, but only the patented mechanical system, X-Cyclone.


Gear development cuts machine energy usage , Redex engineers


Redex is offering more efficient KRPXng rack and pinion drives to machine tool makers (www.redex- andantex.com).


After originating a number of


novel approaches to improved design and performance, including markedly improved radial rigidity


that supports the ability to accelerate large structures at up to 25 m/s2


introduced a new gear finishing technology, HQ-GF, that offers high reversibility, significant noise reduction and, above all, a cut of over 15% in power loss.


briefs


Scheduled for energy cost Makino’s MPmax software allows users to retrieve, store and analyse data to optimise production. For example, recorded electricity usage can assist manufacturers in scheduling jobs for times of the day when energy costs are lower, reducing overheads (UK agent, NCMT, 020 8398 4277).


Robots serve up savings Last year, Yaskawa presented concepts to reduce energy consumption in Motoman robots (01295 272755). For example, by intelligent switching of the drives to generator mode, brake energy can be recovered and stored or fed back into the mains network, offering up to 25% energy savings.


Eco demands


In a recent £4.8 million contract to supply deep hole drilling machines to a European fuel injection company and its sub-suppliers around the world, each Mollart Engineering (020 8391 2282) machine must adhere to customer demands for minimal power usage. This includes automatic shutdown when not cycling, high efficiency motors, LED lighting and cartridge- based coolant filtration.


EDM efforts Agie Charmilles (024 7653 8666) introduced its Econowatt technology in 2011. This sees machines switched automatically to ‘sleep mode’, once machining operations finish. Power consumption is reduced dramatically from, say, 8 kW when running to just 1 kW. And last year, Mitsubishi Electric (HK Technologies, 01788 577288) launched its MV Series’ LLS (Long Life System), with new features to reduce operating costs. Overall, the company reduced energy consumption by up to 42%, for example.


www.machinery.co.uk May 2013


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