CASE STUDIES
Food for thought on energy saving
Food and drink is the single biggest manufacturing sector in the UK, boasting £95.4bn turnover. This gives scope for enormous energy savings, but these should start with simple steps, says John Grenville, managing director of ECEX
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efrigeration plays an enormous role in food manufacture and retailing from the farm to the food processing shop-floor through the transport and onto the supermarket shelf. In 2014, the food and drink sector consumed 24.6TWh of energy and emitted around 9.1MteCO2
That makes refrigeration (and air conditioning) a prime target for cutting the energy bill of food companies.
A recent survey of the food and drink industry by consultancy BDO in association with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers found that nearly half the survey respondents (45%) employ strategies to mitigate changing energy prices. The most popular among these were arranging fixed price agreements with energy suppliers (70%) and to invest in energy efficient technology and machinery (65%). There are, of course, many ways to save energy in a food factory – for example, properly maintaining condensers and other elements, investing in the latest refrigeration technology, implementing an effective controls strategy, and monitoring and targeting energy usage.
However, it makes sense to go for the ‘low- hanging fruit’ first in terms of energy saving. That means not only the simplest solutions, but also
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the least expensive ones. For example, ECEX Air Intake Screens – long lasting, weather-resistant filters designed specifically for high velocity airflow applications such as chillers, dry air coolers, air handling units, cooling towers and air conditioning units – can help to save energy and improve operations.
Indeed, they are doing precisely this at Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s (LRS) factory in Coleford in the Forest of Dean by boosting the efficiency of LRS’s air conditioning and refrigeration systems. LRS is a leading soft drinks business in the UK and Ireland. Formed in 2014, it is part of Suntory Beverage and Food Europe and its soft drinks brands include Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport, Ribena, Orangina and V Energy. LRS puts consumers at the heart of everything it does and its business is driven by its ‘Yatte Minahare’ (Go for it!) spirit. The company worked with ECEX to produce a solution to the specific requirements of its factory located in a forest environment where pollen and leaves can effect operations which involved fitting ECEX Air Intake Screens.
Debris build-up can impact condenser coils, filters and other HVAC components. The cost of repair can be high and the inflow of air requires constant cleaning and maintenance to ensure optimum airflow and energy performance to ensure LRS maintains its rigorous quality standards.
Pollen, leaves and dust deposited on heating and cooling coils can significantly increase energy consumption due to reduced airflow, decreased heat exchanger efficiency, and reduced HVAC system capacity. To prevent reduced indoor air quality and prevent compressor faults in refrigeration systems resource heavy regular checks are
required. Even the best filters can’t prevent dust and dirt particles from reaching the coil which build up over time and restrict the air flow passing over the coil. The result is that the air handling system works harder and uses more energy, thereby reducing the overall efficiency of the system. Outdoor coils used for air conditioning systems have no filters and are therefore more exposed to even more dirt build-up. Even a small amount of particulate can reduce the coil surface area and effect system efficiency. For example 0.25 millimetre build-up can result in a 20% decrease in system efficiency.
During their assessment of LRS’ site, ECEX experts noted that, despite regular cleaning, the cooling tower air inlets were still suffering from a significant airflow reduction. This means air handling systems work unduly hard in order to maintain required airflow. A reduction in airflow resulted in wasted energy and a drop in air quality, putting extra strain on factory systems and increasing maintenance requirements. ECEX’s solution at LRS was to fit four Air Intake Screens to the supply air intakes, replacing existing banks of pre-filter media in-front of the intake louvres to reduce clogging from dust, and a further two Air Intake Screens on the cooling towers to prevent fans and pumps being affected by leaves, pollen and dust.
The results have been savings on filter changing costs and a dramatic reduction in energy consumption, which means that payback on investment will be achieved within 18-24 months. The significant savings for the cooling towers will be achieved by reduced maintenance time and there no longer being a need to strip down the towers to expose and clean the internal components. Any debris build-up can be quickly removed using a soft brush or vacuum cleaner, significantly reducing maintenance time whilst protecting perishable filters. This has led to a number of key benefits including lower maintenance, longer filter life, and the elimination of downtime and lost productivity due to fouling & clogging.
www.acr-news.com December 2017 57
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