Pulp Paper & Logistics


INDUSTRY NEWS 9 CP AUTOMATION


problematic as the drive system they served. It was imperative that new power supply conditioning was added alongside the new ABB drives, but with the budget already stretched, IAC needed to bring in a power quality expert to try and keep costs down. IAC called John Mitchell, global


sales and marketing director at CP Automation, who visited the site and carried out an audit. He concluded that the old power supply conditioning was only performing to 50 per cent of its original capacity. Unless the tissue maker wanted to pay ongoing power factor penalty charges from the energy supplier for inefficient usage, they had no other choice but to source a new power quality filter. The upgrade project was becoming much bigger than


originally planned, because of the unforeseen power supply conditioning issue. Mitchell provided competitively-priced Block AC line chokes, SineTamer for transients and lightning protection, Comsys ADF filters for harmonic mitigation and reactive power compensation for the ABB DC drives. At this point in the project, the tissue maker was acquired by a larger and more financially-stable paper hygiene products group. This proved to be exceptionally good timing for the tissue maker, as the buyers recognised the need to invest in the required equipment to move forward. While the system was designed and hardware components purchased, there was a period of uncertainty, waiting for the installation date, and hoping that


the old system would not fail. “Installing new drives without


power quality conditioning would have been a bad idea,” explained Mitchell. “Drives generate harmful harmonics that get everywhere in the system, which cause transformers to overheat. The upfront cost of the harmonic filters will be more than covered by the ongoing saving in energy bills and longer lasting equipment. Bob Coombes, deputy sales manager at IAC, also commented: “With the help of CP Automation, we were able to deliver a complete solution for our customer. “Our customer made it clear


that any break in production, to swap out the equipment had to be minimal. We planned all installation and commissioning tasks ahead of the shutdown which enabled the work to be


completed efficiently. “By utilising a team of our own


technicians and engineers to remove redundant equipment, install new panels and commission the new drive system complemented by CP Automation who commissioned the filter system, migration to the new set up was a complete success.” The tissue maker is now in a much more secure position, using commonly-used parts that the industry is familiar with for repairs and maintenance. Furthermore, the effective power quality conditioning means the business won’t be faced with further equipment replacements in the future, attributed to harmonic damage. More information from CP


Automation by email at john. mitchell@cpaltd.net


May/June 2020


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