FEATURE APPLICATIONS IN IRELAND Global drinks manufacturer cuts air and inefficiencies


efficiently and automatically under the direction of AIRMATICSTM. “We’d known for some time that the


40-bar turbo unit was only efficient when fully utilised, and that it was causing a series of inefficiencies for a large proportion of the time. The fact that we were having to incorporate workarounds, none of which were required given how robust the Metacentre control solution was, further signalled that it was time to revaluate our compressor system and restructure the setup in order to get the very best from our assets.”says Kevin Manning, Director at KSM Engineering.


MOVING HOME The two WH28 and WH40 units, which had been operational at the Norwich plant for 18 years, were transported to Britvic’s Kylemore site in Ireland, and installed alongside two existing WH29 reciprocating Gardner Denver compressors. As part of the installation, the


B


ritvic is listed on the London Stock Exchange and globally responsible for


over 30 household brands with sites in the UK, France, Brazil and the Republic of Ireland. It is the UK’s largest supplier of branded still soft drinks and continues to increase its presence in the United States. It also has exclusive agreements to make, distribute and market global brands on behalf of Pepsico, including Pepsi, Pepsi MAX, Gatorade and 7UP. Maintaining an operation of this scale


requires vast amounts of compressed air. So, when a 40 bar turbo compressor, which was contributing to a three- compressor configuration including two Gardner Denver oil-free 40-bar WH29 units at the firm’s plant in Kylemore, Ireland, failed – an issue that coincided with another site’s closure in Norwich, England – its retained contractor, KSM Engineering, presented an option that would see the relocation and reconfiguration of its remaining Norwich assets at the Kylemore site. This move would not only mean that


the 40 bar turbo would no longer be required, but also the contractor believed it would improve the compressed air system’s efficiency considerably.


MANUAL INTERVENTION With two factors at play – the closure of the Norwich site and the 40-bar turbo


3 MARCH 2021 | IRISH MANUFACTURING 0


compressor’s failure – it was decided that the compressor should be repaired and then held in plan as a backup unit only. After all, it was understood that whilst the asset was highly efficient when run at 100 per cent and fully utilised, the very nature of the PET blow moulding facility, where the air demand profile rapidly changes from high to low, was leading to volatility when the unit was only partially loaded. This volatility was even affecting CMC’s


AIRMATICSTM control solution, which Britvic had in place to manage the regular loading and unloading of the two WH29 units. Due to the 40-bar turbo’s inability to handle regular fluctuations in loading and unloading cycles – the very thing that AIRMATICSTM is designed to do by ensuring that compressors under its management only load and unload according to demand – it was excluded from the system’s management profile. So that AIRMATICSTM could run as


planned and manage the two WH29 units during weekends, when air demand was low, the site’s team would have to switch off the turbo so that it could be bypassed to enable AIRMATICSTM to run as designed. This manual intervention proved to be


an effective workaround, however, it highlighted further flaws in a system that otherwise would have run


Britvic’s new setup at its plant in Kylemore, Ireland, has boosted efficiencies and cut unnecessary running costs


Metacentre control platform, which was also used at the Kylemore site, was upgraded to AIRMATICSTM, CMC’s most recent IoT solution capable of managing an infinite number of locally interconnected fixed speed, variable speed or variable output air compressors, regardless of age and brand, by responding to feedback in real-time and automatically adjusting settings and performance levels accordingly. The upgrade also enabled the system to


measure power per compressor in addition to system dew point and dryer alarm on the air treatment equipment. The inclusion of the solution’s latest generation of visualisation technology also meant that performance, power discrepancies and any opportunities to make further gains could be quickly identified.


NO TURBO, NO TROUBLE Since Britvic moved its WH28 and WH40 units from Norwich and installed them alongside the two WH29 compressors at its Ireland plant, it has removed the volatility associated with a partially run turbo compressor. Prior to installing the revised


configuration, the system was drawing 3,345,454 kWh a year with an associated annual running cost of €368,000. Since installing the new setup, Britvic has cut its power and energy bill by 38 per cent, reducing power usage by 1,290,909 kWh and the annual cost by €142,000.


CMC www.airmatics.eu


/ IRISHMANUFACTURING


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36