FEATURE u Food & Beverage Five ways to reduce compressed air


energy consumption in the food industry Mark McArdle from Festo Ireland offers these five measures for reducing compressed air energy consumption in the food production environment.


1 – CONDUCT REGULAR ENERGY AUDITS AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMES An energy audit should assess compressed air system performance from the point of generation in the compressor room to consumption on the food production line and all points in-between. The number and type of compressor, the required operating pressures, and the number of filters and dryers required all influence energy efficiency. Food processing usually requires high quality air, so it involves more filtration to remove contaminants and moisture – therefore consuming more energy. Festo conducts energy audits in compliance with ISO11011:2013. This ensures a consistent approach to consider the energy chain from supply, conversion to compressed air, transmission throughout the factory and end- use applications.


Audits to this standard provide a measurable


return on investment – whether your benchmark is KWh, CO2 or hard cash. However, one audit in isolation is only a snapshot in time. To be truly effective, audits need to be undertaken regularly, with results feeding into a continuous improvement plan.


2 – CHECK NEW MACHINERY SPECIFICATIONS CAREFULLY


Machine optimisation is critical in achieving energy efficiency and controlling costs. Check whether the machine has an energy monitoring system. Is the compressed air consumption data recorded? What is the design operating pressure – and has consideration been given to operating different pressure zones?


Also check that the OEM has carefully weighed the electric versus pneumatic question. Have they


optimised the machine for initial purchase price or lifetime operating costs? Look for machines that feature a reduced


pressure cylinder return stroke. For example, a cylinder using six bar advance stroke with a three bar return can yield a major saving over a cylinder using six bar for both strokes. This can quickly multiply into significant compressed air savings in multi-cylinder applications.


3 – EXPLOIT FREE ONLINE SOFTWARE TOOLS TO SELECT ENERGY-EFFICIENT PRODUCTS FOR EXISTING MACHINES If replacement of existing, energy-hungry machines is not an option, there is a wide range of Intelligent products available that can be retrofitted to provide energy consumption monitoring and control. For example, air preparation units such as Festo’s MS-C2M and E2M offer live energy monitoring to the PLC (via fieldbus connections) and reduce system pressure and block air flow when production has stopped. Intelligent pneumatic valve technology, such as the ground-breaking VTEM Motion Terminal, offers flexible control of force and pressure by integrating pneumatics, sensors, electronics and app- based software in a single unit. The energy saving benefits of these and other products are now easier to identify than ever before thanks to software tools, such as filters within Festo’s online catalogue.


4 – DEVELOP YOUR TEAM’S ENERGY REDUCTION SKILLS Involve the entire team in analysing which machines are using the most energy, what runs efficiently or not. Explain how they can contribute – and integrate it within an incentive scheme. Use skills gap analysis as a regular tool to consider what actions your people can take now and what you would like them to be capable of in the future. Then you can equip them with the skills to become self-sufficient in spotting and solving issues such as leakage in compressed air systems. An external consultant, such as Festo Didactic, is often invaluable and can help you to develop an appropriate training programme, as well as identifying key performance indicators to measure the return on investment and sustain progress over time.


18 Irish Manufacturing November 2022


5 – UTILISE THE LATEST ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS SUPPORTED BY MACHINE LEARNING (AI)


An AI platform can be ‘trained’ to analyse machine data, saving programming costs and making defect analysis quicker and simpler. It can also incorporate standard tools such as peak consumption identification, and derive predictive modelling, so the data can be used to model load off-setting and staggered operations. The Festo AX platform offers an integrated connectivity layer to support a broad range of


different industrial protocols and can be ‘trained’ to understand what ‘normal’ energy consumption looks like, so that any anomalies can be pinpointed and communicated in real time. In short, it can be used to enable food manufacturers to develop predictive quality, predictive energy and predictive maintenance regimes. The whole solution can be installed on an Edge Device, on Premises or in the Cloud systems of different vendors.


www.irish-manufacturing.com


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