MONITORING & METERING
‘Knowledge is power’ when it comes to saving energy
ABB’s Ability Condition Monitoring Solution and Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal service have resulted in improved energy efficiency for a pulp mill in Sweden. Here we find out how...
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pgrading to energy efficient technology is one of the simplest and most cost-effective
ways to lower energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. In fact across the world’s 300 million industrial motor- driven systems, there is potential to cut global electricity demand by up to 10% – simply by switching to high-efficiency systems. To show where energy can be saved, ABB
has recently launched a digital service that will enable industrial operators to maximise energy efficiency and boost sustainability by identifying motor-driven equipment with the best energy-saving potential. The ABB Ability Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal service will draw on data measured from fleets of digitally connected electric motors and variable speed drives (VSDs) to show where and how much energy can be saved by upgrading to the latest high-efficiency technologies. “The challenge for an industrial operator is
knowing where to start in a fleet of hundreds of electrical motors,” said Adrian Guggisberg, division president of ABB Motion Services. “ABB developed the new Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal service to provide clarity by analysing motor data and identifying where businesses should focus investment to maximise energy efficiency gains
that reduce operating costs and CO2 emissions.” One company that has already seen the benefits
is Waggeryd Cell, a pulp mill in southern Sweden.
AN ENERGY EFFICIENT PLANT High energy efficiency has always been at the core of Waggeryd’s philosophy since the plant started up in 1989. The mill, which makes about 190,000 tonnes per year of market pulp, now has more than 450 motors installed and was the first player
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in the pulp industry to adopt the highly-efficient synchronous reluctance motors several years ago. It is today considered to be the most productive pulp mill in the world in tonnes produced annually per employee, and equally highly ranked in terms of energy efficiency. Over the past few years, the plant decided to
make targeted, cost-effective investments in digital tools that are aimed at giving continuous insight and deeper knowledge about its energy use, and real-time condition and status, for many of the motors and associated bearings that drive the key process applications at any given time. As a result, it was decided to install the ABB
Ability Condition Monitoring solution enabled by 156 Smart Sensors, digitalising their entire critical line. The sensor can easily be externally mounted on ABB and non-ABB motors, pumps and general machinery to measure power consumption, speed, vibration frequencies and temperatures. 93 Smart Sensors were fitted on the motors
running the mill, 42 on bearings, 10 sensors on gearings and the remaining 11 on other process pumps throughout the operation. These sensors collect and transmit data to the Ability Condition Monitoring system, which analyses the information to provide key operational parameters of the equipment and give early warning about potential trouble that may be developing, for example when a bearing may be trending toward higher vibrations – and possible failure. In addition, ABB’s service expertise provided
to the condition monitoring service, generates a detailed report regarding the equipment status and further maintenance recommendations. This enables Waggeryd to make the right decisions at the right time, and make further gains in improving overall energy efficiency.
ENERGY MANAGEMENT - Summer 2022 Furthermore, by leveraging the data generated
through condition monitoring, a new ABB detailed energy efficiency report called Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal has been carried out by ABB service experts. The results have helped Waggeryd to pinpoint places where additional energy savings can be made. This targeted digital energy assessment suggests where significant energy savings may be possible by looking at the entire powertrain. “As an example of how the Digital Powertrain
Energy Appraisal works, the report done for Waggeryd informed them about motors that are wasting energy. It identified those that have low operating efficiency, as well as others that are wrongly dimensioned and thus underutilised, contributing to waste of active and reactive energy. As first steps to make good use of this info, Waggeryd decided that it will in the near future modernise six motors from a top 10 motors list, thus enabling improvements and savings of both active and reactive energy,” explains Peter Isberg, Digital Lead at ABB Motion Services. By adopting ABB’s digital solutions for powertrain
condition monitoring, Waggeryd now has applied powerful ways to extract even further energy savings. The better visibility about how motors are performing at all times will allow the mill managers to take a well-informed approach about what motors to replace and with what priorities. And as a secondary benefit, the mill gets improved reliability and availability, meaning higher uptime for even better energy efficiency and productivity in producing high-quality pulp which is sold on the market to paper mills.
ABB
www.abb.com
www.energymanagementmag.co.uk
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