Industrial Utility Efficiency

Food

Maple Leaf Foods Saves with Compressed Air and Heat Recovery Upgrade

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

One existing air compressor was a rental and not fully integrated into our compressed air system. We upgraded the desiccant compressed air dryer to improve operational efficiency, reduce energy consumption and save on the combined cfm. We save close to 900,000 kWh of electricity, and about 704 cfm every weekday.

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On-Premises Nitrogen Generation Addresses Carbon Dioxide Supply Concerns for Breweries

By Garrett Rinker, Senior Project Engineer, South-Tek Systems

The initial cost of a nitrogen generation system may be greater than high-pressure cylinders and liquid nitrogen containers, but most companies will reach a return on investment within 12-18 months with proper sizing of the system based on process demands. Breweries typically experience savings associated with gases of 50-75% by switching to on-premises nitrogen generation. If a regular maintenance schedule is followed, PSA nitrogen generation systems can have a life expectancy of 15-20 years. 
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Compressed Air System Design for Dust Collectors

By Hank van Ormer, Technical Director, AP Energy

The dust is collected on the bag or fingers, and when the cake of dust is of appropriate thickness and structure, a pulse or pulses of compressed air hits or shocks the bag and knocks the cake off. This pulse may sometimes be accompanied by physical shaking and even reverse air flows, depending on design.
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Whiskey Distillery Compressed Air Study Saves Energy

By Ron Marshall, Marshall Compressed Air Consulting

A premium whiskey distillery was seeking to renew their compressed air system and meet their corporate mandate in making their production facility more efficient. The first step on the road to improvement was having their compressed air system assessed. This article discusses some of the findings of the system study, which saved significant energy, improved system reliability, and captured a significant utility incentive to help with the study costs and the cost of a new compressor.
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Commercial Bakery Compressed Air Audit Optimizes the Constituents of Demand

By Mike Lenti, Senior Auditor, Compressed Air Consultants

The current cost to operate the compressed air system is \$139,100 annually, and the proposed measures will reduce it by \$50,700 annually. The proposed cost to complete the measures is $47,600 providing a simple payback of 11 months. The cost included in the Action Plan includes engineering, project assistance, services to maintain the gains, and a 10% contingency.  
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Three Ways To Make Packaging Lines More Sustainable

By Emerson

Sustainability is a high priority for today’s consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies. Driven by environmental responsibility, government regulations and customer preferences, CPGs are actively seeking ways to decarbonize their packaging lines and use eco-friendly packaging materials. Many have started monitoring the energy consumption of their equipment in real time and upgraded critical areas of their packaging processes using two key technologies: pneumatics and ultrasonic welding. 
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Selecting the Right Food Grade Lubricant for Your Air Compressor

By Ingrid Ooms, Global Technology Manager, Anderol B.V. 

Growing awareness of the importance of food grade lubricants for consumer safety and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) regulations, as well as increasing consciousness about Kosher and Halal registrations triggered an increasing demand for high performance food grade lubricants.
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Tetra Pak Solutions Conserve Water & Energy for Food & Beverage Sector

By Mike Grennier, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

“Our view is always from the perspective of the value chain from the raw materials to the end product,” Wellendorph said. “How do we work with our suppliers who supply us? How do we look at our own manufacturing to avoid waste? Then, how can our equipment minimize the amount of energy or water it uses when processing and packaging customers products? It’s more than just focusing on ourselves.”
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Pure Gas Testing-The Benefits of Point of Use Sampling

By Jenny Irvin, Trace Analytics

Regular testing of pure gases helps to ensure the safety of consumers and of end products. Whether the pure gas is used directly for medical patients, or in the manufacturing of food, beverages, or pharmaceutical products, quality is of the highest importance. Inadequate levels of purity or unsafe contamination can be detrimental to the products or consumers.
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Milk Plant Deploys the Second Stage of Energy Savings

By John Molnar, P.E., Rogers Machinery Company

Yearly energy reduction quotas drive utilities, plant, and energy managers to continue to reduce energy consumption in all areas. A frequent question asked is, “Where can we find more energy savings once we have a VFD compressor and we have fixed all our leaks?”
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Sterile Compressed Air Filters Remove Bacteria

By Peter Gray, Air Solutions Canada

When compressed air comes into direct contact with a product, many applications believe their “standard” particulate and coalescing oil-removing filters, installed either side of a compressed air dryer, are sufficient to protect the downstream processes. Strangely enough, the removal of bacteria is often overlooked, despite this level of filtration being readily available, easy to procure, install and maintain.
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