PET transport line modernised
Published: 08 July, 2011
Reducing energy consumption is one of the most important requirements today when modernizing machines and systems. Often, there is great potential for saving energy – which, in the end, means saving money. While retrofitting a transportation system, Vienna-based Coca-Cola Hellenic Austria used the Movigear mechatronic drive system from SEW-EURODRIVE. This reduced energy consumption by 75%, which is equivalent to an annual reduction of 41 tons of CO2. PWE reports.
Coca-Cola Hellenic is the licensed bottler of Coca-Cola in Austria. When the company decided to modernise a transport line in its bottling plant in Vienna, reducing power consumption and reducing CO2 emissions were the main priorities. Additional requirements included standardising the drive variants that are used in order to simplify the stocking of spare parts and facilitating a fast restart of the system after the conversion. The final goal of the retrofit was to simplify maintenance.
SEW-EURODRIVE and Coca-Cola Hellenic have long shared a close partnership, which isn't just due to the fact that the companies are located near one another in Vienna. The companies have long engaged in regular business contact with one another regarding standard geared motors and frequency inverters. It was because of this that SEW Vienna were able to recognise the numerous benefits that the mechatronic drive system would have to offer the client, Coca-Cola Hellenic. With detailed energy consumption calculations, SEW-EURODRIVE was able to show that the transport system could attain the highest level of energy efficiency using Movigear.
SEW sector manager Tobias Nittel presented this product to the customer in Austria. He explains: "The individual components may be a bit more expensive than the conventional solutions, however, these products provide the customer with clear additional advantages that quickly translate into financial benefits: lower energy consumption, reduced installation costs, shorter startup times as well as simplified maintenance and diagnostics. Movigear offers clear advantages for the end customer. It is also easy to clean and saves on water and cleaning products. This is an obvious advantage in a bottling plant."
In less than six months, the leaders of the beverage company managed to organise the changeover of its beverage line – from filing the budget and taking care of the technical planning, all the way to fully utilising the narrow time window for the conversion. By the beginning of 2010, it was time - the company was ready to modernise transport line 2a. This line links the bottling plant for Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite to the palletising system via the packaging machine. PET bottles holding 0.5 to 2.5 litres are handled in this area. Previously, the line was driven by standard line-powered geared motors. As part of the modernisation, the company replaced a total of 39 geared motors – some with inverters, but most without – as well as the controller for the drives.
Instead of using 24V switch contactor technology for line-powered motors, the company opted for Profibus interfaces. This allows the operator to change the speed as required and adjust it precisely to suit the process. In addition, the Profibus interface optimises the system's ability to shutdown the line in case of a jam and minimises idle times. These measures result in a noticeable reduction in power consumption.
The Profibus transmits the control signals from the PLC to the drive and transmits current diagnostic and status signals from the drive to the controller. The use of Profibus also offers completely new diagnostic options. The operator now has much more than an I/O display: the speed and current are displayed on a keypad, allowing the operator to check whether mechanical components are moving freely, and, should service be required, the fault type is displayed. Bus operation also allows the operator to record the current for general monitoring purposes and serves as an indicator of capacity utilisation. From a service perspective, Movigear, in combination with Profibus, offers a wide range of additional options.
With the Movigear system solution, power supply and communication are handled using SNI technology (Single Line Network Installation). This allows energy and communication transfer in one shielded cable, thereby decreasing the number of components required while significantly reducing the installation cost. The actual, mechanical conversion of the system took place over an extended weekend, from Friday morning to Sunday evening. In this short period of time, the old drives were disconnected and mechanically removed and the new drives were mechanically mounted, electrically installed and started up. On Monday morning, production started up again in the bottling plant.
With the complete system solution, Coca-Cola Hellenic Austria was able to reduce the power consumption of the transport line by a sensational 75% (in comparison with the technology previously in use). This means that the investment pays for itself in less than one year. Extrapolated from a five-day measurement of the amount of energy consumed, the new system will generate an estimated savings of 41 tons of CO2 annually.
For further information please visit: http://www.sew-eurodrive.co.uk/
