Golden Acres to save £26,000 on efficient motors20 October 2011

ABB high efficiency IE3 class motors are set to save pet foods manufacturer Golden Acres £26,000 on energy costs per year on a new odour control facility.

The Lancashire firm is raising production from the current 1,500 tonnes of dry extruded pet food a week to 2,500, and Ian Barnes, project manager, explains that the site needed more capacity to extract hot odorous gases.

The firm's new extraction plant, which takes odours from the process lines as well as providing general extraction for production, uses three fans. Two handle process gas and are powered by ABB IE3 motors, one 250kW and the other 185kW. Meanwhile, building ventilation is brought to a single fan, powered by another 250kW ABB IE3 motor.

At stage two, these airstreams are come together into a concrete transfer duct, where a further three fans, powered by 110kW ABB IE3 motors, blow the gases through the wet scrubber.

When fully operational, the system will extract 500,000 m3 of air from the factory every hour. "We proved the technology using a pilot wet scrubber and bio-filtration unit, and the chosen technique is approved by the industry as the best available," states Barnes.

As for energy saving, however, engineering director Jim Whittaker, says its fan suppliers Halifax Fan originally offered standard efficiency motors, which, with energy usage of 908kW, would cost £411,860 per year.

"We were keen to save as much as energy as possible, so Halifax Fan re-quoted to include ABB IE3 motors. The higher efficiency gave a lower energy usage of 851kW, producing a total running cost per year of £386,013, a saving of nearly £26,000," he enthuses.

Payback, he says, will be just under three years, when the ECA is taken into account.

"With the high electrical demand of the new production lines, the new facilities will require a 6MVA supply," states Barnes, "so we are obviously keen to keep our electricity use as low as possible."

Brian Tinham

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