Exclusive: Sustainability gains targeted for chocolate processing with liquid-cooled motors
Creating equipment and systems that deliver well-defined sustainability gains is a consistent challenge within the confectionery sector.
The issue has gained major prominence during the past few years, as global economies have come under pressure and broader energy costs have prompted many companies to re-evaluate their production requirements within the sector.
One notable example of how the sector is responding has been unveiled by Anna Boedeker, Sales Manager, Food and Beverage, IEC Low Voltage Motors at ABB, who explained how chocolate production and packaging segments can boost energy efficiency by deploying the new liquid-cooled IE5 synchronous reluctance (SynRM) motor that offers up to 40 percent lower energy losses than commonly used IE3 motors. These advanced systems can reportedly yield a payback period of under one year.
According to the company, the production of chocolate demands a substantial amount of energy due to two primary factors: the significant amount of electricity required for the machinery and the intense cycles of heating and cooling involved in the process. In this context, motors are crucial as they provide the power for essential applications in the chocolate production industry, ensuring processes run smoothly, reliably, efficiently, and safely.
As a result, motor-driven systems are the biggest electricity consumers within the sector, identifying them as prime targets for potential energy savings. In fact, 45 percent of global electricity is consumed by motors. To address these challenges, ABB has developed the world’s first liquid-cooled version of the IE5 synchronous reluctance (SynRM) motor to combine ultra-premium energy efficiency with highly effective liquid cooling. The motors, which operate as a package solution with variable speed drives (VSDs), also offer exceptional reliability. Overall, their total cost of ownership (TCO) is optimized through lower energy, operating, and maintenance costs.
The energy cost to run a motor throughout its life accounts for around 97 percent of the TCO, making energy efficiency a critical factor. The initial purchase price only accounts for about two percent of the cost of a motor. IE5 motors display 40 percent lower energy losses than commonly used IE3 motors, often making the payback time for investing in an IE5 motor less than a year. Lower emissions also help meet sustainability targets.
The new IE5 SynRM Liquid-cooled motor, ranging from 75 kW to 710 kW, has a compact design with high power density to deliver maximum output in confined spaces with no compromises on performance. At the same time, the liquid-cooled motors do not need fans or ventilation systems for cooling. This eliminates air disturbance – a crucial advantage for airflow-sensitive processes like the chocolate conching process. Furthermore, with no fans, the motors run quieter to create a more pleasant working environment.
Highest efficiency, increased lifetime
The IE5 SynRM Liquid-cooled motors offer a significant efficiency advantage over current traditional liquid-cooled induction motors. The high efficiency of SynRM motors, also at partial loads, reduces electricity consumption and CO2 emissions, making them a powerful option for upgrading.
The highly efficient cooling system of the SynRM – featuring a cool rotor and cooling ribs on the bearing assembly – reduces the operating temperature of the bearings, adding to its reliability. This extends these crucial components’ lifespan and significantly decreases the risk of bearing failure, which accounts for around 70 percent of unplanned motor outages.
Furthermore, the new motor’s high power output offers increased design flexibility. It allows an upgrade in a machine’s power output from the same footprint or to achieve a smaller footprint while maintaining the same output. It is also much lighter than competing designs, enabling easy handling and installation. For example, a 250 kW IE5 SynRM motor in a 315 frame weighs 870 kg – about half as much as a similarly rated IE3 induction motor.
Moreover, these motors act as a drop-in replacement for older, less efficient induction motors, facilitating easy upgrades to IE5 ultra-premium efficiency without a change in motor size.
Unwrapping sweet efficiency in chocolate production
Given its “power-hungry” processing operations, energy efficiency has emerged as a critical aspect of SACMI Packaging & Chocolate’s production processes at its Poland facility. The designers at the Italian company subsequently selected ABB’s SynRM IE5 Liquid-cooled motors, paired with drives, as the optimal solution for the lengthy conching stage of chocolate production.
SACMI has identified its conche machines as the most energy-intensive, where operating cycles are often at partial load or the motors, ranging from 110 to 160kW, don’t always run at full speed.
Based on the analysis of a typical conching cycle for high-quality dark chocolate produced in a high-intensity cycle, replacing IE3 motors with the SynRM IE5 motor-drive solution delivers 4 percent annual energy savings on a mid-sized conche over 7,000 hours of operation. This translates into a CO2 reduction of 22 tons per annum.
According to the company, subsequent data shows that the IE5 motors are also more effective at partial load and speed, proving to be the ideal solution for SACMI’s conching process.
