Page 29 - Energize February 2021

TECHNICAL

The use of power in the food and

beverage industry

by Mike Rycroft, Now Media

The food and beverage industry consumes a large amount energy, and demand is increasing.
Energy efficiency and energy management can significantly reduce electricity costs and ensure
continuous and reliable plant operation.

he food and beverage industry (FBI) consumes 10 to 15% The food and beverage industry uses a wide variety of machinery
of all industrial energy worldwide. Energy usage can be including:
reduced without influencing the range, quantity or quality • Thermal ovens, pasteurisation, UHT plant, hot water supplies
Tof food products produced by the industry. FBI and others.
installations vary in energy/power consumption depending on the • Drives for conveyers, compressors, pumps, milling machinery,
sector but can involve several MVA at the top end. A large brewery mixing, and blending plant, grinders, and centrifuges.
can consume almost as much energy as a small mine, while • Bottling and packaging plant
smaller craft bakeries and breweries are in the tens of kW range. • HVAC and refrigeration plant
The FBI is a heterogeneous industrial sector, having a wide • Small hand tools
variety of plant sizes, product output, and energy consumption
patterns. It is not easy to generalise on the energy requirements of Energy and power management systems
the industry, with each subsector requiring individual treatment. It is In the FBI approximately half of all energy consumption is used to
possible however, to analyse the individual components of energy change raw materials into products, while the remaining is used for
consumption in each industry. Electrification and digitalisation are the processes required for product preservation and safety, such
fundamental to keeping up with the FBIs’ evolving practices, as freezing, drying, refrigeration and packaging. Knowing where
ensuring that plant runs on safe, smart, and sustainable solutions. energies are allocated identifies the various processes throughout
“Energy and power management in the FBI is not just the use the plant, such as mixing, blending, depositing, baking, frying,
of energy efficient devices, but the overall efficient use of energy” packing, refrigeration, and warehousing. Defining each of the
says Nathi Zulu, the electrical segment lead in food and beverage largest energy consumers in the process is critical.
at ABB. “Production continuity and energy management are The FBI is not a static industry, and energy efficiency and
essential features of any FBI plant”. energy management systems need to be flexible enough to adapt
Unplanned shutdown of plant or interruption of processes can to changing needs. Demand can change in daily, weekly, and
lead to spoilage and wastage of material, and the necessity to seasonal patterns, depending on available produce and seasonal
restart processes, with hours spent clearing and cleaning to demands for produce.
restart, as well as lost material, production units and delivery. The three main functions of energy management are
“The key to reducing energy-related expenses is understanding monitoring, analysing and control. At the heart of the system is an
where, when and how much is being consumed. Armed with this integrated architecture-based programme which allows energy
information, companies can proactively manage load requirements, information to be delivered to wherever in the enterprise it is
improve system performance, and reduce costs” says Zulu. needed (Figure 1). The key to maximising the benefits of an energy
Food processing and packaging has high levels of automation, management program is coordinating the combination of power
monitoring and information systems. This has been driven by not monitoring, control devices, communication networks and
only productivity improvement but also by a host of food safety visualisation technologies into a unified system that relates energy
requirements. consumption to plant activities.

FBI processing facilities present the following challenges to Monitoring
electrical systems: The energy management software serves as a centralised
• Continuous operation and sustainability requirements database for all energy parameters that can be accessed within a
• Corrosive environments facility. At the core of a monitoring programme is a network of
• Wash down and sanitation areas digital power monitoring devices that capture and communicate
• Safety and contamination energy consumption information. These devices are used to
• Extreme temperatures and temperature cycling measure energy parameters of each device in the plant (Figure 1)
• Hazardous locations and gather information on power consumption in different areas of

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