In order to separate different products at the whey powder-manufacturing site at Arla Food Ingredients Group in Videbæk, the processes demand hundreds of pumps, fans, evaporators, filtration units and spray dryers. This is a highly energy consuming process.
To save energy and money, Arla has chosen a concept for motor installations that includes VLT® drives from Danfoss. Instead of designing and building new panels for motor starters, the VLT® drives (VLT® AutomationDrive FC 302 IP20) are installed in the control rooms.
”The drives are connected to every motor - new and existing - and the motors benefit from all the features of the drives. The drive systems are connected into a computerized control system, so Arla employees can control everything from the computer screen. That was not possible with the old system. We always install a Profibus card within the VLT® AutomationDrive for control purposes, which gives us the ability to access process data and information from the drives. This is a huge advantage”, says maintenance manager at Arla Food Ingredients, Knud Rahbek.
With a multi-purpose drive, like VLT® AutomationDrive, which includes harmonic filters and EMC filters for 150-metre motor cables, all the applications can be handled with one type of VLT® drive, and all the motors can be accessed from the control room.