If you are looking to increase your facility’s energy efficiency, it might be time for a vacuum system upgrade. A customized vacuum supply solution can not only improve the quality of the final product, but offers reliable performance and increased efficiency at the lowest energy cost.
Conventional vacuum system fails to meet expectations.
When a poultry processing facility began planning two new production lines, it decided to look for a solution that would help create a higher quality end product while increasing energy savings. The traditional slaughterhouse vacuum system they currently operated was not delivering the end result the facility desired.
In the traditional system, a funnel was filled with the poultry parts being processed, which were then forcefully pushed out of the funnel using low pressure air. The product was then transported through a pipe network at high speed, a process that generates heat and slightly cooks the chicken part so it no longer looks fresh. This type of system also uses intermittent pump operation, which consumes a large amount of energy and puts unnecessary strain on the machinery.
Upgraded vacuum equipment increases efficiency and results in a better end product.
To reduce energy consumption and machinery strain, the facility installed three Atlas Copco GV 1200 rotary screw vacuum pumps to gently extract the product continuously, instead of intermittently. These vacuum pumps also operate at the optimum energy level – between 900 and 550 mbar or 100 to 450 mbar (absolute) – and more quietly than other systems.
In this company’s facility, two GV pumps supply four poultry filleting lines, while the third pump operates the vacuum packing machinery. And because the entire system can be precisely controlled through programming, the valves only open when they are needed and only extract the level of vacuum required for the production process.
As a result, the system only requires around two-thirds of the energy that other pumps require.
In modern day vacuum applications, from powering conveyor belts to packing finished products, vacuum is a powerful and indispensable tool. Industries that require consistent and efficient vacuum creation include food processing, printing, plastics, packaging, woodworking, bottling and canning. Even medical facilities, workshops and engineering laboratories have a variety of applications that run on vacuum.
If you’d like to learn more about the industrial applications that can benefit from a vacuum system upgrade, visit the Atlas Copco Vacuum Systems website or contact us. If you would like to receive regular tips and articles on compressed air topics, subscribe to receive our weekly recap email.
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