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Transform your operation from energy consumer to energy producer

As processors strive to be better environmental stewards, achieving and maintaining higher levels of energy efficiency in operations can pay off in more ways than one.

Wireless trap monitoring of higher-pressure traps and monitoring critical process traps alerts keep a steady flow of production and mitigate potential energy losses. Photo courtesy of Armstrong Services, Inc.
Wireless trap monitoring of higher-pressure traps and monitoring critical process traps alerts keep a steady flow of production and mitigate potential energy losses. Photo courtesy of Armstrong Services, Inc.

In just the past few months, global food and beverage companies have announced major environmental initiatives, such as Nestlé Waters pledging to use 25 percent recycled plastic across its U.S. portfolio by 2021, and Conagra Brands recognizing seven of its facilities for achieving 95 percent waste diversion that would have otherwise gone to landfills.

However, being green can boost more than just a company’s image. Reducing energy consumption is a win-win in aligning corporate social responsibility goals with business goals. With food and beverage manufacturers having no control over the price of energy, more businesses are getting serious about where they can reduce usage in order to gain a competitive edge. 

For processors looking for new ways to drive down the cost of energy, this article will dive into best practices in energy management, including examples of what some food and beverage companies are doing to transform their operations into energy producers instead of energy consumers.     

Where energy is consumed

Food and beverage plants have traditionally used copious amounts of resources and energy to process product. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration characterizes food manufacturing as an “energy-intensive” industry. Energy is used for a wide range of purposes, such as steam generation, process heating and cooling, as well as lighting, heating and air conditioning for buildings.

“Our largest energy loads are the central chiller and the distributed HVAC operations of our refrigerated plants as well as the cooking and drying operations of our thermal processing sites,” says Daren Kaiser, global energy strategy leader for General Mills. “Of course, compressed air and lighting are large enough loads to get our attention in all processing plants.”

Energy consumption in a food and beverage plant can be visually pictured as a heat map, where there are hotspots using high levels of energy. According to Timothy Gibbons, vice president of design services for ESI Group USA, a facility’s refrigeration system is a “red hot” area. 

“But an area that might be overlooked is the production room floor,” says Gibbons. “Typically, these rooms must be held below 40°F, but have numerous large pieces of equipment running electric motors at a high rate of speed and a large number of personnel to run them.”

Plus, adding to the load is the warm temperature of product coming in from the field during summer months or in plants located in warmer climates. That heat generated is also transferred to the plant, which draws more energy to cool down. 

Another usual suspect in energy-intensive equipment is a blast freezer room, which removes heat to achieve very low temperatures.

“The rooms are extremely expensive to construct and operate and are required to take product down to an extremely low temperature,” says Gibbons. “Removing heat at low temperatures requires an incredible exponential use of energy for each degree.”

Collin Coker, vice president of sales and marketing for Viking Cold Solutions, also identifies freezers as users of high amounts of energy because they need to freeze food quickly to prevent the formation of ice crystals that can degrade food quality. 

“Holding freezers, where the food is stored prior to distribution, continuously require significant levels of energy consumption to maintain temperature stability and avoid those larger ice crystal formations,” he says.

One way to maintain more stable temperatures and reduce energy consumption is by adding thermal energy storage (TES) systems to holding freezers, he says. TES systems have thermal cells that absorb 50 to 85 percent of heat, which keeps the environment colder for longer periods of time and reduces the amount of active refrigeration necessary. 

“Additionally, these cells leverage latent heat — they stay the same temperature as they absorb heat — versus sensible heat — food product increases in temperature as it absorbs heat — to maintain stable temperatures,” Coker says. 

He attributes the efficiency produced by TES to three factors: an environmentally safe phase change material (PCM) contained in the TES; the ability to freeze the PCM while energy costs are low and enables the refrigeration to be reduced when costs are higher; and the ability to remove the same amount of heat (BTUs) from the thermal cells rather than the food using less energy (kWh). 

“Even in more efficient ammonia-based refrigeration facilities, this technology goes beyond incremental efficiency gains by reducing kWh consumption by 15 to 30 percent,” he says. “By also adding time-of-use flexibility, TES systems can reduce energy costs even further.” 

The ability to run refrigeration at times when the cost of energy is lower, such as in the evening, can reduce energy costs by up to 50 percent. Plus, because the run time is reduced, a facility’s refrigeration equipment’s life lasts longer. 

Best practices for energy excellence

To get a handle on energy consumption, plants should measure how much energy is being used. As the adage goes, you can’t manage what you don’t measure.

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