Motors for Energy Saving
High voltage equipment supplied to Veracel offer a total sum of around 2,200 HP equivalent to 31.4 popular cars
Rolling steel is the production process used by steel mills to have steel ingots, or blocks processed and transformed into final product which will be then used by industries. Submitted to aggressive agents such as high temperatures, mechanical impacts and permanent contact with water,these machines need to count on high technology and high resistant components to withstand the tough working conditions to avoid unexpected stops and losses. These were the components that Gerdau was searching for its bar rolling mills to reduce the amount of undesired stops. And WEG came with the solution.
Most of the motors installed in the plant were quite old without offering proper features mainly for...
shaft sealing system allowing water penetrate into the bearings. For this Gerdau’s steel mill which produces 12 thousand tons of rolled steel per month, an unexpected 2 hour-stop interruption in the production line, for example, means around 120 tons of rolled steel not produced.
To solve this problem, the existing motors have been replaced by new ones with modern technology, more reliable, assuring higher productivity, lower maintenance cost and supply availability. All new motor were designed based on Gerdau’s requirements.
Specifically made for steel mills, the Roller Table motors were designed with oriented features to meet to the severe application in rolling mills and roller tables where they are in contact with corrosive agents, water, steam, dust, high temperatures, high number of start-ups and frequent rotation direction reversions, radial fins, IPW66 degree of protection with W3Seal sealing system for protection against ingress of water, among others.
Delivered in July and October of 2008, these Roller Table motors fully met Gerdau’s expectations. The company is happy since the company no longer faces the previous production shut-down caused by electric motors.
WEG supplies motors for the largest wood chipper in the world
High voltage equipment supplied to Veracel offer a total sum of around 2,200 HP equivalent to 31.4 popular cars
With 220 companies in the country and an area of 2 million hectares planted for industrial purposes, Brazil produces today 12.7 thousand tons of cellulose a year and stands as the fourth producer worldwide behind only the US, China and Canada. And it wants to go further. Reports from Bracelpa - Associação Brasileira de Cellulose e Papel (Brazilian Association of Paper and Cellulose) show that in the last 10 years investments in the sector have summed up US$ 12 bn and are likely to increase.
To reach these results, the sector places its bets on technology and innovation. An example is Veracel Cellulose, an integrated agro-industrial project which covers all the production...
phases of cellulose – from the planting to the delivery of the end product. In June of 2009, the company, headquartered in Eunápolis in the state of Bahia, started up the wood chipper of line 3, the largest in operation in the world with capacity to process 400 cubic meters of wood per hour.
Supplied by Andritz, world leader in systems and services for paper and cellulose industries, among others, the Horizontal Wood Chipper HHQ™ has four WEG medium voltage motors (400 kW, 4 poles) operating in heavy duty to assure the supply of wood chips for the production of cellulose and to generate biomass which is used as source of energy. To enhance reliability, WEG created a systematic Commissioning and Start Up via Smart phone. This way, besides the field professional having immediate access to all the information he needs, the field data is automatically transmitted to WEG and this means more speed in finding the solution of eventual problems.
With the beginning of operation of the line, practically all the motors used in the productive process at Veracel are WEG – one of the decisive factors at the time of choosing the supplier for the equipment. The installation of the new line of wood chippers eliminated a bottleneck in the production of wood chips for cellulose and provided environmental and economic gains for the company with the generation of surplus energy. Besides this, it allowed operational availability to the other two lines which is important for maintenance.
At the beginning of the process
The wood chipper is the beginning of the productive process of cellulose. That’s where the trunks of the Eucalyptus and Pine trees, already descascados/shred, are transformed into wood chips of several sizes. That is, the whole trunk goes inside the equipment and comes out chipped. There is a high demand for very powerful motors during this stage. Each of the four WEG motors of the Veracel wood chipper have 400 kW – around a total 2,200 HP. An economy car, for example, has a motor of around 70 HP.
The wood chip is taken to the digester where it is cooked with chemical products at a high temperature and pressure. The result is cellulose pulp which then follows to the washers and is separated from the dark liquor. At this stage, the pulp, which is brown, may or may not be bleached. It depends on what it’ll be used for. Then, it is dried and separated into bales and ready to go to the paper machine – in the industry where it was extracted or in another.
The Pine tree with long fibers is used to make more resistant papers such as those used for making packages. On the other hand, the Eucalyptus with shorter fibers is used to make disposable papers or paper for writing, for example.
Present throughout the process
WEG offers solutions for all the processes of the paper and cellulose industry. This includes from transformers, motors, generators, driving and command products (contactors, circuit breakers, switches, relays etc), drives (frequency inverters, soft-starters, servo drives etc), electrical panels and automation, to the line of coats to paint equipment, tanks and metallic structures.
Besides that, WEG offers solutions for independent power generation from biomass, in this case, wood. All this allows the supply of integrated electrical solutions and Turn-Key packages which include, besides WEG products and services, the drawing, the electromechanical installation materials in field and the installation service in itself. The wide network of distributors and regional servicing centers provides the needs for parts and spares and offers technical support for the products supplied.
Largest and oldest sugar mill in Ecuador doubles production while reducing energy consumption
Responsible for 33% of the sugar produced in the country, Ingenio Valdez will from now operate with a completely automatized extraction process. Besides increasing the processing capacity, the company will save more energy and inputs.
With its 126 years of history and a total area of 14 thousand hectares of sugarcane plantations, Compañia Azucarera Valdez, better known as Ingenio Valdez, goes through a process of modernization. By June this year, the mill will have a complete WEG Automation solution and will practically double its production which is currently nine thousand tons of sugar per day. Located in the city of Milagro, in Ecuador, the mill has a 33% share of the sugar market of the country and currently employs over three thousand people.
Diffuser replaces traditional crusher
A single control room with networks distributed across the field will collect data and digital processes within the mill. That’s how it will be at the Ingenio Valdez with the installation of the WEG MCC panels (Motor Control Centers) responsible for the control strategies of the Uni-Systems technology diffuser which replaces the traditional crusher. The diffuser is a modern sugarcane processing equipment and with the support of WEG’s automation solution it’ll process up to 14 thousand tons/day as opposed to the nine thousand tons processed by the deactivated three-roll crushers. Automation also results in saving energy and inputs. According to Marcos Mesquita, WEG specialist in Sugar and Ethanol Processes, this solution represents the opening of a new market focused on companies which specialize in the exclusive production of sugar. “The control of the diffuser included in this WEG Automation solution is closely connected to the quality of the juice extracted from the sugarcane and the efficiency of the cane preparation developed under strict control standards”, he says. “This project will allow a better control of all the variables of the electric processes of extraction. It is a large step forward for Ingenio Valdez”, points out Edgar Sandoval, Industrial Director of Ingenio Valdez.