April 2015

Prinovis modernisation project with Siemens cuts energy consumption

Major Gravure printing firm Prinovis UK Limited benefits from energy savings, reduced costs and increased operational efficiencies thanks to a Siemens Industry energy reduction project initiated by Prinovis. Pay back for the project is estmated to be within 12 months.

For many businesses in the printing sector, the need to continually generate operational efficiencies, particularly around the control and management of energy use is an important consideration.

Printing presses and the blowers and fans within the integral dryer hoods used to dry ink onto paper, are generally high consumers of energy. They are a prime example of where modern automation control solutions can help provide optimised performance, enhanced diagnostic intelligence and improved data management to assist in both minimising energy use and supporting operational efficiencies.

The management team at Prinovis UK Limited, sought to utilise such benefits by implementing a modernisation project looking at the drying hoods on all of its four printing presses at its Liverpool site. Better energy efficiency performance, associated reduced energy consumption and operational excellence were among the primary objectives for the Prinovis project team.

With an eye on cutting energy use and with it cost, as well as improving overall efficiencies to help future-proof the drying hood capabilities on Press 4, Prinovis UK Limited turned to Siemens Industry as a partner to facilitate in equipment and design for the project. With the support of solution partner, BISAT Group, Siemens has undertaken a retrofit project to improve the overall control of the Press' drying hood blowers' fans used daily in an extremely busy printing operation.

Central to the solution has been the installation of 18 variable speed drives (VSDs) to control the speed of the 18 motors situated within the dryer hood. Where previously the motors had been connected directly to Prinovis' soft start control system within the main panels, the introduction of the VSDs has reduced the speed of the motors without compromising effectiveness. This in turn has led to a significant energy consumption reduction and therefore, lower energy costs.

Mark Ashurst for Siemens Industry explains: "By using our energy saving tool SINASAVE we were able to demonstrate to Prinovis the significant energy savings that would follow by retrofitting the VSDs into the dryer hoods. Running into thousands of pounds, such potential energy cost savings are just too significant to ignore. While the installation required an investment by Prinovis, the estimated payback period of just over a year justifies the decision to proceed and has set up a solid foundation for savings in the years ahead. This process can be easily transferred to all Gravure printing presses."

Solution partner BISAT Group completed the infrastructure upgrade, including panel design and overall turnkey installation which specified Sinamics S120 VSDs. Part of the solution also included the integration of the VSDs with Siemens TIA (Totally Integrated Automation) SCADA system. By doing so, operators at Prinovis now have far greater visibility and control over the drying hood system and performance. As well as controlling the critical speed of the VSDs, and with it the energy levels used for operation, the management team can now access improved diagnostic intelligence and enhanced levels of data used to inform important operational decisions around productivity and support preventative maintenance strategies.

The successful use of the Sinamics S120 drives on Press 4 has been extended to the remaining three presses at the Liverpool site, meaning all the printing lines are linked into the overall control system. This is delivering substantial benefits around performance, cost savings and operational efficiencies.

Frank Rae for Prinovis, comments: "Not only are we seeing tangible benefits in a number of important areas thanks to the retrofit, the actual installation also went smoothly. The modular design of the system meant it was possible to undertake the installation during tight maintenance windows and therefore have little or no impact upon our production scheduling.

"We have installed the control system to the further three presses on site, extending the operational efficiency benefits to drive even more energy consumption reductions and, hopefully, further savings on our energy bills. As a high energy user, energy cost is a very important area for Prinovis, and one where we are already seeing real progress thanks to the seamless retrofit installation on Press 4 and now the other presses."

Siemens Industry support is in place for the Prinovis management and operational teams. A full service contract between the two parties ensures potential issues are quickly remedied, as well as helping to create a communications channel to discuss how to further enhance the efficiencies being generated in other areas. This partnership approach is designed to ensure Prinovis is able to drive improvements in vital areas such as energy and operational efficiencies as it continues to go from strength-to-strength.

_{Siemens plc}

_{Paul Addison, tel: 07808 823011}

_{E-mail: paul.addison@siemens.com}