Increasing the value of grain from farm to table, respecting the environment, technological development and sustainability is the winning recipe of the Casillo Group, in collaboration with ABB and GEM ICT (ESCo), a successful partnership of tradition and innovation that increases efficiency and reduces energy consumption to an extent even greater than that required by Community directives.
The customer
The Casillo Group is the global leader in the purchasing, processing and marketing of grain. Every year it handles about two million tons of raw materials, destined to become semolina and flour, the basic ingredients of many types of pasta and bread.
Production takes place in nine milling plants in Puglia, Sicily, Tuscany and Lombardy, which provide most Italian pasta and supply the largest operators in the confectionery industry and thousands of artisans. The processing of grain into products that are the basis of our diet is a high energy activity and energy accounts for 30 percent of the costs of the production process and is the third highest item of expenditure after industrial raw materials and logistics.
Background
For this reason, in 2012 the Casillo Group decided to upgrade their plants in the name of efficiency, sustainability and cost saving. This was a modular plan developed thanks to the services of the Energy Service Company (ESCo) of the GEM Systematic Group, ICT and to ABB products, in accordance with ISO 50001 guidelines to intervene in every aspect of consumption.
200 motors with greater efficiency than required by the regulations were used to increase efficiency as establishments were inaugurated in 2012 following priority criteria, both economic and technical and are still in the process of completion.
One of the first choices was the replacement of about 200 electric motors using old technology in every department: the motors account for approximately 50 percent of the total power needed at each plant.
The choice fell on ABB products with three-phase, asynchronous 400 V technology of energy fficiency class IE2 and IE3, following the requirements of Directive 2005/32/EC "EuP" (Energy-using Products) and
EU directive MEPS, based on standard IEC/EN 60034-2: 2007 -1 (indicating the test methods for the determination of levels of efficiency) and IEC 60034-30 (definition of classes of efficiency).
ABB products guarantee an efficiency even higher than the levels required by the current regulations: their introduction has resulted in a
reduction of between 3 and 5 % of the electrical power used by plants and the annual energy consumed by machines.
ABB Motors also have a
longer life cycle for applications in ATEX and dusty environments, i.e. in those environments that, by the very nature of the activities carried out, are at risk of explosion and most of all demand motors exhibiting the characteristics of sturdiness and reliability.
Return on investment in 2-3 years
The first results were seen immediately, confirming estimates made during the design phase. The relationship between the initial investment and increased efficiency in fact guarantees a return time of between 2 and 3 years.
The effects can be seen not only on the energy budget of the group, but are also significant for the environment and population: the work has resulted in a
significant reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, noise pollution in the vicinity of settlements and environmental warming.
This innovation has also enabled the Casillo Group to obtain Carbon Footprint certification from the UNI ISO 14064 organization and efficiency certificates (white certificates) issued by the Manager of Energy Markets (GME).