Al Bardi Paper Mill in Cairo, Egypt, produces tissue paper with an annual capacity of around 72,000 tons. The mill is part of Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), which manufactures hygienic and wellness products as well as natural supplements and beverages. The company has operations across the Middle East and serves customers in more than 80 markets around the world.
The mill has been an ABB customer for about thirty years, with more than 50 ABB single drives, 3 ABB multidrives, and over 300 ABB motors installed. The three ABB ACS600 multidrives have been in operation since 2004, and after twenty years of service, the technology has entered the end of its life cycle. This means that the drives continue to operate but supplies of spare parts are limited, and it becomes challenging to maintain them with normal maintenance programs.
State-of-the-art drive technology
The mill decided to use ABB Motion’s modernization service to retrofit the ACS600 drives with state-of-the-art ACS880 technology. The retrofit ensures lifetime support and reliability, improving the drives’ uptime and availability. The first multidrive system is responsible for a fan pump motor – that plays a crucial role in the papermaking process.
“The three multidrives have been in use so long that spare parts were no longer easily available. We opted to modernize them to secure a longer lifetime and maintain reliable operation,” says Walid Razin, Site Initiatives and Energy Manager at FHH. “The first modernization has already been completed. The retrofit process was performed during a scheduled stop to mitigate downtime and went very smoothly. The other two drives will be modernized later in 2024.”
The mill estimates that the reliability of the modernized drive has increased by around 30%, and less maintenance is required which also improves productivity key performance indicators, while also extending the lifetime of the equipment. As an additional benefit, the drive is now compatible with ABB’s remote condition monitoring service, which can provide unprecedented visibility into the process to avoid downtime.
“We retrofitted the ACS600 multidrive with the latest ACS880 technology, and brought value to our customer with our technology and services” explains Andrew Magdy, Service Team Lead at ABB Motion Services, Egypt. “It’s like a brand-new drive, but it uses the existing cabinet. This means that the existing infrastructure and cables can remain in the same positions, avoiding premature scrapping and reducing waste. The entire process of changing the drive modules took only 72 hours, with no major disruption to the mill’s production.”
Al Bardi Paper Mill, Cairo; photo credit: Fine Hygienic Holding 
The modernized ACS600 multidrive; photo credit: Fine Hygienic Holding
ABB modernization services for ACS600 drives range from module upgrades, through retrofits, in which all the components inside the cabinet are replaced, to complete cabinet replacements. All three options aim to maximize the long-term value of the asset.
