Power Quality Solutions for Food & Beverage
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Power Quality Solutions for Food & Beverage
High quality, safe production, and speed are paramount in the food and beverage industry. Strict regulations govern the manufacture of these products to ensure consumer safety. Consumer demand is also at an all-time high. These factors require manufacturers to rely on variable frequency drives (VFDs) to control the speed of conveyor belts, compressors, mixers, pumps, and other critical components within the process.
While highly efficient, VFDs produce damaging harmonics on the line and load sides of the drive, resulting in nuisance tripping, inaccurate system measurements, electric motor failure, and more. Production and food quality then suffer, creating substantial risk of spoilage and monetary loss.
As food and beverage consumers drive record online sales, estimated 15% – 20% by 2025, manufacturers will need to produce and deliver products faster. To address this demand, facilities will use more VFDs, thus creating greater necessity for harmonic mitigation.
MTE’s industry-leading power quality solutions filter out harmful harmonics generated by VFDs, and increase profitability for manufacturers by reducing motor breakdowns, avoiding downtime, preventing spoilage and waste, improving delivery times to the marketplace, and remaining compliant with utilities.
POWER QUALITY CHALLENGES FOR FOOD & BEVERAGE FACILITIES
A common line side power quality challenge is that VFD generated harmonic distortion causes poor system performance, resulting in lower quality food and beverage products. If left unmitigated, these harmonics can also violate utility regulations and possibly result in fines.
Load side challenges are that VFDs are often hundreds of feet from the motors that drive conveyors. These distances can cause harmful harmonics to run through the cables, resulting in motor failures, unplanned downtime, and significant production losses.
Unplanned Downtime
With demand at all time highs, critical component failures may result in hours of maintenance, idled workers, and potential food safety concerns.
Food Quality and Safety
Precision control is required to ensure accurate measurements of ingredients; any blips in the process can lead to poor food quality and potentially unsafe consumption.
Automation Issues
Complex automation relies on VFDs to provide precise control of production equipment, but the harmful byproduct is harmonics which can damage motors.
E-Commerce Growth
Increasing food demand is placing more focus on ownership costs, and additional burden on equipment uptime and expected overall lifetimes.
Utility Compliance
IEEE-519 compliance is critical for industries to remain in accordance with local regulations.
Maintenance Staffing
Availability of specialized personnel during peak hours can be challenging, further extending downtime costs.
MTE Featured Food & Beverage Solutions
MTE offers a complete line of power quality solutions for the warehousing and logistics industry that are aimed at lowering current distortions and protecting expensive equipment from damaging transient voltages. MTE solutions keep motors and cables running longer which ultimately results in energy savings at your facility.
Line Side Solutions
Load Side Solutions
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About MTE
The Power Quality Experts
MTE Corporation was formed in 1982 by bringing together Milwaukee Transformer Co., Transformer Design Inc. and Milwaukee Electronics Corp. – companies that specialized in different fields of magnetics and transformer designs and were long established in their respective fields. MTE vaulted into a leadership role in power quality with its unique AC reactor design and passive filter expertise. We continued to grow as a global leader with innovative Harmonic Filters, Motor Protection Filters and Sinewave Filters.
Now with the addition of TEAL Electronics in 2016, MTE brings a continuum of power quality solutions unmatched in the industry. Building on TEAL’s reputation of high-efficiency transformers and durable power conditioning and distribution units for demanding applications, MTE is building the best power quality company by capitalizing on the individual strength of each while bringing a new dimension in management, marketing, and quality.
Our team of professional design engineers has well over 100 years of collective experience in the industry and is complemented by as much experience in operations. Our engineers utilize state-of-the art platforms and best-in-class simulation/modeling tools so that new designs meet your needs and the latest compliance standards while improving your bottom line. At MTE, we know power quality because power quality is all we do.
