Harmonic Distortion And Lower Energy Costs – Athlone Extrusions

Client:

Athlone Extrusions

Location:

Athlone

Premium Power Role:

Power Quality Consultants

We studied the plant network and found that the plastic extrusion equipment was generating a high level of voltage harmonic distortion. We designed a harmonic filtering solution that was installed at key locations within the plant. In order to design the best and most cost effective solution, advanced power quality meters were installed and monitoring took place over a period of time. Our solution included individually designed harmonic filter banks, dimensioned to provide the necessary power factor correction and to reduce the harmonic distortion to levels acceptable for the sensitive production plant and to the electrical supply utility.

As a leading thermoplastics manufacturer, Athlone Extrusions were concerned about downtime caused by electrical voltage harmonic distortion within their plant. This distortion was causing overheating of production equipment, cables and power components, such as transformers on the electrical network throughout the plant. The result was that the network circuit-breakers and fuses were tripping or blowing, leading to unplanned outages of plastics extrusion equipment. When this occurred, the molten plastic solidified within the extruder. The machinery then had to be dismantled and the plastic chiselled and extracted manually from the machine. Considerable time and cost was being lost in the process.

Our custom made solution fixed the harmonic distortions and reduced energy costs. The internal network of the plant was modelled and, using this and the measured data, harmonic filters were dimensioned and designed to solve the problem. We arranged the manufacture of the filters, supplied and commissioned these. This resulted in large energy savings for the plant, as the filters reduced load power factor and network heat losses.