IEN (Industrial Equipment News) is the leading resource for industrial professionals, providing product technology, trends and solutions impacting the industrial market. IEN reaches manufacturers, designers, distributors & supply chain professionals.
Issue link: http://ien.epubxp.com/i/756861
problem solvers Problem Solvers 8 IEN / DECEMBER '16 www.ien.com Tag & Label Maker Swaps Old Bulbs for LEDs, Energy Savings B adger Tag & Label of Random Lake, WI recently replaced all the fl uorescent bulbs in its 30,000 square foot facility with LED bulbs. The company is working to fi nd ways to reduce its carbon footprint, generate cost savings and be better stewards of its environment. "We replaced a total of 407 fl uorescent bulbs with LED bulbs," says Kevin Kalkofen, company vice president. "The annual savings in electricity alone will be over $10,000. Add the $1,500 in maintenance savings and that's impressive for one facility. We had hoped to complete the replacement sooner, but LED technology has really come down in cost and there are more options now so we benefi ted by waiting a bit." While the benefi ts of LED lighting are well known, the reasons Badger installed them were varied: • While T8/T12 fl uorescent bulbs are warranted for three years, they commonly fail at about 2.5 years. In contrast, LED bulbs come with a fi ve year warranty and are expected to last 80,000 hours. • LED bulbs emit light in a 110 degree fi eld vs. the 360 degrees of fl uorescent, so 70% (instead of only 30%) of the light hits the intended target. • Devoid of mercury, LED bulbs don't require special handling for disposal and don't contribute to toxic waste in landfi lls. • Instead of using heat to generate light as fl uorescent does, LED uses energy to produce light so Badger will save on air conditioning costs as well. "Our employees on the pressroom fl oor are already commenting that there seem to be consistent, uniform light levels throughout the building. And since LED replacement bulbs better represent sunlight, the tags and labels we print are viewed in optimum light level for color accuracy," says Kalkofen. CGR Improves Performance of Grinding Machines C enterless Grinder Repair (CGR) in Roseville, MI needed to maximize and im- prove the performance of the centerless grinding machines that are supplied to the steel bar market. The existing machines used standard variable frequency drives with dynamic brake resistors that operated well with light stock removal (.008/ in. to .012/in.) and short lengths of steel bar stock. When the customer would load longer lengths of steel bar stock with heavier stock removal demand, the drive would immediately shut down the motor on an over-voltage (OV) fault. The downtime, due to excessive dynamic brake resistor heat, became a problem for the customer as they waited for heat dissipation. The centerless grinding machine was limited in the weight, length and cut of the steel bar stock as the overvoltage faults shut the machine down for lengthy periods of time. The primary goals of the project were to provide the machine builder the ability to feed steel bar stock that wasn't limited by weight, length and grinder cut and increase produc- tivity for their customer. Excel Industrial Electronics, distributor, system integrator and authorized service pro- vider for Yaskawa Ameri- ca, Inc., introduced the Yaskawa U1000 Industrial Matrix Drive to CGR to accomplish the primary goals, save energy, and eliminate moving parts and peripheral components. Differing from conventional drives, the U1000 has no DC link circuit with diode and main capacitor, thus resulting in higher effi ciency. The centerless grinding machine is operating with a 10HP, 460V U1000 Matrix drive and a 5HP induction gear motor (10:1 ratio). By implementing the U1000, the ma- chine is now able to increase throughput due to the drive's fast acting current and voltage limiters that achieve continuous drive operation during periods of excessive demand. The full regeneration capability now allows the machine to handle longer bar stock lengths, heavier steel bar weights and deeper cuts (> .024/in) while returning the re- generative energy to the utility company to save energy rather than being discarded as heat. As a result, CGR has successfully provided its customers with machines that are per- forming optimally and has allowed its customers to increase production, save energy and eliminate costly components.