Energy efficiency module reduces compressed air consumption At Wall‘s Ice Cream Plant In Germany
Energy-saving measures are a cornerstone of the corporate philosophy of global firm Unilever.
Ice cream is refreshing and with its proteins and carbohydrates is considered a source of energy. However, it also takes a lot of energy to mix ingredients like milk, dairy chocolate, sugar, and vanilla beans into the finished product. Electricity and compressed air play an important role in the thermal and kinetic processes for everything from mixing and extruding the ingredients, deep-freezing to -13°F (-25°C), dipping into various chocolate coatings through to final packaging. Energy efficiency is therefore right at the top of Unilever’s list of priorities. As part of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, this global corporation has succeeded in saving more than $186 million (150 million euros) in energy costs from efficiency improvements in production alone since 2008.
In the area of pneumatics too, the use of innovative developments offers the potential to save energy and thereby lower costs. In the Unilever plant in Heppenheim, Germany, the energy efficiency module MSE6-E2M has just recently been deployed to reduce the compressed air consumption of a plant manufacturing Magnum ice creams. Unilever and Festo worked together closely to get this prototype of the energy efficiency module ready for series production. This process also showed that it is not just in the field of energy consumption that less is more.