Vacuum transforms production at ABB
An
Edwards product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 27, 2002
ABB has improved its manufacturing process significantly by cutting out the need for time- consuming and costly maintenance procedures on its vacuum pump.
ABB has improved its manufacturing process significantly by cutting out the need for time- consuming and costly maintenance procedures on its vacuum pump.
Down-time during the drying process has been reduced by up to 80% by installing a Drystar GV250 dry vacuum pump from BOC Edwards.
The ABB plant at Waterford, Ireland, manufactures oil-immersed transformers for the power supply industry.
Before transformers are supplied to end users they are thoroughly dried to stop vapours from contaminating the oil.
The drying process takes place in an oven that is heated up to 110-115C over a period of 5h.
The temperature is maintained at this level for 30h.
A vacuum pump is then applied to the chamber through a butterfly valve to remove any vapours from the atmosphere.
Before installing the new BOC Edwards Drystar pump ABB was using an oil-sealed vacuum pump, which disrupted the drying process.
Frank Cooney, Maintenance Supervisor from ABB explains: "The oil-sealed pump required lots of maintenance which would prolong the process significantly.
It would also take three to four hours to pump down to 1mbar.
The oil-sealed pump often stopped because the oil was prone to contamination from extracted vapours.
We then had to wait hours for it to pump down to 1mbar again".
Cooney says that the BOC Edwards dry pump has reduced down-time by up to 80%.
He explains: "The GV250 hasn't required any maintenance at all.
This makes our drying process much more efficient as the vacuum is consistent and it only takes one to two hours to pump down to 1mbar".
The major service interval of a GV Drystar pump is typically six years offering significant savings in running costs and process down-time.
The dry vacuum technology also offers other benefits over traditional oil-sealed mechanisms.
Cooney explains: "When using an oil-sealed pump we had to dispose of unwanted oil via our local authority waste disposal unit.
The GV250 has eliminated this and so is clearly an environmentally friendly Option".
Despite its high pumping capacity, GV Drystar uses less energy than other dry pumping technologies, and offers power cost savings up to GBP 2500 per annum.
The Drystar pump was recommended to ABB by BOC Edwards Irish distributor Mason Technology, which has been supplying vacuum pumps from BOC Edwards for over 50 years.
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