Australian Yeast Producers Cut Energy Consumption and Cost With a System Upgrade

Mauri ANZ Camellia Blower Project

Mauri ANZ

The Mauri ANZ plant in Camellia, Australia produces a full range of yeast for bakery products, alcohol production and specialty applications. Once the yeast culture, molasses and other ingredients are mixed, a series of fermentation stages occur. Hoffman & Lamson blowers provide aeration of the stock during the final fermentation stages, where most of the yeast yield is grown.

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Last year, Mauri ANZ determined that substantial savings could be made by replacing their two Siemens KA10 & KA5 blowers with Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) controlled, direct drive, high speed blowers. After an exhaustive selection process, they decided to install two Hoffman RO7 Revolution blowers , fitted with a Rockwell Automation control system. The Blower output is controlled via the brew's Digital Control System ( DCS), which monitors all of the critical points during fermentation and adjusts the air flow to optimize blower performance.

The Hoffman blowers had a smaller footprint than the competitors', were supported locally and had a 5 year warranty - all of which were vital for the success of the project.

Mauri ANZ had a window of six days to remove, install and commission the new blowers. During this time there was no yeast production at the site, so it was essential that this process was completed on time - which it was. After installation, the blowers were tested at a number of critical low rates and levels and the blowers perform flawlessly at all stages.

Production restarted on time and over the next couple of days the automatic control system was fine-tuned.

Higher than Expected Savings

The project payback was based on a predicted electricity saving of 36% and a 6% reduction in KVA demand. After four months, they have averaged saving of over 40%, with a KVA demand reduction of 12%.