Using a data-driven approach to find opportunities for efficiency at a sustainable pulp facility  

However, with so many motors, operators found it difficult to identify additional opportunities to improve efficiency. They needed a way to understand how electricity was really being used throughout the facility and find the motors and other equipment that were wasting power.  

Waggeryd selected the ABB Ability^TM Condition Monitoring solution. This involved placing 156 smart sensors across the facility’s entire critical line, including on motors, pumps, and other machinery from a variety of manufacturers. Ninety-three smart sensors were fitted on the motors running the sustainable pulp mill, 42 on bearings, 10 sensors on gearings, and the remaining 11 on other process pumps throughout the operation. 

The condition monitoring system measures power consumption, speed, vibration frequencies, and temperatures, providing continuous information on the mill’s operation. This data allows for regular energy-use updates.  

ABB experts analyzed the entire powertrain to identify inefficiencies that may have otherwise been missed. After reviewing the data collected from the sensors throughout the facility, they produced a report, called a Digital Powertrain Energy Appraisal. The insights it provided have helped Waggeryd pinpoint areas in which they can make additional energy savings, bringing the facility closer to its goal of producing pulp energy efficiently.  

“The report done for Waggeryd informed them about motors that are wasting energy. It identified those that have low operating efficiency, as well as others that are wrongly dimensioned and thus underutilized, contributing to waste of active and reactive energy. As first steps to make good use of this info, Waggeryd decided that it will, in the near future, modernize six motors from a top-10 motors list, thus enabling improvements and savings of both active and reactive energy,” explains Peter Isberg, Digital Lead at ABB Motion Services. 

Andreas Råvik, Mill Manager at Waggeryd Cell, is pleased with the results. “We have improved the facility’s energy efficiency by working with ABB. By using their energy reports, we can identify assets like incorrectly dimensioned motors, or old motors with poor efficiency, and replace them. The power of digitalization has also resulted in fewer unplanned production stops, as we can rectify potential errors well in advance of a breakdown. The most important thing for us is that the factory runs every hour of every day of the year, with very few unplanned stops. When we achieve a high production level, then we are truly energy efficient.”