A worldwide energy-saving program between Sidel Group and Nestlé Waters has achieved energy savings equivalent to the consumption of more than 20 blow molding production ovens, representing savings of more than 1 million euros ($1.08 million) a year.
Nestlé Waters first began the conservation program in 2010 when it challenged its long-term supplier, Sidel, a Parma, Italy-based provider of production equipment and services for liquids in PET, to rationalize the energy consumption of all its production equipment.
Both companies were aware that blow molding machines generally account for as much as 70 percent of the total energy consumption of a complete beverage bottling line.
When charged with reviewing the efficiency of the company's electrical energy usage, Sidel started by carrying out a pilot eco audit on two of Nestlé Waters' blow molders, the company said in a news release.
After monitoring and measuring the electrical consumption of the blowers, Sidel identified corrective energy-saving measures to Nestlé Waters.
One recommendation was the installation of oven-top reflector lamps to maintain energy in the machines' ovens.
This achieved a reduction in the electrical power consumption required for the preform heating process equivalent to turning off 20 preform ovens.
“As we achieved around 20 percent in energy savings, we were really satisfied with the performance resulting from the upgrades to the first two blowers,” said Stephane Bosshart, corporate chief engineer at Nestlé Waters.
“So much so, that based on these results, we decided to apply a full eco-program to share those best practices on all of our blowers worldwide,” he continued.
By the end of 2015, nearly 130 Sidel blow molding machines were successfully converted with the oven-top reflector lamps. All of them gave a return on investment of between six and 24 months.
