PET equipment provider Sidel has helped bottled water producer Nestlé Waters reduce energy consumption at its production sites.
The savings are equivalent to the consumption of more than 20 ovens, according to the companies.
Nestlé Waters first undertook the conservation program in 2010 when it challenged Sidel, its long-term supplier, to rationalise the energy consumption of its production equipment.
The relationship between the two has resulted in several important developments within the beverage industry.
Blow moulders bring savings
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 moulders.
Blow moulding machines account for as much as 70 per cent of the total energy consumption of a complete beverage bottling line.
After monitoring and measuring the electrical consumption of the blowers, Sidel identified corrective energy-saving measures to Nestlé Waters.
They installed oven-top reflector lamps to maintain energy in the ovens of the blow-moulding machines, which 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 per cent in energy savings, we were really satisfied with the performance resulting from the upgrades to the first two blowers,” Stephane Bosshart, corporate chief engineer at Nestlé Waters, said.
“Based on these results, we decided to apply a full Eco-programme to share those best practices on all of our blowers worldwide.”
Energy-saving program
In close collaboration with Sidel, the energy conservation program was deployed in all Nestlé Waters’ plants worldwide.
Local Sidel Services teams planned and supplied all the necessary resources for the different interventions at sites in over 30 countries.
By the end of 2015, nearly 130 Sidel blow-moulding machines were successfully converted with the oven-top reflector lamps.
“The upgrades of oven-top reflector lamps have delivered a reduction in the use of blower energy in US plants of up to 25 per cent,” Nestlé Waters' Eric Baronnet said.
Time to analyse
Working on a continuous sustainability improvement plan, Sidel classifies its production lines according to energy consumption.
The company also analyses the reasons for potential waste of energy within the whole blow-moulding machine, including the oven, the compressor and the chiller.
With Nestlé Waters, Sidel has collaborated to develop an energy-saving simulator in order to rate the blowers in terms of consumption, and enable solutions to optimise performance.
Building bottles and brands
Nestlé Pure Life, Perrier and S.Pellegrino are just come of the brands to benefit from a relationship of more than 50 years between Nestlé Waters and Sidel.
Sidel has been involved at every stage of Vittel’s development since its commercial production, including the redesign of its distinctive ribbed bottle from a square to round shape.
Sidel also worked with Perrier to validate the design of its first-ever PET bottle, providing a range of equipment still being used for the iconic brand.
