Electric starch glue pumps save corrugated cardboard manufacturer almost €1,000,000 a year

Replacing your pneumatic pumps with electric ones can save you a lot of money. In the case of a UK corrugated cardboard manufacturer almost €1.000.000 a year. Our distributor CDR Pumps installed close to a 115 QUANTM electric glue pumps in 12 factories. The ROI? A mere 5 months. 

This project takes us behind the scenes of the glue kitchen and glue transfer lines of one the largest UK corrugated cardboard factories, where almost all pre-existing pumps were air-operated double diaphragm (AODD) pumps.

AODD’s are energy guzzlers. But most manufacturers underestimate just how much energy they consume. Graco distributor CDR Pumps did the math. Their calculations showed just how much this cardboard manufacturer could save on energy, simply by switching to QUANTM electric glue pumps. 
 

Electric glue pumps put to the test 

“The corrugated cardboard manufacturer’s energy manager immediately saw the potential”, begins Gaetan David, sales manager at Graco. “Even though their pneumatic pumps were performing well and still had several years left in them, he decided to further investigate the possibilities.”

“We provided CDR Pumps with the equipment to set up a test in two of their UK lead plants. They replaced two pneumatic pumps with 2” QUANTM electric pumps.”

1. This set-up did two things. It proved that practice met theory. The actual savings were in line with CDR’s calculations – even a bit better. 
2. It gave the manufacturer’s engineers and service technicians the chance to get to know the technology behind this electric glue pump.

Energy savings of 91%

The energy consumption was mapped out during the six months of testing. The numbers below reflect the average of the two set-ups.
 

The energy consumption was calculated on a yearly basis. Calculations below use the following formulas:

 

Number of hours operating (by day)
x number of day operating (by week)
x number of weeks operating (by year)
x power of motor (in watts) / 1000 for the QUANTM and cubic meters for the AODD

 

And finally, the math can be done for the yearly energy bill of each pump.

To calculate this, two assumptions have to be made: 

1. The energy price per kWh.
2. How much kWh is needed to generate a m3 or compressed air. 

For both it is impossible to pinpoint an exact figure, as energy prices fluctuate and there are many different compressed air systems out there. 

On average, the energy price is £0.21 per kWH in the UK and the production of 1m³ of air consumes 0.1339 kWh.
 

The annual energy cost for a 2” QUANTM electric pump is £1730 versus £18,321 for an AODD 2” air-operated double diaphragm pump. Replacing one old pump with an electric one, saves approximately £16,591 a year. Saving 91% on energy!

“The energy manager used the outcome to calculate the impact of swapping out all of their AODD’s. Converted to euros: a saving of 1 million every year. He also did the math for the ROI: a mere 5 months. So of course, he decided to go forward with this.”
 

Drop-in replacement

“For the energy manager, the business case was very clear”, says Gaetan. “But the engineers and technicians are the ones who have to work with the pump. Swapping out their AODD’s with the QUANTM electric glue pump, means giving up something they know and are familiar with. This of course comes with a lot of questions from their side.”
 

Questions that got answered during the test. 

For starters, one of QUANTM’s advantages is that it has the same footprint as its pneumatic counterparts. This pump is specifically designed as a drop-in replacement, meaning you can easily swap out pumps without having to adapt your existing set-up. 
 

A second advantage is that QUANTM behaves like an AODD. This electric pump

• stalls under pressure
• is self-priming
• runs dry
• has a seal-less design
• but is less noisy

 “The tests were carried out over a period of six months. This provided the technicians with plenty of time to see just how easy QUANTM is to install and to have a good look at what is underneath the hood.”
 

Nearly 115 pumps swapped out in 12 factories

Once everyone was on board, CDR Pumps helped the manufacturer swap out close to a 115 electric glue pumps across 12 factories: a mix of 2” i120 Polypropylene/Santoprene and 1.5” i80 Polypropylene/Santoprene.

As a result, this cardboard manufacturer now saves up to a €1,000,000 a year.
 

Don’t underestimate your potential savings

Gaetan’s takeaway from this project?!

“Corrugated Cardboard manufacturers, if you are looking for ways to lower your energy bill: don’t leave your glue pumps out of the picture. It could be worth your while to include them in your electrification strategy.” 

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