Energy Management and Conservation
Refrigeration – Milk VATs, Cool rooms and plant Air-Conditioning
In 2008 Meredith Dairy upgraded all refrigeration compressors to high efficiency Rotary Scroll type compressors, reducing energy consumption by up to 40% over older conventional type compressors. This upgrade included VSD control of all motors, providing soft start/stop, modulated operation, load shedding and integration with an in house Energy Management System and profile for the site.
This project has returned great savings in long term operations, both financially in reduced running costs, but most importantly by reducing our impact to the environment.
Electrical Automation – General Light & Power
In 2009 Meredith Dairy completed its undertaking to reduce electricity consumption.
Specific circumstances were identified where certain equipment such as plant lighting and milk storage vats were left running when not required. This provided a situation where equipment would be in operation for extended periods, wasting energy. By implementing real time equipment monitoring, level sensing to Milk Vats, and motion sensors to pathways, the energy management system is able to automatically stop and start refrigeration and switch lighting on and off resulting in substantially reduced energy costs and an increased benefit to the environment.
These two examples are just the beginning of Meredith Dairy's ongoing committment to reduction of electricity consumption and the environment.
Process Hot Water Plant Automation
Meredith Dairy processes many thousands of litres of goat and sheep milk per day, requiring a considerable volume of hot water for pasteurisation. In 2007 Meredith Dairy commissioned the total redesign and automation of this hot water plant. In late 2008 this project was completed, providing substantial reductions in ongoing consumption of LPG fuel and a major increase in overall capacity for process. These gains were achieved by implementation of high efficiency boilers, thermally efficient mechanical services and PLC SCADA automation.
Hot Water Wash Down & General use
Meredith Dairy implements solar hot water systems to meet its water usage requirements for wash down. With the installation of 12kW Solar LPG boosted systems to the stand alone dairy’s, substantial savings have been achieved in gas consumption and our nett impact on the environment.
Water Treatment Plant & Monitoring
In 2008 Meredith Dairy implemented automated monitoring of water treatment and distribution across the farm and plant. Automated processes were put in place to both monitor consumption, trend for abnormalities and conserve water, our most valuable resource, wherever possible. |
