Brewing effective energy reduction

The collaboration between the Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma brewery’s factory in Monterrey (Mexico) and Danfoss Solutions has resulted in a reduction of 13,110 tons of CO2 emissions over 38 months; equal to 19 tons per employee. Effective measuring software, an upgrade of existing technology, and adaptable employees were the keys to this success.

The Cauauhtémoc Moctezuma brewery (CM) has worked together with Danfoss to take their efforts in reducing energy consumption at their factory in Monterrey to a whole new level. The project pay-back time has been less than two years, so now all ongoing energy savings are helping to raise the company’s profit.

“We have been able to save a lot of energy by optimizing our existing technology and by motivating our employees to use their common sense and be aware of their impact on energy consumption. And with the Montage™ software from Danfoss we can measure our energy consumption more precisely. You can’t improve, what you can’t measure,” says Víctor M. Treviño, Engineering Manager at the factory.
 

The effective optimization of existing technology such as the refrigeration plant, cooling tower, and water balance in pasteurizers has contributed with about 70 % of the total CO2 reduction. The reduction is reached by, among other things, Danfoss products such as VLT® variable speed drives that control electric motors.

“For us the software is as important a part of the project as the optimization of existing technology. Every Friday we review the results we get from the Montage™ software. This helps us take action. Sometimes it’s just a matter of switching some hardware off or on, but if there is a steam leakage, for example, we need to fix it right away,” says Plant Manager, Félix Viveros Melo.

The collaboration with Danfoss to implement an efficient energy consumption strategy is now well adapted by the brewery, and initiatives to further reduce energy consumption will continue in the future.Danfoss’ energy optimization concept directed at industrial companies is called EnSave® and includes analysis of energy consumption, training and implementation of solutions.