Cool inverter turns heat up on ice cream production 27 June 2014

Traditional German ice cream machines manufacturer Kälte-Rudi has solved recurring problems with machine stoppages by using Mitsubishi Electric's stall prevention feature on its FR-E700 inverters.

The Baden-Württemberg company confirms that the function worked because it ensures that the paddle – which prevents ice cream from freezing by keeping it in motion – continues to turn, even when the motor is in overload, with the inverter reducing the output speed.

"Tests have shown that the stall prevention can be used to control overloading," confirms Markus Moosmann, technical director for electrical engineering at Kälte-Rudi.

"If the motor goes into its overload range, the inverter will continue to operate at a reduced speed, so the mixing of the ice cream continues and the product remains intact."

If fact, he says, the machine even continues operation when the motor reaches its performance limits. As a result, machine availability and production efficiency have been improved.

And he adds that the inverter has indirectly contributed to savings on additives, power and water consumption.

Moosmann says the inverter enables a measurable reduction in power, between 15—40%.

"The Mitsubishi Electric component is much more sophisticated than the product that we used before," he explains.

"The integration, handling and adding functions, such as the Profibus connection, are very easy via the connector system," he continues.

"The products are also extremely stable and have convinced us even under the harshest operating conditions."

Profibus, he says, was particularly useful, enabling the machine builder to monitor inverter operation in real time so that if problems do occur, a service engineer can simply connect a single programming cable to the HMI.

Brian Tinham

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