Silmaco - Site assessment

The production line at Silmaco runs largely on Danfoss drives. During a Danfoss DrivePro® Site Assessment, carried out in collaboration with Breemes, it emerged that a certain type of frequency converter had long since been discontinued. Support for it had also recently been discontinued. To ensure continuity of production, Silmaco decided to replace these high-power drives as a preventive measure. ‘You don't always have a new 200 kW frequency converter available immediately.’ Together with Breemes, a replacement system was selected that was state-of-the-art.

Silmaco produces sodium silicates in a wide range of varieties, in solid (granulated) and liquid (viscous) form. They are used in a variety of applications as raw materials and additives in the production of cement, ceramics and industrial cleaning agents, for example. The company in Lanaken, in Belgian Limburg, has 45 employees and is a medium-sized player with an annual production of 100,000 tonnes. ‘Our competitors are multinationals,’ says engineering manager Ronny Smeets. ‘In this market, we distinguish ourselves through our flexibility. When customers place an order, we can load it immediately if desired, and if it is not too far from our door, we can also deliver it the same day. We mainly supply liquid silicates in Europe, and granulated products worldwide.’

Inventory

Breemes has been a supplier of electrical components to Silmaco for many years, including for high-power power distribution and industrial automation. Drives, or frequency converters, are an important part of this, for example for internal transport and ventilation at the production facility in Lanaken. The majority of the drives are from Danfoss, for which Breemes is an authorised partner, says Peter Devue, industrial automation product specialist at Breemes. ‘We sell their frequency converters and also offer support, for which we can use Danfoss' DrivePro® Lifecycle Services.’

“We sell frequency converters and also offer support.”

One of the Danfoss DrivePro® services provided by Breemes is a Site Assessment. This involves inventorying the drives present on a site and assessing their condition in terms of wear, age, exposure to risks and urgency in the event of failure. The life cycle phase and future possibilities of each frequency converter are mapped out with a view to production continuity. Breemes issues a report on this, with key facts, advice and recommendations on maintenance, retrofits, future upgrades and possible replacement.

Advice and configuration

The assessment revealed that the Danfoss FC302 P-drives had long since been discontinued and that Danfoss had also stopped providing support for them since 2023. Smeets: ‘We commissioned two of these drives in 2010 and they haven't had a single malfunction since. They still looked good and had undergone regular annual preventive maintenance.’ Devue: ‘In principle, such a drive is designed to run for ten years at 6,000 hours per year. In practice, they were still in good condition after fifteen years.’ Smeets: "However, we were now concerned that spare parts would no longer be available if a drive did fail. In that case, you don't immediately have a new 200 kW frequency converter available. That's why we decided to replace the two drives as a preventive measure. We don't want to take any risks." This, of course, has everything to do with the flexibility, and therefore the rapid response, that Silmaco wants to offer its customers. Production downtime must be kept to a minimum.

 

‘We decided to replace the drives preventively because we didn't want to take any risks.’

The choice for a replacement drive fell on the new iC7, which was introduced by Danfoss last year and meets the latest state of the art. Devue: ‘This should keep Silmaco going for another twenty years.’ After some consideration, the choice for the same brand was a logical one, according to Smeets. ‘Ninety percent of the drives here are from Danfoss. We have never had any problems with them in the past and we are satisfied with their service.’ Compared to the old drive, the iC7 is more energy-efficient and has a more compact design. At the same time, this drive is mounted on a larger base, which provides more space for the input and output of all cables and pipes. Breemes advised on the migration to iC7 and the transition from PROFIBUS to PROFINET for control communication. In consultation with Silmaco and the Danfoss Drives Service Centre, Breemes took care of the delivery and configuration of the new drives.

Smooth commissioning

The site assessment also identified the other types of drives. Silmaco is investigating the possibilities for replacement, reports Smeets. ‘We started with the high-power drives first. Other drives have a lower power rating and are therefore less critical. We will now look at those in an ongoing process over a number of years.’ All this, of course, in collaboration with Breemes. ‘I am very satisfied with the collaboration with them. They always have a short response time.’ This is something Silmaco itself strives for with its own customers. The smooth commissioning of the new iC7 drives is a powerful illustration of how Silmaco and Breemes are on the same wavelength.

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