Dust Collection Automated Control System

Customer: WalzCraft, a North American leader in the Cabinet Component Industry based in La Crosse, WI., manufactures custom cabinet doors, drawer boxes, moldings and many other varieties of cabinet components and accessories.

Project Scope:  The WalzCraft plant employs five large dust collection systems ranging from 200 hp to 400 hp that remove sawdust from a multitude of woodworking equipment. Industrial Automation was employed to design and install an automated control that would tie all of the dust collectors and sub systems together and would automatically make decisions to improve the operation and efficiency of the dust collection system.

Project Design:  Allen Bradley Power Flex drives were installed to control the main suction drive motors in each of the dust collectors. Power Flex drives were also installed to control the speed of various sub systems, augers, and conveyors. An Allen Bradley Compact Logix controller supervises all system I/O units, dual touch screens, and collector main drives to minimize wiring costs. Sensors now monitor the intake vacuum at each collector and the main drive speeds are controlled to maintain constant vacuum at each unit which reduces energy costs as the collectors run only as fast as needed to match the current demand of running production equipment. Service screens allow all equipment to be monitored. Alarms are displayed graphically and in text.

Project Results: Efficiency, Quality, Productivity

The completed dust collection control system greatly reduces the factories energy consumption. The dust collection system is intuitive and easy to operate. Down time is greatly reduced and maintenance issues are quickly identified.