Klondike Cheese Co. Feta Cheese Line

In the spring of 2019, Klondike began planning for an extensive expansion to their Feta cheese production process which required the electrical engineering and installation expertise of PDC Electrical Contractors. The expansion would increase Klondike’s efficiency in cheese production along with raising the level of employee safety by safe guarding the equipment which is used in the process. The new equipment would be fully automated and state of the art to the industry. The installation of the new equipment would require removal of existing equipment and demolition of electrical and control systems currently in use. A 10 day plant shutdown would be scheduled in the summer of 2020 to accomplish this.

While new equipment was being built in Germany, Klondike and PDC began detailed planning and scheduling the install of the new electrical systems required for the expansion. The majority of the electrical install would need to take place while the plant was in full production which proved to be challenging. Protective measures were put in place to retain the sanitary environment while PDC began prep work and installation of the new electrical systems. An elaborate scaffolding system and barriers were placed in production areas to allow installation of new raceways and motor and control cabling.

Engineering

PDC Electrical Contractors design team gathered information from the European equipment manufacturer and interpreted to design a new motor control system which included open style VFD’s and new Input/Output (I/O) control panels. Typically, VFD’s (Variable Frequency Drives which control the speed of an electric motor) would be installed in a large motor control center requiring a lot of space which was not available in the existing electrical room. Due to space restrictions the open style VFD concept was utilized. The new I/O panels house the components necessary to receive the input and output signals from control devices located on the equipment. All new I/O panels were designed with a focus on arc flash requirements to limit the exposure to fault current. This was achieved by isolating higher voltage components in their own device cabinet within the I/O panels for safety of maintenance personnel. In addition, new pneumatic control panels were designed and installed. The existing control communication structure was also upgraded from an outdated control net system to an Ethernet based system which required new Ethernet cabling to each of the plants 14 existing control panels.

Implementation

A new custom stainless steel enclosed cable tray system was designed and installed for new motor and control cabling. A low voltage cable tray for communication cabling and a high voltage cable tray for motor cabling were installed while the plant was in production to allow for the new process cabling to be installed prior to the 10 day shutdown. PDC utilized its pre-fab department to fabricate 50 new cable tray supports for the new raceway system. New power distribution panels were installed along with 55 new VFD’s which allowed PDC to have power and control terminations completed and tested before the shutdown. Detailed and accurate equipment layout allowed 3 new I/O panels and 2 new pneumatic panels to be placed and installed ahead of time. As new equipment arrived to the facility, stainless steel conduit and cable tray was installed on each piece to allow the equipment to be moved into place in sections. Stainless steel conduit drops were prefabbed to transition from the cable tray to the equipment.

Shutdown/Start-up:

PDC crews worked long hours throughout the 10 day shutdown to maintain the customers aggressive start-up schedule. With the shutdown taking place during the uncertain time of COVID-19, the European equipment installation crew was unable to assist with the installation due to travel restrictions. Any installation or programming questions were directed to the European technicians via email. Learning the complex functionality of this unique equipment without on-site support proved to be challenging for all.

Daily JSA’s and coordination meetings were utilized to keep all contractors safe during the install and implement social distancing measures. As demolition of the old equipment and wiring was completed the new equipment was installed. This took careful coordination with all parties involved to allow the install to stay on track. As the new equipment was installed, PDC’s electricians and welding crews followed by welding the prefabbed raceways and installing new cable tray to each of the I/O and pneumatic panels. As the new raceways were completed, motor, control cabling and pneumatic tubing were installed and terminations began. This required a crew of up to 20 electricians over the 10 day duration with personnel logging in 90+ hours in only 7 days allowing the programming crew 3 days to test the system. Motor and I/O testing followed with no wiring errors detected.

PDC Electrical Contractors provided and installed the following for the Feta cheese plant expansion:

• 500 feet of stainless steel enclosed cable tray
• 1000’ stainless steel basket tray
• 5,000 feet of stainless steel conduit
• 30,000 feet of VFD tray cable
• 3 new 480V VFD distribution panels
• 55 new open faced VFD’s
• Designed and built 6 new I/O panels (3 new, 3 rebuilt)
• Designed and built 2 new pneumatic panels
• Designed and built 1 new servo drive motor control panel
• 15,000 feet shielded CAT6 communication cable
• Cabling and terminations for 55 motors
• Cabling and terminations of 584 control points
• 20,000 feet of pneumatic tubing for control valves and safety cylinders
• 56,000 feet of total wire, cable, and cord which is equal t
• 10.6 miles or 186 times down Lambeau Field