Frequently Asked Questions

At a glance:

  1. What Is an Industrial Control Panel? UL considers an industrial control panel: "An assembly incorporating two or more pieces of industrial control equipment or related control circuit devices, provided with interconnecting wiring and terminals for connections in the field. To allow the installer to properly install the panel in accordance to National Electrical Code and other codes, electrical ratings and instructions are to be clearly explained on the panel."

  2. What is a MRF? A materials recovery facility or materials reclamation facility (MRF -- pronounced "murf") is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers. Generally, there are two types of MRFs: clean and dirty.

    A clean MRF accepts recyclable commingled materials that have already been separated at the source from municipal solid waste generated by either residential or commercial sources. There are a variety of clean MRFs. The most common are single stream where all recyclable material is mixed, or dual stream MRFs, where source-separated recyclables are delivered in a mixed container stream (typically glass, ferrous metal, aluminum and other non-ferrous metals, PET [No.1] and HDPE [No.2] plastics) and a mixed paper stream, (including OCC, ONP, OMG, office packs, junk mail, etc.). Material is sorted to specifications, then baled, shredded, crushed, or otherwise prepared for shipment to market.

    A dirty MRF accepts a mixed solid-waste stream and then proceeds to separate out designated recyclable materials through a combination of manual and mechanical sorting. The sorted recyclable materials may undergo further processing required to meet technical specifications established by end-markets while the balance of the mixed-waste stream is sent to a disposal facility such as a landfill. The percentage of residuals (unrecoverable recyclable or non-program materials) from a properly operated clean MRF supported by an effective public outreach and education program should not exceed 10% by weight of the total delivered stream and in many cases it can be significantly below 5%. A dirty MRF recovers between 5% and 45% of the incoming material such as recyclables, then the remainder is landfilled or otherwise disposed. A dirty MRF can be capable of higher recovery rates than a clean MRF, since it ensures that 100% of the waste stream is subjected to the sorting process, and can target a greater number of materials for recovery than can usually be accommodated by sorting at the source. However, the dirty MRF process is necessarily labor-intensive, and a facility that accepts mixed solid waste is usually more challenging and more expensive to the site.

    New mechanical/biological treatment technologies are now beginning to utilize wet MRFs.[1] This combines a dirty MRF with water which acts to densify, separate and clean the output streams. It also hydrocrushes and dissolves biodegradable organics in solution to make them suitable for anaerobic digestion.

  3. What can I do about my facility power consumption and utility cost? Electrical energy is a valid commodity, its consumption is as very real cost of operation for any screen, baler, light, building and business. It is the never questioned, relentless, ever-increasing bill, that comes every month, and it just gets paid.

    Through integration of intelligent automation hardware, energy-efficient components and green software, we can gain control of this commodity. We can maximize its usage and most importantly prevent its waste. We can now prevent a compressor running all weekend long with a broken air line, every light in the facility on when no one is there, and control the building heaters from being on so high that the air conditioning in the sort rooms and offices are running. Any MRF has a large amount 3-phase industrial equipment, office equipment, food preparation equipment, yard and building lighting, and when you look at MRF as a whole, it is a huge amount of individual, energy-consuming devices. They all add up, and are paid as one total. By applying technology, we can obtain the knowledge of exactly how much is being used, when and where. We can now question why is it being used, should it be used, and most important is there a better way to use it. There is now accountability to a previously uncontrollable, unaccountable, and unregulated expense.

    By using energy-star appliances and components, ensuring that industrial motors only use the electricity they really need, and in the most efficient way, as well as provide light only when its dark and where it is needed, a substantial reduction in energy consumption can be realized. This reduction in energy consumption has a tangible financial impact, qualifies for power authority incentives, and follows green initiatives through CO2 reduction.

    AMRF-Industrial Control System: 3-phase induction motors are used to produce the energy required to move the material through a separation system. By using energy efficient motor design combined with Power Factor Correction and VFD Power Optimizing,the overall efficiency of that motor is increased. If this same technology is applied to every motor in a system of 80+ motors, the effect is beneficial and recognizable. The proposed upgrade would not only bring reduction of energy consumption but will also have a substantial increase in functionality. Advanced Touch Panel, PLC, and Reporting Programs have been developed at WMI facilities in Chicago, Germantown, Grayslake and Twin Cities. These programs can be applied to any existing WMI MRF equipment. By controlling every motor with an intelligent device, we can achieve enhanced functionality, as well as manipulate electrical characteristics, to maximize energy efficiency. This brings reduction in downtime as well as cost of operation and increase in efficiency. The data acquisition and reporting systems bring valuable production information to management, and can also integrate with maintenance software, while the increased functionality and control helps the operator maximize equipment runtime. This technology is fully scalable to accommodate and enhance any future addition of automated sorting or screening technology.

    Also, implementing AMRF intelligent building technology with energy-efficient lighting as well as integrating intelligent control to prevent waste, improves the energy efficiency of the building infrastructure. Currently, 6,500 buildings worldwide have already been optimized with use of these types of technology, which has resulted in 2.4 million tons CO2 reductions because 40% of the Worlds energy is consumed by Buildings and 21% if Greenhouse gas emissions worldwide comes from buildings. What AMRF offers can increase the reliability and operational performance of machine and building, reduce costs, and have a positive effect on the environment.

  4. What is a control system? A control system is a device or set of devices to manage, command, direct or regulate the behavior of other devices or systems.
  5. What is industrial automation? Automation is the use of control systems in concert with other applications of information technology (such as computer-aided technologies), to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention.

  6. What do you mean by intelligent building technology?

    "Use of technology and process to create a building that is safer and more productive for its occupants and more operationally efficient for its owners.”

    The results from implementing these technologies and processes are buildings that cost less to operate and are worth more to their occupants. For projects that are owner occupied, such as corporate, government, and institutions, the benefits of an intelligent building provide an immediate ROI in terms of higher employee productivity and reduced operating expenses. For commercial developments, these projects are expected to result in above-market rents, improved retention, higher occupancy rates, and lower operating expenses. All around, this is a win-win situation!

  7. What Is a systems Integrator? A systems integrator is a person or company that specializes in bringing together component subsystems into a whole and ensuring that those subsystems function together, a practice known as System Integration. Systems integrators may work in many fields but the term is generally used in the information technology (IT) field, the defense industry, or in media.

  8. What is turn-key? A turn-key or a turn-key project is a type of project that is constructed by a developer and sold or turned over to a buyer in a ready-to-use condition.

    The term turn-key is also often used in the technology industry, most commonly to describe pre-built computer "packages" in which everything needed to perform a certain type of task (e.g., audio editing) is put together by the supplier and sold as a bundle. This often includes a computer with pre-installed software, various types of hardware, and accessories.

  9. What is NEC electrical field wiring? Electrical wiring in general refers to conductors used to carry electricity and their accessories. General aspects of electrical wiring as used to provide power in or to buildings and structures, commonly referred to as building wiring, are described in Electrical wiring. Electrical wiring in the United States is generally in compliance with the National Electrical Code, a standard sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association which has been periodically revised since 1897. Local amendments or supplements to this model code are common in American cities and states.

  10. What is PROFIsafe(PROFIBUS safety or PROFINET safety)? It is the first open, functional safety communication technology for distributed automation systems worldwide. Its specification for PROFIBUS DP and PROFIBUS PA was published first back in spring 1999. It incorporates the knowledge of more than 25 renowned safety companies. Extensions for the Ethernet-based PROFINET IO followed in fall 2005. More than 30,000 automation systems with more than 300,000 PROFIsafe nodes are currently in use worldwide (spring 2007).

    In the past, safety automation had to be "hard-wired" and based on "relay" technolgy due to existing international standards. This changed with the advent of a new standard – IEC 61508 – specifiying how microcontrollers and software can be used in safety automation. This triggered the development of PROFIsafe, which was to integrate safety into the existing standard PROFIBUS fieldbus technologies.

    PROFIBUS, the world market leader in fieldbus systems, and standardized in IEC 61158 and IEC 61784-1, became an enabling technology through the introduction of PROFIsafe. Totally new concepts for integrated standard and safety programmable controllers as well as integrated remote I/O could be realized. New integrated safety for drives such as "safe operating stop" which avoids undefined stop positions after tripping through an emergency stop no longer were remaining a dream. Additional monitoring functions such as "safely-limited speed" or "safely-limited torque" will cause revolutionary applications to occur in the near future.




« Back to Top