Centrifugals: on top form thanks to retrofit from BMA

For over 25 years, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TSC) refinery in Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan has relied on G1250 centrifugals from BMA. Now, our customer wanted a centrifugal upgrade – with the refinery in operation. We successfully completed the project in summer 2021.

In 2017 and again two years later, BMA had delivered two new E1390 centrifugals to TSC for the production of high-quality brown sugar, a trend that had also reached Taiwan.

During that time, the future of the G1250 centrifugals came under discussion. Spare parts for the old control system could no longer be reliably sourced nor the frequency converters repaired.  

But the BMA centrifugals were in excellent mechanical condition and eddy current testing revealed no defects in the centrifugal baskets. The customer was therefore sure he would be able to replace the automation system himself. He found, however, that this upgrade did not achieve the result promised by his local project partner.

Our customer can see the performance in operation of the new E1390 centrifugals every day. Given their many benefits, in terms of technology, design and automation, the sugar refinery decided in a first step to have BMA retrofit five of the old centrifugals. 

TSC had very specific project planning requirements. Their request to convert the centrifugals while the system was in operation, with no more than two machines offline at any one time, was a particular challenge. But with support from our local partner TACT, we were able to upgrade the five centrifugals, by retrofitting modern automation technology, new motors and new frequency converters.

Following the retrofit, the centrifugals were successfully installed and commissioned, with TACT organising and carrying out all work on site. Those responsible at the refinery are more than happy with the result. Particularly the smooth implementation of the project while the refinery was in operation demonstrated BMA’s capabilities to the customer, paving the way for future machine upgrades.

The project showed once more that good team work and accurate planning are key factors to success. Thanks to BMA and TACT, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation refinery can now rely on future-proof centrifugals with new state-of-the-art automation and drive systems.