Cutting Energy Costs and Extending Vacuum Pump Lifetime in Food Packaging

When a family sets a premium cut of beef on the dinner table, or a restaurant serves a perfectly aged steak, few stop to think about how that meat stays fresh, safe, and full of flavour until it arrives at their plates.

What ensures this quality is a technology that preserves freshness from the outset: vacuum packaging. That process comes to life at Kepak McIntosh Donald just outside Aberdeen, one of Scotland’s largest red meat processors. Inside the plant, multiple vacuum packaging lines work tirelessly to ensure that fresh meat is securely packed, preserved, and ready for distribution. At the core of this large-scale operation lies one crucial element: reliable and efficient vacuum supply. Making food packaging more efficient to optimize performance and reduce energy consumption.

Kepak relied on Busch Vacuum Solutions, a partner they have worked with for around 15 years now. Together, they implemented ECOTORQUE – the variable speed drive (VSD) technology from Busch, which they retrofitted to the facility’s existing R5 oil-lubricated rotary vane vacuum pumps.

The results spoke for themselves:

By matching the pumping speed to the actual vacuum requirements of the process, ECOTORQUE cut energy usage massively. This not only drove down operating costs but also delivered a major step toward Kepak’s ambitious sustainability and carbon reduction goals. But the benefits did not stop there: With efficient vacuum pump operation and reduced strain on equipment, Kepak can look forward to lower maintenance requirements and extended service life for their vacuum pumps, ensuring reliability well into the future.

How vacuum packaging works at Kepak.

At the heart of Kepak’s packaging process are four main vacuum packaging lines. Each line relies on advanced chamber-type vacuum packaging machines to remove air from packages prior to sealing. In each cycle, portions of meat are placed in barrier bags and loaded into the chamber. The machine lid then closes to seal the chamber, and a Busch R5 oil-lubricated rotary vane vacuum pump, along with a vacuum booster, evacuate the air until the required vacuum level is reached. Once achieved, sealing bars close the bags to create a hermetic seal. The chamber is then returned to atmospheric pressure, and the finished packs are removed for onward handling. By removing oxygen, the process extends shelf life, prevents spoilage and oxidation, and helps preserve the color, texture, and taste that customers expect. Any downtime or inconsistent vacuum performance would directly impact production targets and product quality. “Our packaging machines typically run from six in the morning until at least four in the afternoon,” explains Malcolm Baillie, Kepak’s Engineering Manager. “Uptime and reliability of the vacuum supply are absolutely essential to keep product moving.”

The challenge:

Traditionally, the vacuum pumps at Kepak operated at a fixed speed of 50 Hz, running continuously regardless of demand. Even when packaging chambers stood idle and no vacuum was required, the vacuum pumps consumed the same amount of energy. ECOTORQUE changed this dynamic and introduced intelligent speed control. By adjusting pumping speed in real time, the system slowed down or switched into Eco-mode during idle phases. This not only cut unnecessary energy use and CO₂ emissions but also reduced mechanical wear by avoiding constant high-speed operation. What first appeared to be a modest adjustment quickly proved to be a major efficiency gain. For pumps operating continuously through long production shifts, optimizing idle periods quickly translated into significant cost savings, greater operational efficiency, and tangible sustainability gains. Identifying the opportunity During a visit to Kepak’s plant, Busch experts recognized an opportunity to reduce the vacuum system’s energy use significantly. Rather than presenting a theoretical case, they proposed a practical demonstration: installing ECOTORQUE on one of the chamber packaging machines to measure the impact directly. “Busch didn’t come to us with just a sales pitch,” noted Malcolm Baillie. “They brought data and a trial plan to measure actual energy use before and after, so we could see the difference for ourselves.” The trial involved setting up a power logger to monitor baseline energy consumption for a week. ECOTORQUE was then installed, enabling the rotary vane vacuum pump to dynamically adjust speed in response to real vacuum demand.

A second week of measurements provided a clear before-and-after comparison. “The technical team from Busch stayed on site to fine-tune the VSD controls so they synchronized perfectly with the machine’s cycle,” added Malcolm Baillie. “That hands-on support is what really created value for us.” Read the full case study, including the proven results in energy efficiency, on the Busch website.

https://www.buschvacuum.com/uk/en/success-stories/cutting-energy-costs-and-extending-vacuum-pump-lifetime-in-food-packaging.html