From evaporative tower to dry cooling: a Selpro panel with ECpro + mFan for 18 EC fans

Casearia Bresciana CABRE · Beijer Ref Italy S.r.l. · air-cooled condensers with 18 EC fans

“Excellent experience and excellent on-site support from your technicians. The product is meeting the customer’s expectations, especially in terms of energy savings.”

Stefano Santi, Brescia Branch Manager — Beijer Ref Italy S.r.l. · Overall rating: 9/10

In the food industry, and particularly in dairy production, temperature control is not an accessory aspect: it is a fundamental condition for ensuring production continuity, product quality and process safety.

At the Casearia Bresciana CABRE production site, a long-established dairy company based in Brescia, Beijer Ref Italy managed the replacement of the previous evaporative tower with a new dry cooling condensation system, consisting of 3 Modine condensers equipped with a total of 18 Ziehl-Abegg EC fans.

The objective was to create a more modern, more efficient and easier-to-manage system, reducing the typical critical issues of evaporative solutions: water consumption, periodic maintenance, hygienic-sanitary management and operational complexity.

For the control and management of the fans, Beijer Ref Italy chose to involve Selpro for the supply of a complete panel, already wired, configured and prepared for rapid commissioning.

The project had a very clear requirement: to put the new system into operation as quickly as possible, without making the system architecture rigid.

The initial configuration involved managing the 18 fans as a single centralized circuit, a solution useful for accelerating start-up and simplifying the first commissioning phase.

At the same time, however, the system had to be able to evolve into a more structured configuration, with 3 independent circuits, one for each condenser with 6 fans.

For this reason, it was necessary to design a panel capable of operating immediately in the required configuration, while already being prepared for a subsequent reconfiguration without invasive interventions, without structural changes to the panel and without rethinking the control logic from scratch.

The Selpro solution: Series Q panel with ECpro + mFan

Selpro created a Series Q electrical panel based on ECpro and mFan modules, configured for the digital management of the 18 EC fans via Modbus RS485 communication.

The panel was supplied complete with internal wiring, protections, control logic and the necessary provisions for field connection. In this way, the installer’s work was simplified and focused on the essential operations of installation, connection and functional verification.

The combination of ECpro and mFan made it possible to manage the fans not as simple loads controlled by an analogue signal, but as digital devices that can be individually queried, configured and monitored.

This means being able to read useful information from the system, such as operating status, alarms, speed, current absorption and operating data for each individual fan, improving system control and facilitating service activities.

One of the most important aspects of the project was the decision not to limit the system to the initial configuration.

The system was started up as a single condensation circuit, with all 18 fans managed in a coordinated way. However, the panel architecture was designed to allow the future transition to 3 independent circuits, each consisting of 6 fans.

The conversion can be carried out by adjusting the controller configuration and adding the regulation inputs required for the additional circuits, without having to redesign the panel or rewire the Modbus bus to the fans.

This approach allows the customer to start with a simple and immediate solution, while maintaining the possibility of evolving the system according to future operating requirements.

In addition to supplying the panel, Selpro also supported the project during the preparation and start-up phases.

• design and construction of the Series Q electrical panel;
• configuration of the ECpro + mFan system;
• preparation of the control logic for future multi-circuit management;
• configuration of Modbus RS485 communication to the EC fans;
• support on wiring specifications and the recommended shielded cable;
• technical assistance during installation and commissioning;
• technical documentation supporting the system.

The presence of Selpro technicians on site was particularly appreciated by Beijer Ref Italy, which described the experience as “excellent” in the satisfaction report, also highlighting the quality of the support received during operational activities.

The project made it possible to obtain a more orderly, modern solution, prepared for diagnostics compared to traditional fan management. From an operational point of view, the main benefits were:

Following the installation, Beijer Ref Italy expressed a very positive overall assessment of the Selpro supply.

“Excellent experience and excellent on-site support from your technicians. The product is meeting the customer’s expectations, especially in terms of energy savings.”

Stefano Santi, Brescia Branch Manager — Beijer Ref Italy S.r.l.

In the product satisfaction report, Beijer Ref Italy gave the Selpro solution an overall rating of 9/10 and a score of 8/10 for ease of installation and configuration.

The project carried out for Casearia Bresciana CABRE demonstrates how a Selpro Series Q panel with ECpro + mFan can simplify the management of condensation systems with EC fans, even in existing industrial environments and with rapid start-up requirements.

The solution combined digital control, diagnostics, scalability and on-site technical support, providing Beijer Ref Italy with a ready-to-use system that is already prepared for future developments.

For Selpro, this project is a concrete example of how electrical panel design should not be limited to component wiring, but can become an integral part of the system’s operating, maintenance and development strategy.