Société des produits Marnier Lapostolle produces and sells wines and spirits, among which the famous « Grand Marnier » drink. The preparation of the orange zests used in this liqueur requires sorting on unbalance vibrating machines called « zesters ».
« Our two zesters were installed in 2012. They are highly effective but at the cost of a significant drawback: they vibrate the ground », explains Patrick Raguenaud, head of the company’s production sites. « These excessive vibrations are a real nuisance to our personnel and can be harmful to the building ».
Immediate improvement
In a concern about improving its operators’ comfort and protecting the building, Marnier Lapostolle asked Cetim to « assess the problem and propose simple solutions that would not reduce the effectiveness of the zesters ». Cetim’s experts went to the company’s site and measured the vibrations with accelerometers installed on the machines and on the ground. Measurements performed with hammers also made it possible to detect resonances. All these tests led to the conclusion that the vibrations of the concrete slab were caused by the poor vibration insulation of the machines. Cetim then calculated and proposed a corrective solution consisting in installing suitable rubber pads and inflatable membranes. « This modification resulted in a spectacular improvement as from the very moment the machines were restarted », says Mr Raguenaud.
Subsequent checks revealed that the vibration reduction achieved with the new suspensions led to a reduction of vibrations by 20 to 60%.
