Case
Rhythm CSS Integrates Vertical Farming into their Diverse Portfolio Leveraging Grundfos Products
The United Nations’ data shows the global human population hit 8 billion in mid-November 2022, with projections expecting a rise to 9.7 billion by 2050. This growth highlights the need to plan accordingly. In response, leading companies in the cannabis industry are now applying their expertise and technology to boost sustainable vertical farming practices in the United States, assisting the food and beverage industry to meet the needs. Rhythm CSS, founded by experienced engineers with a combined experience of over thirty-five years in industrial automation, controls, product development, and project management, have started to shift some of their focus to vertical farming launching products in that market.
Global human population hit 8 billion in mid-November 2022, with projections expecting a rise to 9.7 billion by 2050.
According to Cale Winters, President of Rhythm CSS, there is a trend towards indoor agriculture, propelled by land scarcity, controlled climates, and vertical farming efficiency. A primary advantage of indoor farming is its significant reduction in required land. What one acre of indoor farm can achieve traditionally needs approximately 100 to 150 acres outdoors. Abandoned urban buildings are increasingly repurposed for vertical farms, fostering innovation and offering incentives to occupy these spaces. This shift allows vast outdoor farm areas to be converted to minimal indoor spaces and leverage climate control. By eliminating weather uncertainties, Cale believes indoor vertical farming can ensure precise plant conditions, leading to enhanced harvests, shorter growth cycles, and a lesser need for prolonged cold storage. As a result, he expects higher-quality and nutritious produce will make it to the shelves.
According to Cale, climate control enables crops to grow faster indoors, reducing the typical outdoor growth cycle of forty-five days to just thirty days indoors. This efficiency lessens the reliance on cold storage and allows for quicker distribution, with most indoor farm products reaching grocery shelves within two days, sometimes even the next day. He indicates that vegetables from indoor farms are fresher, last longer, and have improved nutritional value compared to those from outdoor farms.
Cale also notes we are at the precipice of unlocking the potential of indoor agriculture, anticipating significant investment in the United States over the next decade. Rhythm has developed a direct injection system that simplifies nutrient delivery. The system provides more flexibility and control with nutrient programs and does so through intuitive controls and software packages, without the need for the manual manipulation of stock tanks. By isolating the stock tanks into individual parts the system can dose and manage those parts individually and more effectively control the nutrient concentrations going to the plants. This is particularly beneficial for tomatoes, leafy greens, and other vegetables requiring simple nutritional programs. This system is scalable and designed for large operations, using Grundfos technology to ensure precise nutrient and water management at a rate of approximately 50 gallons (about 189.27 L) per minute.
Grundfos’s vertical, multistage centrifugal pumps with integrated frequency converters (CRNEs) and SMART digital dosing advanced (DDA) pumps are key to their innovative approach and necessary to meet their goals of expanding into the vertical farming space.
When asked why Grundfos products, Cale indicated one key reason for their preference for Grundfos is their “good reputation,” something his partner Raul and he, coming from extensive backgrounds in big industry manufacturing, value highly. In their previous roles, Raul at Schneider Electric and Cale at Eaton, were in field resources, regularly interacting with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and process designers. Grundfos was a name Cale indicated they encountered frequently and came to respect.
However, he mentioned that reputation alone was not sufficient. Their positive view of Grundfos is also based on the performance of the products, which they rigorously test to ensure they meet their high standards for support, pricing, and reliability.
Another significant factor is Grundfos’s support infrastructure, including a responsive sales team and product recognition within the vertical farming industry. Cale mentions, “Brooke [Edwards] is one of those resources that we just really appreciate.” – Cale Winters, President Rhythm CSS
“After learning about Rhythm’s goals for the Inline Series AFS, I described how the DDA’s stepper motor provides a continuous, equal chemical feed to the system which was a key priority for them. To ensure the best possible pump for the system, Rhythm conducted testing with multiple pump options and the Grundfos DDA pump was unmatched in terms of accuracy. From there, they told me it was a data-driven decision to go with the DDA. A key differentiator of the Inline Series AFS is the scalability of the system which offers flexibility to the market and the 3000:1 turndown capability of the DDA helps enable that flexibility.”– Brooke Edwards, Grundfos, Senior Key Account Manager
With robust support, a skilled sales team, and widely recognized products in the industry, the relationship with Grundfos is a great fit per Cale. He mentioned that nobody will ask, “well, who the heck is Grundfos…they’re widely recognized products. They’re known for good. They have a good reputation rather…and they perform and are well supported…” Cale believes that these elements ensure when they incorporate Grundfos products into their solutions, their value is immediately recognized and unquestioned.
The Rhythm CSS Inline Series AFS is a direct injection system that utilizes Grundfos SMART digital dosing pumps (DDA 120-7 and DDA 7.5-16 pumps) to precisely inject nutrients directly into the flow of water and in 2023 was released on the market. These dosing pumps provide advantages over competitive pumps by utilizing variablespeed stepper motors with internal stroke speed control for smooth, continuous dosing – resulting in more consistency through the delivery process. The Inline Series units can be configured to work with a large range of facility sizes, layouts, growing methods, and plant quantities, and are designed to work in conjunction with a pressure compensated drip irrigation system. The system can also be used to prepare reservoirs for recirculating NFT systems or batch tank delivery systems.
When precision and reliability matter most, SMART digital dosing pumps provide more capabilities for the end-user resulting in accurate chemical measurement and disbursement. The high-end DDA pump is designed as the perfect solution for complex and demanding applications. It handles degassing liquids without any problems thanks to its auto-dearation feature while in operation or during pump standby. The FCM control variant offers FlowControl with selective fault diagnosis as well as built in pressure monitoring. Additionally, The FCM offers integrated flow measurement and the AutoFlowAdapt feature which allows the pump to adjust pump speed to actual conditions. The pump offers batch modes (timer or pulse based) and can be delivered with an optional Fieldbus protocol of choice such as Modbus (TCP/RTU), Profibus/Profinet or Ethernet IP. The Grundfos SMART DDA handles flows up to 52 gph and pressure up to 232 psi and features a turndown ratio of up to 3000:1 with a constant 100% stroke length. To learn more about Grundfos’ SMART digital dosing products visit: https://grundfos.to/digital-dosing-us