Why is Water Cooling Optimization Essential?
Ample scope of improvement in efficiency is present in the neglected area or one can say the grey area in the plastic moulding industry and that is water distribution for cooling of moulds, machines and other auxiliaries.
Moulding processes are cyclic in characteristics. Cooling time is about 50 to 75% of the total cycle time and is one of the deciding factors for the quality requirements. Therefore, it is essential to optimise cooling time to improve productivity. Despite knowing this fact minimum attention is paid towards this, by the moulders.
The Challenges
The pumping room is often quite far from the operational area and is not looked after unless there is some problem or breakdown. It can also be called the “forgotten area”.
Cooling consumes 11% to 16% of the energy used in a plastics processing plant and simple actions can significantly reduce this energy use.
The water circulation pumps for cooling and chilling systems are generally centrifugal pumps, and these are often incorrectly sized for the demand. This is either due to expansion/contraction of the system, poor initial specification, or changes to the system that has not been logged correctly.
Most plants are yet to investigate this area.
The Interplast Solution
Being a Plastics’ Engineer having throw knowhow of the industry requirements and focused on the subject can help to achieve efficient cooling by designing a plant cooling network for the required flow and pressure of water at every node i.e. heat exchangers, mould manifolds, etc.
The network having Water Tank, Cooling Tower/ Chiller, Pump, Valves, Pipes and their fittings on the computer having high-end software. The plotted design is then simulated for the right pipe diameter and pump based on its performance curve for the desired requirements which are pre-established based on Machine, Mould and other water requirements. The network is then optimized for energy consumption
Needless to mention that during the simulation process, the resistance(“K” value) of the pipes and fittings to be used (GI, PVC, PPR etc) and the turbulence (Reynold’s number)to be generated is taken care of for improved cooling.
We do provide a one-stop, 360° Turnkey Solution for all your piping and plumbing needs.
What Can You Expect?
By modifying the existing cooling system and/or implementing it for new projects, one can expect improvement in production at least by 10%.
We do have the case studies whereby
- The chillers were avoided
- The productivity increased up to 25% and in some cases doubled but we can not take it as a benchmark.
- Consistent product (dimensions)
You will also witness a significant reduction in:
- Mould temperature
- Cycle time
- Machine temperature
- Power consumption
- Non-consistent product
- Maintenance cost
Benefits of Designed Water Cooling Optimization
- Better cooling
- Improved productivity
- Better machine efficiency
- No manual, day-to-day adjustments required
- Reduces maintenance cost
- Reduces power consumption
In short, all the above benefits leads to the bottom line of reduction in per kilo conversion cost for lifetime