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exhibition


Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre 3rd-4th September, 2014


This biennial event is now enjoying its eleventh season - testiment to the exhibition's enduring appeal.


Located in the heart of the offshore industry in Aberdeen, one of only eight 'Super Cities' leading the UK economy, the exhibition brings together the many companies who supply products and services specific to the offshore sector plus the more traditional industries representing processing, power generation, paper, distilling, water and waste, and marine engineering in north east Scotland.


Register to visit at: instrumentation.co.uk


To exhibit call Jack Burrows on 01822 614671 or visit the website


A Trident Exhibitions Event supporting publications


Automotive textile manufacturer recovers major energy savings from compressor waste heat


A


utomotive textile manufacturer Autofil Worldwide has achieved average cost savings of £37,000 a year and reduced annual CO2 emissions by 260,000 tonnes by adopting Atlas Copco’s energy recovery technology.


Based in the UK, Autofil Worldwide is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of polyester yarns for the automotive sector. By recovering heat produced by the air compressor used in the manufacturing process, the company is able to raise the temperature of the process water it requires, which reduces overall energy usage.


The primary manufacturing operations at Autofil’s 10,000sq m UK plant require a substantial volume of compressed air, which is supplied via an Atlas Copco system. The system is controlled by an ES 360 optimiser, and comprises 12 compressors, including three GA 160+ units and a GA 250 compressor connected to a stand-alone ER-S5 energy recovery unit.


As well as the considerable demand for compressed air on site, the dyeing processing has an equally large requirement for process hot water. A 50,000 litre tank stores water for several dyeing process operations in the factory and the by-product heat from the GA 250 compressor is used to pre-heat this water to around 50°C, rather than relying on additional gas power to heat it at point of use.


supporting groups


This is made possible by the ER-S5 energy recovery unit, whereby hot oil from the compressor’s air end is diverted through a stainless steel plate heat exchanger. Heat from the oil is transferred to cool water on the opposite side of the exchanger, producing a continuous flow of hot water from the ER outlet.


Institute of Measurement and Control


The water circuit between the tank and ER unit takes cooler water and replaces it with the heated water. After a few hours, this circuit reaches its optimum inlet/outlet temperature: inlet water from the top of the tank to the ER at +/- 30°C; outlet water fed back from the ER to the bottom of the tank at +/-55°C, achieving a temperature rise of 25°C.


Based on the compressor running for 8,424 hours per year, the


combination of the GA 250 and ER-S5 unit is recovering more than 1.4 million KWh of energy a year. The savings are self-evident: to increase the temperature of the same amount of water with a gas-fuelled heating source would have cost Autofil £37,096 annually and would have generated 260,000 tonnes of CO2.


Commenting on this substantial reduction in his company’s carbon footprint, Steve Charlton, Autofil’s Engineering and IT Manager, said: “We are an energy conscious company and constantly strive for improved efficiency and energy saving solutions in the way we run our operations. Atlas Copco’s Compressor Technique Service team have been able to provide sustainable energy-saving solutions over recent years to help us reduce our compressed air energy consumption, notably the introduction of their ES 360 optimiser controller which matches supply to demand, allowing us a 360 degree visualisation of the compressed air installation in terms of pressure, supply and demand. Now, we have added an energy recovery unit to further optimise the installation.”


Enter 16 / ENERGYMANAGEMENT


Atlas Copco Tel: 0800 181085 Web: www.atlascopco.co.uk


enter 800 ENERGY MANAGEMENT | SUMMER 2014 27


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