processing | Temperature control


Right: Engel e-temp are specialised rebranded HB-Therm units


e-flomo offer the possibility of optionally controlling the flow rate or the tempera- ture difference for each circuit separately. The advantage of the delta T control is that the individually required flow rate is adjusted automatically for each cooling circuit. “For the heat exchange medium to


be distributed as needed in the individual circuits, the flow rates in the manifold must be individually throttled,” notes Schläger. But if the pump of the temperature control unit runs at its nominal speed, it works against the resistance of the water manifold. “In these cases, the ‘braking’ of the flow causes energy losses. It is com- parable to driving a car with the accelerator pedal full down, while regulating the speed with the brake pedal. “A remedy, and therefore a considerable energy


saving, can be achieved by using temperature control units with speed-regulated pumps, and actuation of the pump by the injection moulding machine, matched to the water manifold.” Engel’s solution, consisting of the e-flomo manifold


and ‘e-temp’ temperature control units from HB- Therm, has the advantage that Engel’s iQ Flow Control software automatically optimises the interplay of both components (see also Injection World July/August 2016). If the manifold is operated in either flow-rate control or temperature difference control mode, the injection moulding machine control unit automatically


controls the pump speed to the minimum required value. “The trick here is that the hydraulic resistance in the manifold is reduced: the valves are opened as far as possible, while the speed is simultaneously re- duced,” Schläger says. “However, the flow rates in the mould circuits remain unchanged by virtue of the smart control. The reduced speed of the pump inevitably reduces the energy consumption.” Temperature control units generally


account for a considerable proportion of the


overall energy consumption of the injection moulding unit. This usually results not from the heat energy mostly required during production


start-up, but from the power consumption of the pump, which, with conventional systems, runs with a constant high speed.


In a trial, Engel moulded sample parts with shot


weights of 7.1g in ABS on an e-motion 170/80 TL all-electric machine with two integrated e-temp H8-100 temperature control units. The cycle time was 10s. The supply temperature was 50°C. In normal operation with speed control switched off, the temperature control units were responsible for 37% of the total energy consumption. The activation of iQ flow control reduced the energy consumption of the temperature control units by about half, without any change in flow rate. For the overall system, this means an energy saving of 20% with no change in production conditions. On some smaller and medium sized machines, it should be


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