TEMPERATURE CONTROL | TECHNOLOGY
Main image: The new units of the Enersave series made by GWK are equipped with centrifugal pumps
Retaining control in the mould Keeping energy costs down while ensuring
seamless communication with the rest of the injection moulding line are now key elements in mould temperature control, writes Mark Holmes
The major trends that have driven the development of chillers in recent years should not be surprising, according to US company Conair. “Since chillers are generally among the more energy-hungry auxiliary equipment, features that save energy have become more attractive to moulders,” says Jim Fisher, Sales Manager, Heat Transfer. “In addition, since productivity is closely tied to better process control, communications capabilities that allow moulders to more easily monitor performance over time are also in demand. “On the energy front, Conair has introduced chillers that allow processors to more closely match energy consumption to process loads and, in their 5, 10, 15, and 20 ton capacities, this has been accomplished with variable speed compressors. Chillers with conventional, fixed-speed compressors cannot adjust their cooling capacity by slowing down. Instead, they adapt to low-load conditions using a hot-gas bypass that creates an artificial load to prevent overcooling. Thus, at partial loads, energy savings are minimal. Newer digital scroll compressors show significant improvement over fixed-speed compressors, and can unload capacity to reduce power consumption for partial loads, but even the newest digital scroll compressors cannot match the efficiency of
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variable-speed compressors. “With a variable-speed compressor, moulders can use the same 10-ton EP2 Series chiller to very efficiently handle any load from 3 to 10 tons. The 5, 10, and 15 ton chillers use a single variable-speed compressor and the 20 ton chiller incorporates a 10 ton variable-speed compressor and a 10 ton fixed-speed compressor, so it can handle an even wider load range, from 3 to 20 tons. Processors will see impressive power savings from these chillers throughout their capacity range, with the most
Figure 1: Conair 10 ton chiller’s energy use June 2019 | INJECTION WORLD 41
PHOTO: GWK
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