FEATURE HVAC
CONNECTING THE PIECES N
By Jason Peng, connectivity expert for Transtherm Cooling Industries
o longer a buzzword or vision of the future, the Internet of Things (IoT)
is a key driver in the UK’s move towards smart manufacturing. Armed with more data than ever before through enhanced reporting and greater connectivity of devices, manufacturers are making great strides to improve productivity, reduce operating costs and enhance worker safety. Accenture predicts that Industrial Internet of Things will boost the economy by $531 billion by 2030. Globally, McKinsey estimates that IoT will have a potential economic impact of up to $6.2 trillion by 2025 whilst Accenture goes even further to say it could add $14.2 trillion to the world economy over the next 15 years. If we are to make the most of this
emerging revolution, however, it needs an honest and joined up approach from the entire industry. Factory equipment can no longer operate in isolation and those supplying the manufacturing industry with innovative plant solutions can no longer be precious about the role played by their own equipment. The Internet of Things will only drive optimum efficiencies if it is applied across the entire facility.
BENEFITS OF CONNECTED COOLING SYSTEMS Take cooling equipment, for example. Back in 2015, Transtherm led the way by integrating PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) interfaces into our industrial cooling systems. These enable smart communication between complex machinery including the cooling solution
and software systems such as the building management system, in order to give greater control of the building environment and maximise system efficiencies.
The benefits of IoT connectivity are
plentiful – and will not come as a surprise to any forward thinking manufacturer. With the addition of PLCs, operators can check read parameters such as energy consumption, adjust write parameters such as water temperature and understand the impact that changes will have not just on the cooling system, but on other related equipment too. It means improved efficiency, whilst facilitating the option to check performance and even prevent downtime by spotting problems earlier and undertaking preventative maintenance. All this at the touch of a button from a central control point.
A JOINED UP APPROACH Crucially, however, this development enables a holistic, ‘whole facility’ approach to sustainability, really pushing the door wide open for lower energy bills and reduced carbon emissions. One of the biggest barriers to improving energy efficiency remains the fact that too many companies don’t understand their systems well enough. That doesn’t just mean a technological
interaction between appliances – it’s a human interaction too. OEMs and specifiers of related products must work closely right from the initial design stage to establish the optimum conditions for the system as a whole, rather than
Above: Control system
Below: Eight fan double bank Genset cooler
individual products – particularly where sold as packaged solutions. Let’s use the example of an industrial process cooling system. If we adjust the water temperature delivered by an air blast cooler from 40°C to 35°C it would inevitably mean the equipment has to work harder, may need additional fans and use more energy. However, cooling systems are designed to reduce the temperature of other equipment and by analysing the effect this change has on the entire system, it could mean greater energy savings overall. To demonstrate this using system EERs (Energy Efficiency Ratios), imagine an air blast cooler with EER of 30 when cooling to 35°C, combined with a chiller with condenser water at 35°C with EER 8 (scenario A). Together, these would give an illustrative system EER of X, for the purposes of this exercise – it’s very difficult to calculate actual figures in a representative scenario. In scenario B, if an air blast cooler when
cooling to 40°C at EER 40 was combined with a chiller with condenser water at 40°C (EER 6), it would give a system EER of 0.9X. You can see that in this situation (for illustrative purposes only), a less efficient EER on the air blast cooler in scenario A can give higher system EER overall. The Internet of Things enables us to think outside of silos and consider the chain reaction.
ADDED VALUE Energy effifiency, and the reduction in energy bills, is not the only benefit of connected cooling systems. Having instant, remote access to data reports covering every aspect of the equipment means it is far easier to maintain compliance with regulatory schemes like the Energy Savings Obligation Scheme, which requires large organisations to audit their energy usage. Whether specifying equipment directly or as part of a packaged solution from an OEM, manufacturers are now firmly switched on to the benefits of IoT compatibility. In fact, as we hurtle towards Industry 4.0, it is widely recognised that any investment without such compatibility would soon become obsolete. Don’t settle for anything less.
Transtherm Cooling Industries
www.transtherm.co.uk T: 024 7647 1120
12 MAY 2018 | FACTORY EQUIPMENT / FACTORYEQUIPMENT
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