Updated: February 27, 2024
Transforming Manufacturing Efficiency at West Midlands Machining Centres
For 25 years, two machining centre plants located in the West Midlands, have been dedicated to precision engineering and playing a key role in supplying components to leading truck and bus builders across the UK and Europe.
In 2022, their operational efficiency faced a critical challenge due to unreliable cooling systems, threatening production continuity and escalating maintenance costs.
In response, ICS Cool Energy stepped in with a bespoke solution redesigning their cooling infrastructure and setting the stage for production reliability, enhanced sustainability, and savings forecasted at approximately 1.7 million Kw/hours for the two sites.
CHALLENGE
The customer operates two plants with over 30 machining centres in one location, and more than 60 at the second one, each dedicated to carrying final machining operations on unique components to be supplied to major truck and bus builders.
With the machines operating 24/7, maintaining uninterrupted cooling of the cutting fluid has been paramount.
The existing cooling setup, with onboard chillers fitted on the machining centres in the harsh factory environment, proved vulnerable to breakdowns.
These breakdowns not only resulted in costly maintenance expenses but also threatened production schedules, leading to backlogs of components awaiting completion.
The fact that the chillers had to work against higher ambient temperatures inside the plant, also contributed to less overall efficiency.
The customer sought a solution for improvement that would not only ensure reliable and uninterrupted production but also increase energy efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, and align with their sustainability goals.
SOLUTION
To address these challenges, our team proposed a comprehensive solution.
A detailed energy analysis was conducted to size the cooling requirements and quantify the potential benefits of the proposed solution.
This provided the customer with valuable insights into expected energy savings and decarbonization benefits.
Recognizing the need for a more robust and reliable cooling system, our engineers recommended the installation of a central plant with optimally sized 450kW and 690kW run/standby chillers and pumps located externally.
This setup would supply cooling to the machining centres via a ring main, ensuring uninterrupted production even in the event of individual chiller failures.
For additional efficiency and sustainability gains, we suggested integrating Free Cooling technology that allows to capitalise on natural ambient temperatures to reduce mechanical energy consumption.
The proposed solution not only addressed the immediate production challenges but also aligned with the customer’s sustainability goals, with forecasted reductions in kW/hours usage and decarbonization benefits.
Additionally, we guaranteed seamless installation around the customer’s continued production schedules, reaffirming their commitment to minimizing disruption and maintaining operational continuity.
The quality of the energy analysis demonstrating potential benefits also allowed the customer to obtain a grant to finance part of the final costs.
RESULT
Following the successful redesign, installation and commissioning of the new cooling system, the customer yielded immediate gains in operational efficiency and improvements in production reliability, with fewer machine stoppages.
In the first plant with 450kW of cooling capacity, our calculations estimated annual energy savings of £150,000, based on the original electricity cost quotation.
Following the successful installation and commissioning, the second plant with 690kW of cooling capacity was projected to achieve even greater savings, with an estimated annual reduction of £305,000 in electricity costs.
These significant estimated savings can be achieved by a remarkable decrease in projected kW/hours usage, with an estimated 500,000 kW/hours saved at the first plant and an impressive 1.2 million kW/hours at plant two.
The overall outcome not only anticipates surpassing expectations but also positions the customer for long-term success in their pursuit of operational excellence and sustainability.
Featured Product Categories
Free cooling chillers
Free Cooling allows businesses to recover up to 80% of their process cooling energy costs by utilising lower ambient temperatures to cool their process application and reducing the need to power the chiller. Available as independent units or integrated with your process chiller, free coolers can be retrofitted into your existing process or installed as part of a turnkey solution. Working with businesses in the manufacturing and facilities management industries, we have lowered their energy costs and reduced their environmental impact through free cooling systems. Given the intrinsically process-heavy nature of the UK’s industrial manufacturing, process cooling is one of the biggest costs incurred. For many industrial end-users, process cooling is achieved solely via an air or water-cooled chiller or cooling tower. However, all industrial applications with a water leaving temperature of 10°C or more – regardless of sector – can start to be cooled via the external ambient air temperature, rather than by electro-mechanical refrigeration, thanks to a process known as free cooling. <strong>Up to 80% energy savings</strong> One of the stand-out benefits of a free cooling system is the sheer amount of energy – and therefore utility bills – it can save. While free cooling can bring about a reduction in energy consumption for any process cooling application with a water leaving temperature of 10°C or more, it should be attractive to larger manufacturers, such as those working in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. Further costs can be saved due to the reduced load on the chiller – particularly the compressors and fans – as they are not worked as hard, or at all in some cases. As such, maintenance costs can be lower over the lifetime of the system. From a health and safety point of view, unlike cooling towers, free cooling systems pose no risk of legionella and therefore do not require additional water treatment costs beyond the norm to mitigate the risk of an outbreak.
Process chillers
Process chillers are designed and built from the ground up to be more reliable, operate within tighter specified tolerances and to be more robust for continued operation when compared to chillers designed for HVAC. Our i-Chillers are specifically designed to cope with the rigours of manufacturing and critical processes. Process chillers may cost slightly more than equivalent HVAC or comfort chillers but are significantly better value and fit for purpose in a critical process. A process chiller will deliver more accurate leaving water temperature, operate trouble free for longer, have a lower op-ex cost and a greater residual value. <strong>Chillers built for process</strong> Our range of process chillers is designed specifically for process, with features such as unique finned coil evaporators immersed inside the cold-water tank, making them less susceptible to freezing and able to cope with variable load and process fluctuations. The large integrated cold side buffer tank enables closer temperature control for process tolerance and reduces wear and tear from compressor start and stop operations. i-Chillers have high-pressure pumps as standard to cope with the more complex pipework found in process applications. Being fully enclosed in robust steel panels not only protects but creates a smaller footprint for ease of access and plug & play installation. <strong>Our approach</strong> Since 1989 we have created bespoke temperature control solutions across all manufacturing, industrial and critical process applications. With a network of highly experienced technical engineers nationwide, we will visit your site to understand your exact application needs and audit your facilities and potential constraints to develop the optimum solution for your circumstances. We can design, install, commission and project manage bespoke turnkey solutions and provide full, tailored 24/7 maintenance & breakdown support with our nationwide service & hire team.