Integrated free cooling is a step up from traditional free cooling, which quickly became synonymous with reducing energy usage and associated costs and carbon impact. For the temperature control industry, free cooling was a significant milestone. It’s enabled manufacturers and processors to operate more sustainably whilst helping them to stay competitive and profitable against a backdrop of soaring energy and raw material costs.
Previously, it was necessary to have a chiller and a free cooling unit if you wanted to add free cooling functionality to your plastics process. With integrated free cooling, the technology is all in one packaged and fully contained unit.
Our range of fully integrated free cooling chillers (our Aqua EcoPro units) are available from 16kW to MW+, so regardless of the size of your production requirements, there will be a unit to suit.
Aqua were the first UK temperature control partner to offer optimised free cooling. For clients operating within the plastic processing sector, it can reduce energy consumption by 80+% and is saving businesses thousands of pounds every year, as well as achieving impressive returns on investment. By lowering operating costs and improving efficiencies, businesses are able to gain a competitive edge within the marketplace and free up capital for areas like product development and innovation.
The benefits of using less energy are two-fold. By saving energy, you reduce the carbon footprint of your business, operating more sustainably and improving your green credentials. This is particularly pertinent for organisations fulfilling a net zero business strategy.
How Free Cooling Helps Manufacturers Significantly Reduce Operating Costs
Free cooling is an engineering principle used within the temperature control sector. It refers to the process of using the external air temperature to either part cool or totally cool your process cooling fluid. By using the natural air to cool, rather than energy intensive mechanical refrigeration, energy consumption is dramatically lowered.
In the UK, the average ambient temperature is 11°C. For the majority of plastic processing applications, like extrusion, injection moulding, blow moulding and thermoforming etc., the average water temperature required is normally somewhere between 10°C – 25°C. So, for a large amount of the year, either partial or total cooling can be achieved by using the ambient air.
The further the ambient temperature drops, the more process heat the air can remove. If the temperature gets low enough (by as little as 3°C below chilled water outlet temperature), total free cooling can be achieved, which means there is no mechanical refrigeration required, just fan energy. But, even with partial free cooling, energy savings are significant.
It’s worth noting that most integrated free cooling chillers only achieve total free cooling at 10°C below water leaving temperatures, but our optimised free cooling allows free cooling at within just 3°C (a 7°C difference over our competitors’ products).
Cooling Smarter – The Advantages of Integrated Free Cooling
With integrated free cooling, a free cooling coil and additional controls is built into the chiller unit, so it’s a fully packaged solution. You have just one piece of equipment to install and maintain, whereas previously you would have required a free cooler and a chiller, so again you save on expensive installation as well as benefiting from a lower cost of ownership. The smaller footprint means your process cooling equipment also takes up less room on site, particularly relevant if space is a challenge and/or costly.
Real Results: The Savings Businesses See with Integrated Free Cooling
A 300kW system, operating with a fluid temperature of 15°C can achieve energy savings of £100,000 per year, based on your chosen tariff. It will also save in the region of 228,000 kg of CO2 each year.
How To Implement Integrated Free Cooling into Your Process System
Adding integrated free cooling is as simple as replacing your existing chiller with an integrated free cooling unit. Our engineers – or your own on site engineers if preferred – will disconnect the outgoing chiller and connect the new one. Because everything is integrated, installation costs are also less than if you were installing a chiller plus free cooler.
Our free cooling chillers have been specifically designed for process applications. They are well equipped to cope with the challenges that arise within manufacturing facilities. For example, there’s a uniquely designed evaporator, with large waterways, so you have better protection from contamination and system debris. The units also operate on R454 which is a low GWP (Global Warming Potential) refrigerant.
To summarise, here’s some of the benefits free cooling will bring to your business:
- Reduced energy consumption, by up to 80+%
- Sustainability, reduced carbon footprint
- Lower operating costs
- Extended equipment lifespan (mechanical components are used less)
- Keeps maintenance costs at a minimum
- Quick ROI
For more information get in touch or give us a call on 0333 004 4433.
