Keeping cooling systems running efficiently and effectively isn’t just a maintenance task when you’re working within the plastics industry. It’s key to ensuring product quality, reducing wastage, and minimising downtime. Whether you’re managing extrusion, injection moulding, or blow moulding operations, even a minor issue can ripple through production and impact your business.
The checklist below is designed to give maintenance managers some practical tips to help you stay ahead of the game and to avoid costly problems arising in the first place. Let’s break down some of the essentials that it’s good practice to review on a regular basis.
- First things first, ensure you have the right equipment for maximum results
It’s always good to step back and review your specific set up. Do you have the correct equipment? Is it being used in the right way? Process cooling technology is constantly evolving and there could be a better approach that will not only help your facility run more efficiently but also reduce your operating costs.
A good example is free cooling which can be retro fitted to an existing chiller or fully integrated into a new unit. With energy savings of 80+%, free cooling provides a solid return on investment, even if new equipment is purchased.
- Monitor glycol levels and glycol concentration
If you’re an injection moulder, you’re probably changing your mould or tool frequently. Some processors do this weekly, but for short production runs it could be daily. Each time this occurs some process fluid will be lost and need replacing. If the replacement fluid doesn’t include the correct level of glycol, over time the concentration will deplete to a point where you lose the protection it offers.
It’s quite common for plastic processors to call us with issues when they return to work after their plant has closed down over Christmas. Often equipment will have sat dormant over the holiday period. A chiller may have residue water in its evaporator, or a dry air/adiabatic cooler could have water inside the coil. This water can then freeze which results in an unexpected outage in the New Year and costly repairs. Getting your glycol concentration right is critical to preventing this and it can also be beneficial to run the pump to keep the fluid circulating.
- Check pump pressures
Checking that your pumps are operating at the correct pressure is a simple way of keeping your cooling system running well. If pump pressure is too low the pump can burn out. If a pump is running at too high a pressure it could indicate that you have an issue, it might be that a filter is blocked or a valve has been inadvertently closed.
- The importance of valves
Valves can fail or become stuck if they’re not maintained well. It’s best practice to regularly exercise valves, simply by opening and closing them to check they’re operating as they should be. In some cases, the valve might work fine, but the actuator that moves the valve might have failed, for example if there’s been water ingress.
In the case of a free cooling chiller, a failed valve will mean your system won’t be able to achieve free cooling and you’ll be wasting fan energy. One small issue, that’s easily rectifiable, could have real cost implications, particularly in the colder months when free cooling savings are really significant.
- Keep your condenser & coils clean and free from obstruction
Our Service desk receives lots of calls from plastics customers with avoidable condenser problems. It can be a seasonal issue, leaves in the autumn being sucked into the condenser, or plant blossom in the spring. Sometimes it’s down to rubbish, like plastic packaging from raw materials finding their way into the condenser and restricting it.
It’s important to also remember that coils need to be kept clean, as well as free from any obstruction. We’ve visited sites where storage is tight, and issues have arisen because bags of plastic pellets have interrupted the air flow around the coil. If site conditions are particularly harsh, it’s easy for dirt and debris to clog the coil. Again, if you have free cooling, a blocked coil will stop the free cooling operation.
- The importance of water treatment & filtration
Water testing and treatment protocols are so important within plastics processing and a proactive way of keeping your cooling system running as it should. With every mould or tool change you risk contaminating your process with bacteria and/or corrosion. By regularly testing your water you ensure you’re operating with the right levels of biocide, inhibitor, and glycol.
Foreign matter will clog filters, heat exchangers, evaporators, and coils. We recommend frequently checking and changing your filters to avoid jeopardising the performance of your cooling system.
If contamination is a frequent issue, you could add side stream filtration to your cooling system. With this, a small amount of your water is continually filtered and added back in, rather than you having to stop production to undertake a full water change.
- Do you have a contingency plan?
Ask yourself what you would do in the worst-case scenario. If your cooling system were to fail, do you have a plan B? If you’re producing 24/7, extended downtime won’t be an option. A contingency plan mitigates the risk of business interruption and keeps you a step ahead.
And the best part? We offer a free contingency planning service.
- Last but by no means least – remote monitoring
Adding remote monitoring to your cooling system gives real-time visibility of exactly how it’s performing. With our Aqua Proactive package, 300 variables are monitored, and the data is logged every 10 seconds. Potential issues are identified before they become a problem, safeguarding against downtime and emergency scenarios. You can even chose for us to monitor on your behalf, so if an alarm flags we’ll have an engineer investigating before you’re even aware there’s a problem.
Hopefully, this has given you a quick overview of the steps you can take to keep your cooling system running and performing well. Depending on site resource it might be that you need help to keep on top of your maintenance. We offer a range of Planned Preventative Maintenance plans (PPMs) to support customers with all of the areas outlined. Our team are based all across the UK, so we’re never far away when you need us most.
For more information on planned preventative maintenance support call our Service team today on 0333 004 4433.
