Energy-saving cooling cuts Fluorocarbon’s costs by 67%
Due to a steep rise in on-site electricity costs – which have doubled in just two years –Fluorocarbon has invested in energy-efficient inverters and a free cooling system from process cooling specialist, IsoCool. The measures are paying off fast – cooling costs are on track to reduce by 67%. This gives the project, which is funded with a loan from the Carbon Trust and Siemens Financial Services under the Energy Efficiency Financing Scheme, a payback schedule of less than two years.
One of the largest fluoropolymer processors in the UK, presently celebrating 50 years in the polymer industry, Fluorocarbon supplies PTFE and polymer related components, high performance engineering plastics and stock shapes. Their international client base spans a range of industries, from food to plastics. To fulfil demand, the company operates five manufacturing facilities across Europe.
Fluorocarbon’s Hertford factory is one of the largest, with on-site processes including industrial bakeware, moulding and screw extrusion. Consequently, the cooling system is integral, supporting more than 70% of plant equipment within the polymer factory.
Historically the cooling system consisted of a single water chiller with a 120kW cooling capacity, and cost just over £20,000 a year to run. But with electricity prices rising, Fluorocarbon took action, as Shaun Grundon, Health, Safety and Environmental Officer explained:
“A few years ago, the cost of electricity on the site doubled from 7p to 15p per KWh. We already had plans to improve energy-efficiency, so we looked at the site as a whole and applied for the Carbon Trust/Siemens loan to cover four projects, of which the cooling system is the biggest. As we’d had such great results from IsoCool on previous projects, we approached them to help. They’re also an approved Carbon Trust supplier, which was ideal”.
To significantly reduce the energy-consumption of the process cooling system, IsoCool retro-fitted a separate RFC air blast cooler to the chiller. This provides the cooling source during the times of the year when the ambient will allow partial and up to 100% direct air cooling, thus offloading the compressors and the inherent high operating costs.
According to Shaun, the benefits of an air blast cooler were clear: “An investigation into the weather conditions in Hertford showed that we could save a lot of money with free cooling. Our cooling system has an outlet temperature of 18oC, and the ambient temperature in this area is below that for about 8 months of the year”.
IsoCool also identified that further energy savings could be achieved by installing inverters to the process pumps. Unlike standard process pumps, which work at either full capacity or are switched off in stages, inverters alter the speed of the pumps in direct response to demand. They also limit peaks in electrical usage. This keeps energy consumption and operating costs to a minimum.
Both IsoCool and Fluorocarbon were right to be confident in these energy saving technologies, as Shaun explained: “Our water chillers used to be on 24/7, 52 weeks of the year, they never shut down. Now thanks to the free cooler, the main chiller only comes on two to three months a year. The energy savings are massive”.
Results from the inverters have been equally impressive: “Our process pumps were a similar story – one of them was running all the time and we had a backup pump on stand-by. The inverters mean that we’re saving 25p an hour on the pump alone,” Shaun continued.
Based on the chilled water system running at 60% load factor, IsoCool calculated that the energy efficient upgrades would lower the running costs of the cooling system to approximately £6,800 – just a third of previous total. Factoring in the fees of the Energy Efficiency Financing Scheme, this gives the solution a payback of less than two years.
“We’ve been monitoring the energy consumption of our new system closely, and so far we’re right on track to achieving the savings which IsoCool predicted in their cost analysis. It’s basically a self-financing project – once the loan is paid back, we’ll be saving in excess of £13,000 every year,” explained Shaun.
Fluorocarbon is delighted with IsoCool’s work, as Shaun confirmed: “IsoCool did an excellent job with the installation. Because we run a 24/7 production, we can’t afford for the chillers to be shut down. IsoCool worked it so that there was no loss of production. Their site survey was extremely thorough too, and our savings forecast is spot on”.
Editors’ notes
Established in 2002 by Managing Director Nigel Hallett, IsoCool Ltd specialises in industrial cooling, designing, installing and maintaining energy-efficient cooling systems across a wide range of sectors, from plastics and packaging to engineering and food. IsoCool also provides high level environmental advice relating to the age and performance of existing cooling systems at client premises. For a full company profile or to arrange an interview with Nigel Hallett, please contact PrettyGood PR.
IsoCool: www.isocool.ltd.uk, info@isocool.ltd.uk, +44 (0)1376 328455.
