RENK controls its hall air conditioning in an energy-efficient and CO2-saving manner with Kappa CoolFactoryTM
Many process steps are required to manufacture high-quality gear units and drives. As a high-precision production step, machining requires a perfectly adapted temperature range in order to be able to produce without rejects and with the best possible health protection. Kappa has therefore installed a pioneering air and cooling solution for the entire machining hall at premium manufacturer RENK: Kappa CoolFactoryTM ensures an excellent hall climate at RENK while reducing emissions at the same time.
TOO MUCH HEAT
In production hall 13 at RENK, various emissions and enormous heat loads are generated during Zerspanung and the air is also polluted with moisture and odors. In order to meet the many air technology requirements, RENK opted for a future-proof hall air purification system that puts an end to the bad air and heat with the help of cooling registers and a 4000-liter cooling buffer tank.
Kappa CoolFactoryTM uses 47 diffusers installed at strategic points in the hall. These flow clean, cooled fresh air without draughts to the individual workstations. The cooling itself is generated as required with the help of two heat pumps, creating a lake of fresh air at the workstations after a short time, which displaces the emissions and heat loads to the hall ceiling. There, the bad air is collected by extraction panels and directed to the equally efficient exhaust air heat exchanger via a highly efficient filtration system. The same amount of air is reintroduced into the production hall from outside as fresh air in accordance with the exhaust air volume, which guarantees perfect hall air balance. Thanks to this intelligent air technology, the cooling lubricant limit value is not only adhered to, but is significantly undercut. Compared to conventional systems, Kappa CoolFactoryTM requires more than a third less air volume and therefore less energy for this process. Another benefit: Kappa CoolFactoryTM automatically adjusts its air output to the production workload. When the workload is high, the system uses more air volume; when the production volume is low, it uses less. With the help of this intelligent synchronization, RENK saves almost 1.5 million kWh of electricity per year. This corresponds to the energy requirements of 330 single-family homes or almost 600,000 kilograms of CO2.
COOL!
With the installation of Kappa CoolFactoryTM , RENK is setting a benchmark for outstanding workplace conditions in machining. The investment impressively demonstrates how energy-efficient cooling can be implemented, employee protection optimized and energy saved on a large scale through holistic planning and execution.
