Opportunities for saving energy are everywhere, but which measures are practical and can be implemented on a large scale? Energy and environmental management staff ask themselves this question all the time. Even a saving that appears small at first glance can have a big impact, as demonstrated by the example of Viega, a world market leader in installation technology for sanitary facilities and heating systems.
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Making energy consumption transparent and identifying the main power guzzlers to focus on are the key everyday challenges faced by Martin Szilinski. For seven years now, he has been responsible for energy, environmental and occupational safety management at Viega. The company operates four production sites in Germany. The largest, located in Grossheringen, is the competence centre for piping systems and manufactures pipe connecting elements made of copper, steel, stainless steel, brass, plastic and gunmetal.....
The results were impressive: In fact, the energy savings were as high as Rittal predicted.
The heat pipe works especially well if there is a big temperature difference between the interior of the enclosure and the environment, and it consumes very little energy. Furthermore, the compressor cooling system is also very energy-efficient thanks to demand-driven control technology and energy-efficient drives.
THE TEST RESULTS ARE CONVINCING
During the market launch of the new generation of cooling units, Rittal offered selected customers the chance to put the devices through their paces in a trial run. As a result, two production machines in the Großheringen manufacturing facility were retrofitted. After testing, Mr. Szilinski and Mr. Schild commissioned Rittal’s After Sales Service to check each cooling unit’s efficiency. The findings identified the machines where it would make sense to replace the cooling units. In the end, 138 devices were earmarked for replacement.
“Of course, we also had to convince the management of this investment,” Mr. Szilinski recalls. Here, the data from testing, the efficiency check and the emissions savings helped to aid argumentation enormously. “One single enclosure climate control system is, of course, a relatively small adjustment. However, if you look at the savings made in the entire plant, the measure has a big impact,” Mr. Szilinski adds.