When temperatures reach 40°C, things get uncomfortably hot for electronics. In iron foundries, of course, it regularly gets even hotter. At its site in Lohr am Main, Bosch Rexroth GmbH runs its own foundry, which incorporates a sand preparation plant. When looking at how best to protect control technology, the company opted for a liquid-based cooling solution – the Top Therm Chiller from Rittal.
The concept of a liquid-based, centralised cooling solution was very popular.
Radiated and residual heat is found virtually everywhere in the foundry area. To tackle this problem, Bosch Rexroth AG worked with Rittal to find a solution that would keep processes running smoothly regardless of the extreme ambient conditions – ideally without sending costs spiralling.
Independent of ambient conditions
For Geeb, “the only sensible solution” for dissipating heat without heating up the ambient air was a centralised climate-control infrastructure using water as a coolant. The Top Therm Chiller recooler from Rittal features built-in redundancy and is connected to the plant’s water supply network to protect technology from overheating. Air/water heat exchangers were also used for enclosure climate control.
Up to 40 percent lower energy costs
The solution offers considerable cost benefits in terms of procurement, energy savings and maintenance. When using the air/water heat exchanger, there is no need to install a cooling unit with a separate cooling circuit in each enclosure, as heat energy is transferred to a single cooling circuit – which results in an energy saving of up to 40 percent.
Less maintenance and high dependability
Service and maintenance costs are also greatly reduced, as only one compressor and one cooling water pump need to be kept in working order. Leak sensors also ensure excellent dependability by triggering on-screen error messages, sending notifications to the relevant monitoring units and closing solenoid valves. What’s more, eco-mode regulation switches the internal fan on and off in line with the temperature in the enclosure, thus helping to drive down power consumption even further.