Medium: Water

Quantity: 2 Units

Project Description:industrial cooling towers were delivered for the supporting cooling system of an injection molding plant in Southeast Asia. The equipment is mainly responsible for mold cooling and hydraulic oil heat dissipation for injection molding machines. Tailored to Southeast Asia's tropical monsoon climate featuring year-round high temperature and high humidity as well as heavy rainfall during the rainy season, the equipment is equipped with enhanced heat exchange structure, variable frequency drive system, anti-corrosion technology and water-saving design. The solution effectively solves common industry pain points such as cooling temperature fluctuations, heat exchange efficiency attenuation under tropical climate and high water consumption, ensuring continuous and stable operation of the injection molding production line, improving product yield and reducing overall energy consumption as well as operation and maintenance costs.

Situation 

Southeast Asia's manufacturing industry has developed rapidly in recent years, especially the plastics and injection molding processing sector, making the country an important production and manufacturing base in Southeast Asia. During the injection molding process, the hydraulic system, molds, heating rings and other components generate substantial heat during continuous operation, requiring sustained and stable circulating water cooling to ensure stable molding cycles and product dimensional accuracy. Excessive temperature fluctuations in the cooling system can lead to uneven shrinkage, warping deformation, increased internal stress and other quality issues, affecting production efficiency and yield.

The client of this project, THRIVING ELITE INT, is a local injection molding manufacturer in Southeast Asia. The company expanded its injection molding production line with a supporting cooling system, putting forward relatively high requirements for cooling equipment performance. Southeast Asia features a tropical monsoon climate with an annual average temperature of 24-28℃. The extreme temperature in the dry season can exceed 35℃, with high humidity throughout the year and heavy rainfall during the rainy season. Long-term high temperature and high humidity will reduce the evaporative heat dissipation efficiency of cooling towers and affect the stable control of cooling water temperature for injection molding machines. In addition, voltage fluctuations exist in the power grid of some industrial zones in Southeast Asia, posing challenges to the stability of electrical equipment. Traditional cooling towers suffer from heat exchange efficiency attenuation under high temperature, insufficient temperature control accuracy and high water consumption, which are the major difficulties of this project.

Task

Cooling towers operate in parallel to serve all injection molding machines in the production workshop. The equipment needs to adapt to Southeast Asia's tropical climate and on-site working conditions. The core challenges are as follows:

• Stable heat exchange under tropical high temperature and high humidity: Maintain stable heat exchange efficiency when the ambient temperature exceeds 35℃, accurately control the cooling water temperature for injection molding machine molds and hydraulic oil, ensure stable product dimensions and uniform quality, and avoid increased scrap rates caused by insufficient heat dissipation.

• Temperature control precision for injection molding process: Injection molding requires relatively high precision in mold temperature control. Water temperature fluctuations directly affect product shrinkage and appearance quality. The cooling system must provide rapid response and stable regulation capabilities to meet the differentiated cooling requirements of various injection molding machine models.

• Power grid fluctuation adaptation and electrical safety: Adapt to voltage fluctuation conditions in Southeast Asiaese industrial zones, ensure stable operation of electrical systems, and eliminate equipment failures and production interruptions caused by voltage instability.

• Water saving and operational economy: Injection molding plants typically operate 24/7. The cooling system runs continuously and needs to reduce water and power consumption, control water drift loss, improve water resource utilization and lower long-term operating costs.

• Coordinated operation of dual parallel units: Two cooling towers are arranged centrally. It is required to realize uniform distribution of air volume, water pressure and water flow as well as dynamic load balance. The maintenance or failure of a single unit shall not affect the operation of the whole system, so as to guarantee uninterrupted production of the plant.

Action

The Casen heat transfer expert team conducted in-depth research on Southeast Asia's tropical climate characteristics and injection molding process requirements, and customized a complete solution of cooling towers to solve all difficulties:

• Enhanced heat exchange optimization for tropical working conditions: The filler area of the cooling tower is expanded, and the internal air duct and large-flow water distribution system are optimized to improve gas-liquid contact efficiency and make up for the insufficient evaporative heat dissipation under high humidity. The fans are equipped with variable frequency drive systems, which can automatically adjust the fan speed according to ambient temperature and process return water temperature, stabilize the outlet water temperature during extreme high temperature periods, and strictly guarantee the required process temperature range for injection molding machine cooling water and hydraulic oil.

• Precise temperature control to ensure injection molding quality: An efficient water distribution system and precise flow control are configured to ensure that the outlet water temperature fluctuation is controlled within the designed range, meeting the stability requirements of injection molding machines for mold cooling water temperature and ensuring the molding quality and yield of various injection molded products.

• Adaptation to local electrical conditions: A voltage stabilizing module is built into the electrical system to cope with local voltage fluctuation. All electrical components adopt high-protection-grade motors and electric control boxes to ensure long-term stable operation of the electrical system.

• Water-saving structural renovation: High-efficiency water eliminators are installed on the top of the tower to control water drift loss within high industry standards and greatly reduce water consumption. The circulating water circuit is optimized to improve the circulating water concentration ratio, achieving both water saving and operational economy.

• Intelligent joint control system for dual parallel units: The two cooling towers adopt centralized pipeline layout, and balance pipes are installed on the main pipelines to ensure uniform water pressure and water flow of each tower. An integrated intelligent control system is configured to realize synchronous start-stop of dual units, automatic load distribution, real-time monitoring of operating parameters and remote fault alarm. Operators can conduct centralized management to reduce labor costs and guarantee uninterrupted operation of the injection molding production line.

Key Achievements

Cooling towers have been installed, commissioned and officially put into operation at the injection molding plant in Southeast Asia. The operation performance under all working conditions meets design expectations, and the project has achieved remarkable results:

• Excellent performance under high temperature and high humidity: Under tropical extreme high temperature and high humidity, the heat exchange efficiency of the equipment remains stable, and the process water temperature is controlled within the designed range. The cooling effect of injection molding machine hydraulic oil and molds meets requirements, and product quality remains stable with product yield unaffected by environmental conditions.

• Precise temperature control ensuring product quality: Cooling water temperature fluctuation is controlled within the designed range. The injection molding cycle is stable, and product shrinkage, appearance quality and dimensional accuracy all meet customer standards, effectively supporting factory capacity release and quality improvement.

• Outstanding weather resistance: The equipment has withstood Southeast Asia's heavy rainfall during the rainy season and high temperature climate. The tower structure remains stable with good anti-corrosion effect on metal components, ensuring stable long-term operation.

• Remarkable energy and water saving effects: The variable frequency regulation system automatically optimizes operating power, significantly reducing overall energy consumption compared with traditional fixed-speed cooling towers. The water drift loss is far below local control standards with substantial reduction in water consumption, effectively reducing the plant's long-term operating costs.

• Stable operation of dual parallel units: The load of two parallel cooling towers is evenly distributed, and the intelligent joint control system responds timely. The whole system operates stably for a long time, fully meeting the strict requirements of 24/7 continuous production of injection molding plants.

SMART Metrics

• Delivery: 2 sets of KCN-205R cooling towers fully installed, commissioned and put into operation;

• Temperature control accuracy: Process outlet water temperature stably controlled within the designed range, meeting the cooling requirements of injection molding machine molds and hydraulic oil;

• Comprehensive energy saving rate: The cooling system equipped with variable frequency drive reduces overall energy consumption by ≥15% (based on industry benchmark data for similar projects);

• Maximum operating temperature: Stable long-term operation at 35℃ high temperature with no attenuation of heat exchange efficiency;

• Water saving performance: High-efficiency water eliminators and water-saving structure achieve water drift loss rate ≤0.015%, with overall water consumption significantly reduced;

• System reliability: The intelligent joint control system provides real-time monitoring and remote fault alarm. Dual units serve as backup for each other, achieving system continuous operation rate ≥99%;

• Compliance certification: The equipment has passed local industrial equipment safety inspection in Southeast Asia and is adapted to local power grid standards.

Reusability Takeaways

• Cooling solutions for injection molding/plastics processing industry in Southeast Asia: A standardized cooling tower solution tailored to the process cooling requirements and tropical climate conditions of injection molding, blow molding, extrusion and other plastics processing industries in Southeast Asia and Southeast Asia, which can be rapidly replicated for plastics manufacturing projects in Southeast Asian countries.

• Comprehensive cooling tower technology for tropical high temperature and high humidity areas: The integrated design of enhanced heat exchange, variable frequency energy saving and water saving is suitable for tropical countries such as Southeast Asia, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, and can be widely used in injection molding, food, chemical and other industries.

• Precise temperature control technology for industrial manufacturing processes: High-precision temperature control cooling solutions for process stages sensitive to cooling temperature such as injection molding and blow molding, which can be extended to high-demand application scenarios such as precision manufacturing, medical devices and electronic packaging.

• Intelligent joint control technology for multiple parallel units: Pipeline optimization, load balancing and remote monitoring systems for two or more parallel cooling towers, applicable to centralized cooling scenarios such as small and medium-sized manufacturing plants and industrial parks.

•  Variable frequency energy saving technology application: Cooling tower variable frequency drive systems that automatically adjust fan speed according to ambient temperature and process return water temperature, which can be widely promoted to various industrial cooling scenarios to effectively reduce long-term power consumption of factories.