{"id":14568,"date":"2020-11-16T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T07:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/?p=14568"},"modified":"2024-03-12T17:54:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T16:54:12","slug":"cooling-towers-a-towering-advantage-for-krones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/industries\/refrigeration-ventilation\/cooling-towers-a-towering-advantage-for-krones_14568\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooling towers: A towering advan\u00adtage for Krones"},"content":{"rendered":"

They call them\u00adselves the \u201cKings in Cans\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aand the approx. 400 employees at the Refresco site in Sittard, Nether\u00adlands, are not exag\u00adger\u00adating when they say this. Every day around four million cans whiz across numerous conveyor lines here through various bottling plants. They are filled with energy, sports and refresh\u00adment drinks or beer, and then end up on the shelves of renowned food chains and discount stores world\u00adwide.<\/p>\n

Sven Breit\u00adfeld is delighted that he has only one contact partner for cooling towers and bottling systems: Krones. (Photo | Ralf Kreuels)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Each year 400 million cans alone pass through the new Line 8, which Refresco procured from Krones and was started up in 2019. The special thing about it is that the turnkey line is one of the first bottling plants that Krones supplied with a self-designed cooling tower. Sven Breit\u00adfeld, Produc\u00adtion Process Manager at Refresco in Sittard, explains: \u201cWe were already using several indi\u00advidual machines and another turnkey line from Krones. For us, the new complete system is advan\u00adta\u00adgeous because we only have one contact partner for it. This simpli\u00adfies a lot of things. Like us, Krones is committed to constantly improving prod\u00aducts and opti\u00admizing them through inno\u00adva\u00adtion. The cooling towers tailored to the plant are a good example of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a turnover of around 2.3 billion euros, the Refresco Group, which is head\u00adquar\u00adtered in Rotterdam, is the world\u2019s largest inde\u00adpen\u00addent bottling company for retailers and branded beverage compa\u00adnies in Europe and North America. With 61 sites around the world, the company does justice to its motto of \u201cOur drinks on every table.\u201d Across the whole company, around 30 million liters of drinks from different manu\u00adfac\u00adturers are produced and bottled every day\u200a\u2014\u200aincluding fruit juices, iced teas, energy and sports drinks, mineral water, beer, and much more.<\/p>\n

Sven Breit\u00adfeld: \u201cWe offer our customers inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive produc\u00adtion and bottling solu\u00adtions, along with a high level of quality. But we are also aware of our respon\u00adsi\u00adbility as a market leader. We have a compre\u00adhen\u00adsive sustain\u00adability strategy, which includes energy-effi\u00adcient produc\u00adtion and we work together with part\u00adners who offer the right solu\u00adtions.\u201d<\/p>\n

A cool deci\u00adsion<\/h2>\n

The cooling towers ensure the process reli\u00ada\u00adbility required for bottling as optimum quality can only be achieved with reli\u00adable cooling capacity. (Photo | Ralf Kreuels)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

One of these part\u00adners is Krones, the bottling and pack\u00adaging specialist head\u00adquar\u00adtered in Neutraub\u00adling, Bavaria. For years, devel\u00adopers here have been working inten\u00adsively on resource-saving and energy-\u00adeffi\u00adcient solu\u00adtions for the industry. The world market leader has consid\u00adered itself more than a mechan\u00adical and plant engi\u00adneering company for a long time now. The company invests around five percent of its annual turnover in research and devel\u00adop\u00adment, and currently has around 6,000 patents.<\/p>\n

It is no surprise that the plant devel\u00adopers were itching to inves\u00adti\u00adgate the emerging cooling tower market. Previ\u00adously, Krones had only purchased cooling towers. But the product is hot prop\u00aderty: Whilst in recent years refrig\u00ader\u00adating plants or fresh water have still mainly been used for cooling in produc\u00adtion, the demand for cooling towers as an addi\u00adtional compo\u00adnent is constantly increasing.<\/p>\n

Chris\u00adtian Depner from Product Treat\u00adment Tech\u00adnology at the Krones site in Flens\u00adburg (Photo | Krones)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Cooling towers form a second cooling circuit within a bottling plant. First of all, the filled cans or bottles are show\u00adered with cold water following pasteur\u00adiza\u00adtion. This water is cooled by refrig\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion plants or cooling towers depending on the temper\u00ada\u00adture level. The energy expelled for this is opti\u00admally used with the help of recu\u00adper\u00ada\u00adtion cycles. If a recovery cycle stops in certain oper\u00adating states, working heat develops that has to be dissi\u00adpated quickly because it can affect the appear\u00adance and taste of the prod\u00aducts.<\/p>\n

This is where the cooling tower comes into play, explains Chris\u00adtian Depner from Product Treat\u00adment Tech\u00adnology at the Krones site in Flens\u00adburg: \u201cIt takes over the cooling to a certain level, and is much more econom\u00adical than the refrig\u00ader\u00adating plant in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was there\u00adfore obvious for Krones to expand their already exten\u00adsive port\u00adfolio with this promising compo\u00adnent. Of course, with a version opti\u00admized for processes, completely in line with the perfec\u00adtionism of the company.<\/p>\n

Perfectly coor\u00addi\u00adnated solu\u00adtion<\/h2>\n

The special\u00adists at Krones incor\u00adpo\u00adrated their pooled exper\u00adtise for the cooling towers. The earth\u00adquake-proof stain\u00adless steel construc\u00adtion is welded instead of having screws, and is designed in such a way that it provides bacteria with as little contact area as possible. Chris\u00adtian Depner helped with the process engi\u00adneering-based design of the cooling capacity. He explains: \u201cFour years ago, as a student trainee, I dealt with the design of cooling towers in my Bachelor\u2019s thesis. A calcu\u00adla\u00adtion basis was already there, but we also took some addi\u00adtional factors into account that illus\u00adtrate the reality of our sector even more accu\u00adrately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reac\u00adtive power of the cooling towers is minimal. If the temper\u00ada\u00adture changes, the power of the fans that temper the water by supplying air is auto\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcally adjusted. Here Krones relies on AxiBlade EC fans, which are ideal for demand-based cooling capacity thanks to step\u00adlessly vari\u00adable control. (Rendering | Krones)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Using process exper\u00adtise to make their own cooling tower<\/h2>\n

One impor\u00adtant factor is the loca\u00adtion of the plant, for example: The temper\u00ada\u00adture and humidity of the ambient air have a major influ\u00adence on the cooling capacity that can be provided for produc\u00adtion. In the different areas of the bottling plant, there are also heat-gener\u00adating energy peaks at certain times during the process. These briefly require a higher cooling capacity, but this can be reduced after a certain period.<\/p>\n

Five AxiBlade fans from ebm-papst run in each of Line 8\u2019s cooling towers. The AxiBlade axial fans are also equipped with special corro\u00adsion protec\u00adtion. (Photo | Ralf Kreuels)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Seasonal adjust\u00adment of the cooling capacity is just as impor\u00adtant as when changing the product. Chris\u00adtian Depner explains: \u201cIf for example juices are bottled hot, short and intense cooling is required. Other liquids, by contrast, require even cooling over a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years of expe\u00adri\u00adence with produc\u00adtion processes and prod\u00aducts, as well as the exten\u00adsive exper\u00adtise at Krones, made it possible for all rele\u00advant factors to be taken into account. This has enabled the reac\u00adtive power of the cooling towers to be reduced to a minimum. To ensure that only the required cooling is avail\u00adable at all times, the cold water flow that leaves the cooling tower is contin\u00adu\u00adously measured.<\/p>\n

As soon as the temper\u00ada\u00adture changes to a minimal extent, the power of the fans that temper the water by supplying air is auto\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcally adjusted. This means that the required power is always avail\u00adable, while the customer bene\u00adfits from less noise and signif\u00adi\u00adcantly reduced energy consump\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

So that the system func\u00adtions as required, the fans fitted need to be precisely controlled. They are an essen\u00adtial compo\u00adnent of a cooling tower. This is why Chris\u00adtian Depner left nothing to chance here: \u201cWe looked at various options and then decided on the AxiBlade series from ebm-papst. Thanks to EC tech\u00adnology, the fans can be step\u00adlessly powered up and down, thereby always providing demand-based cooling capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u2009\u201cWe have a compre\u00adhen\u00adsive sustain\u00adability strategy, which includes energy-effi\u00adcient produc\u00adtion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sven Breit\u00adfeld, Produc\u00adtion Process Manager at Refresco in Sittard<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Before the fans were used, the devel\u00adopers made impor\u00adtant adjust\u00adments. Depner explains: \u201cThe fans come into contact with aggres\u00adsive biocides that suppress algae and legionella growth in the water circuit. \u00adebm-papst there\u00adfore provided all the AxiBlade series we needed with special corro\u00adsion protec\u00adtion. Because we use a control signal of 4 to 20 milliamperes as stan\u00addard in our systems, ebm-papst also provided us with a special para\u00adme\u00adter\u00adi\u00adza\u00adtion with the appro\u00adpriate input.\u201d<\/p>\n

More fans = greater process reli\u00ada\u00adbility<\/h2>\n

Depending on the required cooling capacity, between one and eight fans are gener\u00adally used in a cooling tower. Two cooling towers, each with five fans and a total thermal output of 1,940 kilo\u00adwatts, are installed in Line 8 at Refresco. Chris\u00adtian Depner explains: \u201cThe fans run at an average of 50 percent load. The advan\u00adtage of multiple installed fans is defi\u00adnitely process reli\u00ada\u00adbility. If one fails, the others can be easily ramped up and the cooling capacity main\u00adtained.\u201d This bonus in terms of reli\u00ada\u00adbility is also impor\u00adtant for Produc\u00adtion Process Manager Sven Breit\u00adfeld: \u201cWe need systems that run with complete reli\u00ada\u00adbility, guar\u00adantee the optimum quality of our prod\u00aducts, and fit our sustain\u00adability strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Sittard, Refresco fills 400 million cans every year on Line 8 from Krones. The line was put into oper\u00ada\u00adtion in 2019. (Photo | Ralf Kreuels)<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

Krones has since built 37 cooling towers and supplied compa\u00adnies in Germany, the Nether\u00adlands, Brazil, Hungary, and Africa, among other places. There is a high demand for energy-saving tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies. Sven Breit\u00adfeld also sees the Neutraubling-based company as being on the right path: \u201cTo us, Krones is a compe\u00adtent contact partner who is also familiar with third-party machines in our lines. The option to now purchase every\u00adthing, including the cooling tower, from a single source, makes \u00adKrones an even more attrac\u00adtive partner for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They call them\u00adselves the \u201cKings in Cans\u201d\u200a\u2014\u200aand the approx. 400 employees at the Refresco site in Sittard, Nether\u00adlands, are not exag\u00adger\u00adating when they say this. Every day around four million cans whiz across numerous conveyor lines here through various bottling plants. They are filled with energy, sports and refresh\u00adment drinks or beer, and then end [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fans","category-refrigeration-ventilation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14568"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14619,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14568\/revisions\/14619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}