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Evaporative cooling
Whether it’s due to particularly hot days or heat-generating manufacturing processes, industrial-scale production facilities can become very hot environments, and exceptionally quickly. In addition to the obvious dangers and discomfort for employees, an inability to manage and maintain temperatures at acceptable levels can also significantly slow down productivity.
A productive workplace is a vital factor in the success of these facilities, and several studies have been carried out which demonstrate the extent to which uncontrolled heat levels have a determining effect.
For example, NASA’s productivity research has shown that errors and malfunctions increase exponentially as temperatures rise, leading to slower production, more defects and significant revenue losses.
The following table is a summary of the relationships identified in NASA tests between temperature, production and accuracy.
| Température effective | 24ºC | 26ºC | 29ºC | 32ºC | 35ºC | 38ºC | 40ºC |
| Perte de production | 3% | 8% | 18% | 29% | 45% | 62% | 79% |
| Augmentation du taux d'erreur | 0% | 5% | 40% | 300% | 700% | N/A | N/A |
The above data is clear evidence of how rising heat levels in working environments negatively affect productivity overall: as temperatures rise, concentration levels drop, fatigue sets in, mistakes are made and workers produce less. Ultimately, this results in substantial revenue losses for your company.
Why are industrial production plants so sensitive to heat?
Every workplace must be designed to create a safe working environment for its employees. However, industrial production facilities have unique challenges:
Practical
In a production facility with high ceilings and overhead cranes, the installation of ducting systems, such as air-conditioning units, is costly to operate, and can become an obstacle to internal handling operations. In many cases, installation of an air-conditioning system is simply not possible due to the size of the building.
Process
In facilities with heat-intensive manufacturing processes, such as steel production, foundries, car manufacturing, glass production, brick and tile making, baking ovens in the food industry, kilns, furnaces are in operation throughout the day. Although it may be tempting to invest in industrial fans as a relatively inexpensive solution, in these extreme environments, fans will simply stir up the hot air in the space without actually reducing the temperature.
Climate change
Hot days are on the increase every year. Climate change is becoming a growing concern as temperatures rise around the world. As regulations tighten, it becomes more difficult to provide safe and comfortable working conditions for employees. This problem is even more acute when it comes to production and manufacturing facilities, as buildings are generally large and high-ceilinged, and very often open-plan. These configurations make them more difficult and costly to cool with traditional air-conditioning solutions.
Why choose evaporative cooling?
The cost of installing and operating a mobile evaporative cooler is significantly lower than that of standard air conditioning, and practical in almost any type of warm environment.
Evaporative cooling units harness the natural power of evaporation to cool the air in a space. When water evaporates, the evaporation process consumes energy; this energy is drawn from the airflow passing through the unit, resulting in a drop in temperature.
This means that the warmer the air in a space, the more water can be evaporated, and the more efficient the system becomes. In other words, you get more cooling when you need it most.
What are the main applications for adiabatic evaporative cooling?
Adiabatic cooling is generally used wherever air conditioning is not possible because it is too expensive or impossible to install.
- Buildings open to the outside and not very airtight
- Loading dock with regularly opened sectional doors
- Poorly insulated buildings
- Workshops and factories housing heat-generating manufacturing processes
- Cooling of open work areas in a large building (cooling islands)
- Cooling of machines or technical areas (compressors, motors, pumps, technical rooms, frequency inverters, etc.)
- Cooling of workstations close to hot machinery (ovens, extruders, dryers, etc.)
What is targeted cooling?
With OberA mobile units, it’s possible to implement targeted spot cooling to bring cool air to specific areas where staff are working, without wasting energy cooling empty spaces. This is particularly useful in large facilities where the majority of a building is used for storage.
In terms of productivity, this gives staff the flexibility to move coolers as needed and/or direct cool air onto machines to reduce downtime caused by overheating. On top of this, greater efficiency can be achieved with the ability to relocate cooling units if they get in the way of operations.
It’s also important to note that adiabatic coolers consume no energy to cool (only water is evaporated). So they don’t waste energy, helping to reduce global warming.
Unlike air conditioning, for example, the evaporative cooling process requires no refrigerant gases, many of which are incredibly harmful to the environment. And, because of their ability to harness the natural power of evaporation and their low energy consumption, evaporative cooling is one of the most environmentally-friendly cooling solutions available.
So, in addition to lowering temperatures in your plant for greater productivity, evaporative cooling helps you reduce your carbon footprint.
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