Product category:
Fluid, thermal, noise and vibration analysis software
News Release from: Flomerics | Subject: Flovent
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 14 April 2005
Simulation shows route to a cooler plant
Computer simulation has been used to solve a difficult problem in a plastics plant that had threatened to damage expensive equipment and materials.
Computer simulation has been used to solve a difficult problem in a plastics plant that had threatened to damage expensive equipment and materials The plant includes 52 moulding machines that are supposed to be maintained at temperatures no higher than 26C in order avoid damage to the control systems
The computer controls on the machines must be maintained at relatively cool temperatures in order to avoid damage to delicate semiconductors.
When the company built its first plant, temperatures were far too high for the machines and materials, not to mention the people working in the plant.
The company called in a representative for Applied Air, Dallas, Texas, to discuss adding cooling equipment to the plant.
Using hand calculations, the representative proposed a solution that involved putting two Applied Air IFA 1.7Ml/min air turnover systems at either end of the building, blowing air from both ends down the length of the machine rows towards the middle.
However, because of the special challenges involved in this application, Applied Air recommended to the manufacturer that computer simulation be performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
They used Flovent software from Flomerics because it is designed specifically for the building industry.
"It's much easier modelling building problems with Flovent than a general-purpose CFD code", said Mike Kaler, Application Engineering Manager for Applied Air.
"Flovent's technical support staff specialises in HVAC so they can quickly and easily understand what we are trying to do and provide answers".
Applied Air engineers began by constructing a box representing the building.
They then created cubes in the approximate shape of the moulding machines and located them in the appropriate positions.
Applied Air engineers entered the surface temperature and power consumption of each machine into the software, which then calculated the effective heat dissipation.
The engineers ran a steady-state solution on a personal computer.
They viewed the simulation results as particle traces that are often useful in diagnosing HVAC problems.
In this case, the particle traces showed that the hot machines were generating strong convective flow straight up to the ceiling.
The result was that the machines in the middle of the building received little or no cooling.
Based on the diagnostic information that showed the updraft was preventing horizontal flow across the length of the rows, they decided to try a different approach where air was passed across the width of the rows, so it only had to traverse two machines rather than 26.
This required switching to DFM indoor units that can be mounted on the longer walls well above the floor.
The initial simulation run showed temperatures were at acceptable levels.
Applied Air engineers then reran the simulation in optimisation mode to determine the minimum configuration that would provide acceptable cooling with a margin of safety.
This simulation run showed that 1.7Ml/min units provided effective cooling at a very attractive cost.
The manufacturer installed the cooling units in the plant and was so happy with their performance that it has standardised on them and is using them for each of its plants during its current expansion drive. Request a free brochure from Flomerics ...
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