Miele stands for quality. This is also reflected by Miele's slogan in German "Immer Besser", which literally translates to "always better" or "better and better". The company has worked hard to earn their reputation over several decades. Customers benefit from this by way of reliable and durable products. In order to meet the strict quality standards the company sets for itself, it relies on innovative production technologies. For example, Miele uses a special dry cooling solution made by Reisner Cooling Solutions, a company of the technotrans group, for cooling the hydraulic systems at their Warendorf location.
In the old Miele system, the water had direct contact with the ambient air, resulting in a strong contamination of the prepared make-up water. This contamination is due to the fact that the cooling principle of this system is based on evaporation, thereby leading to a continuous loss of water. In addition, the circulating water had to be filtered and conditioned with water additives in a rather complex process. The whole situation required extensive monitoring due to an increased risk of contamination, e.g. with legionella and other bacteria which, in turn, required extensive maintenance.
Closed free cooling systems, which release heat into the environment by way of an air/water heat exchanger, are an alternative to open cooling systems. These systems come within about 5 Kelvin of the outside temperature. This means that if a water feed flow temperature of 30°C is required, these standard systems work correctly up to an outside temperature of 25°C. If the outside temperature is higher, additional cooling must be ensured, e.g. by spraying, the addition of tap water or an additional refrigeration unit, in order to keep the feed flow water at 30°C.
BUSINESS AREA MIELE WARENDORF
The Warendorf location supplies all of the Miele production sites. Its product portfolio includes complex assemblies such as washing machine doors or dryer screens, multi-component parts and parts with high-gloss surfaces, e.g. the outer shells of vacuum cleaners.
60% of the plastic parts used at Miele production sites are made in Warendorf. In addition, the facility, which was founded in 1975 and has a workforce of approximately 300 persons, supports and assists the Miele plastic part production sites in Uničov (Czech Republic), Dongguan (China) and Ksawerów (Poland).
Alexander Wibe, head of production engineering, says: "We were looking for an energy-saving solution that leaves nothing to be desired in terms of our technical requirements. The cooling system had to be of excellent quality and include components of renowned suppliers. A reliable and efficient low-maintenance solution with 24/7 customer support in the event of malfunctions – that is the package that we were trying to find.“
THE RECIPE OF SUCCESS
The decision in favour of technotrans was easy: "Reisner offered the best package – from their technology up to their extensive service offer," says Wibe.
During the straightforward and highly customer-focused planning phase, the technotrans project team explained the customised solution it was envisioning.
The solution stands out due to the closed system incorporating a V-shaped, self-draining free cooler. The honeycomb structure of the pad system will only be moistened with tap water when this is necessary due to high outside temperatures of 25°C or higher. When air flows through this pad system, it cools down as it is typical for an adiabatic cooling process. Then, the process heat is transferred to the cooled air by way of a Cu/Al heat exchanger (not by evaporation).
"The decisive factor here is that the spraying water does not come into contact with the heat exchanger," explains Günter Sareyko, head of sales of Reisner Cooling Solutions GmbH. technotrans has physically separated the second step, i.e. the process heat transfer, from the first one. "The heat is dissipated nearly completely through the air so that Miele now has a reliable and cost-efficient cooling solution," adds Sareyko. The special design enables a considerable reduction of the operating costs.
SAVING
The new system offers a cooling capacity of up to 500 kW and reliably ensures the correct process temperature at an outside temperature of up to 35°C.
Maintenance is another factor where Reisner has developed an excellent solution. The easy replacement of the pads, which have a service life of 3-5 years depending on the area of application, has been as important as a minimised water consumption and the use of durable materials.
ENERGY SAVING
This is the technotrans motto. The fail-safe double-pump system with a volumetric flow rate of up to 87 m³/h and the 14 fans with EC motors are all speed-controlled. The humidification system has a multi-stage design, while the integrated return flow filter works completely without pressure and can be changed during operation. As a result, Reisner was able to reduce the required energy to a minimum during every step of the process.
Alexander Wibe is not yet able to precisely quantify the cost and time savings. However, he is very optimistic after the first phase. "We noticed early on that the energy consumption has drastically decreased. The system is extremely reliable and we were able to completely forgo the use of chemicals."
ADDITIONAN FILTER SOLUTION
Miele's high standards are also reflected in the decision to use an additional filter solution and chemical-free water preparation system. After a very brief period of use, the water preparation system, including a full-flow filtration solution in the return flow, resulted in steadily improving water quality. The system dissolves lime and corrosion compounds by way of low-frequency electromagnetic fields. Then, they can be filtered out of the water.
"Miele stands for quality. This why we are very happy to contribute to this image thanks to our cooling competence," says Günter Sareyko.