Feature
INDUSTRIAL HEATING AND COOLING : HELPING TO BUILD THE WORLD
By Benjamin Brits
So many processes and products we never really even think twice about rely on controlled temperature and conditions to come into existence – helped along by various HVACR systems or methodology .
Industrial ( also known as process ) heating and cooling is the use of technologies and methods to either add heat or remove it in applications such as factories , processing and storage facilities . This requirement is vast and usually accompanies factors to eliminate any negative influences that would impact equipment or products . This requirement may also be to ensure certain safety elements are met and that efficiency and reliability are achieved too .
There is probably not an industrial or manufacturing process today that does not require some involvement of either , or a combination , of HVACR elements in order to meet a specific outcome – be this any form of use of plastic , steel , nonferrous metals , wood , or any type of minerals . From the steel reinforcing to the aggregate processing equipment that give us buildings , to the components of electronics or the plastic or glass of the lightbulbs around you , even as far as the taps giving us critical potable water – heating and cooling is required in some or other form to create everything we can see and touch that enhances humanity .
To meet manufacturing and processing requirements in a production facility , several considerations have to be made in order to determine the best solution , and most often , this is left up to specialists in the particular field as handling paper dust versus a sawmill operation versus injection moulding equipment versus mineral or gas processing are all very different , and have many layers of complexity . For this reason , it is common that such projects are executed by design and supply professionals geared towards the particular industry segment .
WHAT ’ S THE DIFFERENCE WITH INDUSTRIAL HVACR ? Cooling requirements are , as we know , widespread in both the industrial and commercial sectors . In industrial processes however , the heat load must be managed carefully , and the different aspects of the overall application may require several configurations of heat transfer . In many instances , the integrity of the final product and the process itself are highly reliant on how effective the heat management principles are .
© RACA Journal | Benjamin Brits © RACA Journal | Benjamin Brits
A compressor installation at an industrial food processing facility .
One of the cooling tower sets located at a local manufacturer producing pressed steel components .
Unlike comfort cooling or building climate control that ( simply ) regulates the temperature and humidity in a particular space , process cooling is applied when accurate and constant control of temperature within a process or facility is essential . Therefore , system design and equipment must accommodate heating or cooling capacity regardless of changes to the immediate environment , variable heat loads , or flow requirements of the application in question .
www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I April 2022 19