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Project
THE BUSINESS CASE
By Eamonn Ryan , with technical input from Mpho Mashego , Abanqobi plant manager
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Abanqobi Packaging is a manufacturing company that produces PET and PVC bottles for the pharmaceutical industry with bottles coming in different sizes and colours , depending on the products they are used for .
Mpho Mashego – Abanqobi plant manager – says the entire factory is a new installation erected in 2022 that went into production towards the end of that year . The refrigeration system was installed simultaneously with the bottling
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3 and 4 : The R5B | 22n compressor .
RACA Journal I November 2023
The BMS panel .
plant , which was supplied by Arburg , Uniloy and Aoki . “ The cooling was necessary because the various machines need to operate at precise temperatures depending on each machine – between 9 ° C and 15 ° C . The machines use hydraulics and moulds that have to operate continuously at a fixed temperature , otherwise the machines will malfunction and give errors . The refrigeration system was installed according to the specifications of the machines .
“ From the planning and design phases to the installation and commissioning phases , everything went smoothly and continues to do so today ,” says Mashego .
Agent company Hestico sourced the Arburg machines in Germany and Japan , and on that basis was appointed as the lead agent / contractor . It appointed Service First Group , suppliers of Trane equipment , as the refrigeration contractor which in turn appointed Dusan Stefanov of ODA Design as the mechanical engineering consultants for the refrigeration plant engineering design .
“ In addition , we worked with different contractors for different parts of the installation such as NC Engineering Projects , as the electricity supply was unreliable and required a generator backup . For the compressors , we worked with Ingersoll Rand , who are the suppliers of the compressors for generating air pressure .”
Mashego explained the manufacturing process of PET and PVC bottles that require a refrigeration installation :
PET bottles , or polyethylene terephthalate bottles , are types of plastic bottle commonly used for packaging beverages , food , and other consumer goods .
A PVC bottle is a type of plastic bottle made from polyvinyl chloride ( PVC ) material , which is known for its durability and resistance to chemicals .
“ Various different types of materials are required for our production , such as PET and PVC for the bottles , while for the hard caps the raw materials are LDPE , PP and HDPE , as well as colourants for the bottles and caps . The Arburg machines manufacture the bottles and caps from these materials , using different moulds for different sizes of bottles . For example ,
www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za