Santiago Archilla of the Factory Planning Group at Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. described some cutting-edge technologies for water chilling and air conditioning when he spoke at the Management Day conference May 24 at Plastics Encounter Midwest.
Processors designing new plants need to build a big enough infrastructure - including chiller capacity - to allow for expansion, said Archilla, senior project manager. But water chilling often is ignored.
``Chilled water for injection molding is like air for blow molding,'' he said.
As energy gets more expensive, U.S. plastics processors will give more attention to cogeneration to make their own electric power, he said.
Heat removed during cogeneration is used to make steam, which is used to run chillers in the factory.
Archilla also outlined the use of dry coolers for air conditioning.
Dry cooling uses a liquid desiccant to dehumidify the air. Dry cooling is an alternative to cooling towers, but Archilla said the process still is rare in the United States.
``This technology has been improved a lot,'' he said.
Archilla also said Bolton, Ontario-based Husky advises processors to design new factories around the work cell.
``The layout of the work cell is the first step in the layout of the plant,'' he said.
