4 Types of Industrial Cooling Systems and Solutions | Delta

Work produces heat, which means that too much work produces too much heat. This is a major problem in some of the world’s most efficient manufacturing plants and this is exactly what industrial cooling systems are. Through these complex, industrial constructs, this high temperature is regulated quite efficiently and both the safety and efficiency of the industrial process are preserved.

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Now, there are several major groups of industrial cooling systems, alongside a lot of different subtypes of these systems in use. With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top 4 types of cooling systems you may encounter in industrial use.

Moreover, keep in mind that this type of division requires classification from several different standpoints. Here’s a brief rundown of some industrial cooling solutions.

1. Natural Draft Cooling Systems

The reason why this method is so popular is due to the fact that it’s a natural cooling system, which uses direct contact with fresh air to cool the hot water from the system. One characteristic of these systems is that the system (that contains them) itself, needs to be quite massive. This is the only way in which the system works, seeing as how there has to be a difference in density between hot air at the top and the air outside of the cooling tower.

One of the most common industry uses for cooling systems of this type can be found in power stations or natural gas plants. The simplest way to describe the way in which this system works would be to compare it to a massive, complex chimney. The shape of the system is such that it naturally draws a draft into the tower, eliminating the need for a mechanical fan system with a propeller and motor. Moreover, it’s what gives power plants their iconic look.

2. Mechanical Draft Cooling Systems

Mechanical draft cooling is an industrial cooling water system, which involves the use of an evaporation process for cooling. Hot water from the condenser or other piece of equipment is sprayed on horizontal slats or corrugated PVC fill-packs. These water droplets are then mixed with the ambient air and the temperature difference between this hot water and cold ambient transfers heat to the dry air. All of this is achieved with the help of power-driven fans, which classify this cooling system type as mechanical.

In major industrial complexes, these mechanical draft cooling systems can be found in various shapes and sizes. Some smaller variants come in the form of rooftop units. A major consideration when considering mechanical industrial cooling systems alternatives is their materials of construction, durability, and ease of maintenance. These industrial cooling systems are critical to have 100% uptime to not stop the production line within the facility.

3. Packaged vs Field Erection Types

Packaged towers are the most common type of industrial cooling systems. Their main trait is that they’re pre-designed, built completely in a factory, and transported to the target location. This is opposite to field erection types, which are transported in parts and assembled at the location.

The benefit of packaged towers is that they’re much simpler and quicker to install, can be modular for future expansion and don’t carry the risk of field erection time and costs. Their downside lies in the fact that they’re substantially smaller and, therefore, less potent than their field erection counterparts.

When it comes to the application, packaged types are usually used in small to medium size facilities (like basic manufacturing processes, hospitals or HVAC buildings). On the other hand, larger industrial cooling systems, those that are used in heavy industry and in massive plants, are almost always constructed on-site. These are erected on the spot (hence the name), but they also can be more expensive.

4. Water Cooling, Dry Cooling, or Fluid Coil Cooling

Another potential division of cooling systems can be based on the heat transfer technique that these cooling systems are using. The first major subgroup is water cooling systems. The major benefits of these are cost-effectiveness, as well as outright effectiveness through significantly colder cooling water delivered to process. This means that the decrease in temperature is rapid, reliable, and as effective as it gets.

Dry cooling is a bit different, seeing as how it uses mechanical means to cool the fluids by the air. The heat is transferred through air-cooled heat exchangers. This separates the working fluid, which means that there is no water loss in this system, as a result. However, these dry cooling systems result in warmer cold water so they are not as efficient as mechanical open industrial cooling systems.

Fluid coil cooling systems are usually smaller; however, they can be custom-made in order to serve as industrial cooling systems.  They can be found in many industrial applications as well as refrigeration systems you may see atop supermarkets.  When efficient cooling is not at a premium and water savings is a must, these are a good fit.

Additional Factors to Consider

One of the biggest factors worth considering is that there’s no such thing as an ideal cooling system. Even with the same system, you can make a massive difference by running the facility and the cooling system in a different way. Factors like new water piping, cooling cycles, and water recycling processes can offset the efficiency of cooling systems drastically.

Moreover, as we’ve mentioned, not all of these systems are made equal and some are standard for specific industries. This means that your line of work may mandate the need for a specific tower type.

Wrap Up

In the end, it’s important to point out that without these industrial water cooling systems there is no heavy industry (or industry of any kind). The amount of work produced is proportional to the amount of heat generated. Without proper cooling systems, the temperature would be unbearable both for humans and machines.

Now, cooling systems are generally used to control the temperature but the temperatures that these systems are supposed to handle are far higher in some industries. This is why these industrial cooling systems are manufactured from different materials to allow for higher temperature ranges and overall efficiency. They should also be designed to be anti-corrosive and resistant to all sorts of conditions and chemicals.

For most industrial factories, it’s process over people. The “human factor” comes in second place. In many North American factories, even those that make electric vehicles, this has translated into potentially sweltering, uncomfortable places. They can often make workers unproductive and, in some cases, unwell.

From a doing-the-right-thing perspective, it makes sense to put people and wellness first in today’s industrial facilities. And there are bottom-line reasons to emphasize worker comfort in the factory. The US manufacturing sector is booming. In a flourishing job market, and industrial workers have increasing choices of where to work. The hotter and unhealthier the factory floor, the more likely it is that workers will look to transfer out as soon as they can.

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Recruiting and training new staff is costly. Manufacturing has one of the highest costs to hire, estimated at $5,100 by RecruiterBox. Deloitte says the US manufacturing sector could have a shortage of 2.1 million skilled jobs by . Thus, worker retention is a bottom-line issue.

Whichever way you look at it—from a workplace wellness point of view or from a competing for talent angle—there are good reasons to explore options for climate control in the factory workplace. As a buildings-performance expert, I have decades of experience designing high-performance, sustainable, and energy-efficient systems for a variety of industrial clients. These include advanced manufacturers. And I see plenty of ways to design for wellness in industrial spaces.

What are the heat issues in manufacturing plants?

First, we need to understand that these manufacturing plants and similar facilities, by their nature, can be extremely hot. The industrial activities that take place in these plants may require melting and forming substances. The heat required to melt material radiates through the space. And factory work is active. Movement creates heat. The work may also require personal protective equipment, which heats up the body. All these things influence the thermal comfort—or discomfort—of those working in the factory. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) warns that some conditions have a great danger of heat stroke. But only a few states have heat standards for workers, and those are generally concerned with agriculture.

Most of these plants don’t have air conditioning. They are built on a budget. They leak air. They occupy huge volumes of space. Some might have some fans, but the truth is that these places get so hot that they open the doors to let the heat out. Even when it’s 100 degrees outside.

US code usually requires employers to maintain a minimum temperature, not a maximum.

Southern states such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia are seeing their manufacturing sectors grow. And heat issues, like climate, are regional. Companies with multiple locations may find that their factories in Northern states rarely have thermal comfort issues. However, their Nashville, Charlotte, or Oklahoma City facilities often do.

The issue is serious. It’s not unheard of for workers to faint under these conditions. Between and , heat stress injuries killed 815 US workers, according to OSHA. More often, however, workers are leaving jobs due to the heat. Data in some areas shows a correlation between rising outdoor temperatures and worker resignations.

Health and safety are part of our design culture at Stantec. And no one should be investing in a plant that’s so uncomfortable it can’t hold onto its skilled staff. So, what are manufacturers’ options for retrofitting their existing plants?

Let’s look at interventions, from light to heavy, that can promote thermal comfort in factories.

1. Promote effective ventilation

We want to make sure the air in the factory is moving. So, our team designs more effective ventilation for these spaces. When cross ventilation occurs at a high level in factory spaces, it can result in stratification, meaning that little of the ventilated air reaches the occupants at floor level. In our analysis of overheated factory buildings in the South, we often encounter situations such as wall-mounted air louvers that don’t have fans to direct air toward areas where the workers are.

With good design, we can direct the incoming air to the right places. We often use large, slow ceiling-mounted fans (such as those made by Big Ass Fans) in our design for industrial spaces. These provide additional air circulation, which has a cooling effect. Fan placement is critical to effective air circulation.

2. Exhaust the hot air

We can locate the exhaust where the heat sources are, use fans to direct the heat out of the building and avoid mixing it into the main air supply. We can design systems that isolate the hotter areas, say shops where materials are melted down, and direct that hot air away toward exhaust systems.

3. Spot cool occupied spaces

We can engineer cooling systems for the places most occupied by people, even devise small cooling stations in contained areas. In this way, the workers can get relief with some conditioned air in certain areas.

We have designed spot cooling for individual workstations to provide comfort in hot industrial workplaces. And in extreme spaces where workers are exposed to very high temperatures, such as in a foundry or engine plant, we have created “cooling rooms” to give workers some relief.

4. Relocate or raise heat-producing equipment

We can raise the industrial equipment off the floor to keep heat from collecting there and creating hot zones. And if we can place equipment on the perimeter, we can more easily exhaust heat to the exterior using fans and exhaust vents.

5. Keep it dry

If we can avoid bringing moisture into the space, it will be more comfortable. We can dehumidify specific high-occupancy areas if need be. In the past, we have suggested cooling methods such as indirect evaporative cooling systems for spot cooling factories without increasing the humidity.

6. Shade the windows and use LED lighting

We can make sure occupied spaces are shaded from direct sunlight and mitigate the building’s solar gain. Also, using lower-temperature LED lighting throughout rather than incandescent lights helps reduce heat.

For example, at Sacramento Municipal District’s East Campus Operations Center in California, we used special window shades and louvers. They project daylight into the workspaces while keeping the sun’s heat out. We can use similar approaches in manufacturing plants.

7. Increase insulation and airtightness

The steel construction and limited insulation on the roof and walls subject industrial structures in warmer regions to solar heat gains. What’s worse is that we see this heat gain turns the physical elements of the building into unexpected radiators. Our analysis of these factories shows fire hydrants, columns, and steel elements in the interior becoming hot spots on the interior of the facility.

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