Design and development of water cooling systems for thermoforming process

本计画将研究冷却塔及装饰性干燥墙之设计与开发，以冷却热成型设备之出水。所提出的解决方案旨在减少能源消耗，并最大限度地减少工艺对环境的影响。应用研究团队打算系统地研究开环和闭环水冷方案的可能性，考虑工艺和经济限制，包括资本和运营成本，环境影响（例如碳足迹）和工厂布局影响。热成型工艺使用水在闭环中进行模具冷却。来自热成型机的回水需要冷却以在工艺中重复使用。传统的解决方案是使用冷水机组和冷却塔组合。然而，这种方法是昂贵的，对于一个相对较小的工厂，往往是“矫枉过正”在大多数月份的一年。另一方面，风冷式制冷机使用环境空气从制冷剂回路中去除热量，并且在炎热的夏季非常耗能。 BN进步产品有限公司希望与谢里丹学院（PI：博士阿明Ghobeity，P.工程师）合作。完成可行性研究，并制作分散式模块化冷却站的原型，以取代冷水机，并通过创新更环保的解决方案来降低运营成本。

The design and development of a cooling tower and a decorative desiccant wall to cool the exit-water from thermoforming equipment will be studied in this project. The proposed solution aims to reduce energy consumption and minimize the environmental impact of the process. The applied research team intends to systematically examine the possibility of both open and closed loop water cooling options, considering process and economical constraints including the capital and operating cost, environmental impact (e.g. carbon footprint), and plant layout impacts. The thermoforming process uses water for mold cooling in a closed loop. The return water from the thermoforming machine needs to be chilled for reuse in the process. The traditional solution is to use a chiller and cooling tower combination. However, this method is costly, and for a relatively small plant, is often 'overkill' during most months of the year. On the other hand, the air-cooled chillers use ambient air to remove heat from the refrigerant circuit and are highly energy-intensive on hot summer days. BN Progressive Products Ltd. would like to partner with Sheridan College (PI: Dr. Amin Ghobeity, P.Eng.) to complete a feasibility study and prototyping decentralized, modular cooling stations to replace the chillers and reduce operation costs through the innovation of a more environmentally-friendly solution.