Efficient cooling!

Germany manufacturer SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH, from the Swabian area (South Baden-Wurtemburg & East Bavaria States),  manufacture moving column machine tools. Machinery from the company includes a 200-ton moving column milling machine, the PowerForce 8, which is used to mill wind turbine stators with an internal diameter of 6.5 m. At the heart of the mill is a new, variable, universal milling head of orthogonal design with a drive power of 90 kW and a torque of up to 1,725 Nm.

SHW relies on the new “Blue e” generation of cooling devices from Rittal to exploit every possible efficiency potential in enclosure climate control. Consuming 45 per cent less energy than the previous generation, the four wall-mounted devices installed on the machine provide cooling of the input and feedback modules for the axle drive, mains filters, chokes, disconnectors, contactors, relays and have a cooling output amounting to 16 kW. The refrigeration factor of 2.47 (the COP, coefficient of performance) results from the ideal interaction of all the components responsible for the cooling output, as well as from the design of the condensers, evaporators, cooling fins, pipe bends and all the other refrigeration components. Using Rittal cooling technology, SHW have been able to connect the devices via a master-slave arrangement.

Another key factor in the increased efficiency is the ideally designed control electronics, which benefit from the new Eco-Mode control system. If continuous operation of the internal fan is not required, shut down is automatic, thus cutting energy costs.

Previously SHW had problems with cooling devices from another manufacturer that malfunctioned under extreme conditions, due to the influence of carbon dust. Since changing to ex-proof cooling units from Rittal, they have been running without problems.