Plastics

Viscount Plastics upgraded their cooling water system after an energy audit identified where savings could be achieved.

The company uses chilled and cooled water to cool its injection moulding machines before extracting the heat via cooling towers before using it again. It also uses the water to cool plastic products during production.

The upgrade reduced energy use at the factory by at least 324,848 kWh a year - a saving of about $38,000.

LinkPlas Ltd is a manufacturer of PET containers based in Albany. The company requires a reliable supply of cooling water to cool its injection moulding machine hydraulic-systems.

Their cooling tower is sized to achieve the required cooling duty on the hottest days of the year, and their fan ran continuously at a fixed speed, so much of the time the amount of water cooling far exceeded what was required.

Quality Equipment Ltd is a New Zealand-owned and operated manufacturer of rope and twine products, mostly for marine use and in the developing aquaculture industry.

At Quality Equipment, the extruder ran at 850rpm while the motor ran at 1470rpm. This meant that 42% of the motor's power was wasted, equating to 5.5kW, after allowing for the motor's efficiency.