Climate control an element of TPPM total plant performance management

Total Plant Performance Management (TPPM) is a continuous-improvement program that integrates all plant functions into a single focused effort.

Plant managers concerned with up-time continuously measure the efficiency and availability of their manufacturing machinery. Climate control is an important measurement because temperature affects performance of the production line directly.  When control components fail, the production line may go out of service.

Additional measurements become complicated due to automation upgrades such as robotic enhancements that require new plant layouts. New enhancements become part of production line availability and temperatures need evaluation to avoid any future problems. All plant machinery have CONTROL SYSTEMS that generate heat inside their enclosures. They require temperature and humidity guidance to meet KEY MAINTENANCE FACTORS for consistent operation.

Climate control evaluations are part of ongoing maintenance functions that strive to be predictive as possible. For example, knowing the age and basic specifications of your climate control products gives you a picture of warranty time left, data on consumables, parts availability, vendor reliability, and more. As climate control products advance in efficiency, you get a picture of when a “window” to “upgrade” will have a fast payback.

There are many different solutions to climate control, however when approaching what to buy it comes down to familiar rules. "Efficiency, Longevity, Flexibility"

·        Top of my list is ENERGY EFFICIENCY; with greater efficiency, decreased electrical usage and lower your power bill? 

·        Product life cycle or LONGEVITY; How long will the units last? Vendors with longer warranties show confidence in their products life.

·        FLEXIBILITY; Different applications require different power sources such as 115V, 230V, or 400/460V and more; installing climate control that accommodates all  possible power requirements in turn means common, training, consumables and spare parts?

SELECTING Climate Control for your application, temperature, and environment

Control engineers design solutions based on location, environment, temperature changes, and heat/cold tolerance of the components inside. The goal is to have consistent temperatures inside the enclosure all year round. Choices of heating and cooling options have an overall objective of airflow inside the enclosure, by using fans, air-to-air heat exchangers, air-to-water heat exchangers, air conditioners and more.

Many options, quite a few different technologies to review and understand how they benefit you.

·        Heaters will not only keep temperatures above freezing, but will assist in keeping enclosures dry, because humidity can be a concern.

·        Exhaust fans dissipate heat from the enclosures but are not suitable for excessive outside temperatures or locations that have contaminants or require wash down.    

·        Heat exchangers cool enclosures to below indoor or outdoor temperatures and fall into AIR to AIR or Water to Air choices.

·        Enclosure Air Conditioners cool enclosures to below the indoor or outdoor temperatures but, can be sensitive to air contaminants.

In closing

Rittal CLIMATE CONTROL products are an element of Total Plant Performance Management (TPPM).

“CLIMATE CONTROL” regulates temperatures to meet the technical requirements for electrical components inside an enclosure. Some layouts use larger enclosures optimizing the design allowing more space therefore better airflow between electrical components. Other layouts are space limited with components closer to each other and the heat inside builds up quickly.  

Often plant engineers find excessive internal enclosure temperatures because the solution did not take in account geographic location. For example, heat and humidity in Maine Vs Florida is different, plant production machines moved to another location may need CLIMATE CONTROL evaluations. 

The broad goal is to keep heat sensitive equipment from hot components and have suitable flow of cool air to move hot air away and remove it from the enclosure. It is not always possible so working with vendors who understand how to move AIRFLOW inside is vital. In some cases, airflow is blocked and using available vendor guidance on how to defeat this HEAT BOTTLENECK or unrestricted Airflow is a worthwhile.  

The challenge is to move air flows throughout the enclosure and making sure it reaches everywhere.

Rittal provides guidance to the largest Factories/Plants in the world, you can learn more by contacting me or at www.Rittal.us

Bart Alvarez

Email: [email protected] ? www.rittal.us ? www.friedhelm-loh-group.com