The Top Cooler made by BBA INNOVA is being successfully installed by chemical
company
Double cooling is the best!
BBA INNOVA AG is based in Aarau, in Switzerland, which is not far from Basel. Our
engineering services department are able to attend to numerous international
customers in Europe, the USA, South America and the Far East from here. A very
high concentration of chemical and pharmaceutical companies are already located in
the France / Germany / Switzerland intersection area around Basel and the
engineers and consultants at BBA INNOVA are frequently asked about the
continuous cooling of viscous masses, which is one of the areas that the Company
specialises in. Simple solutions can result in major improvements in efficiency, as
shown in the following case.
A Swiss subsidiary of a major chemicals company in the area around Aarau was
looking for a cooling system that would easily work up to its capacity limits, together
with the provision of rapid and unconventional support. BBA INNOVA was able to
provide this rapid support with their unconventional Top Cooler concept. The existing
cooling power was significantly increased for comparatively little expense and the
throughput was also increased by up to 50 per cent.
Objective: Increasing
throughput rate up to 50 percent
This concept was used in a product line covering up to 50 different types of product,
which included different thermal capacities and hardening characteristics. The steel
belt’s existing cooling and hardening processes continually resulted in production line
bottlenecks occurring. The normal parameter optimisations that could be
implemented for the steel cooling-belt were no longer able to provide the required
result. The company’s plant manager, who cannot be named for competition-related
reasons, said that: “We did not want to make a major investment in this situation, but
rather to expand with another production line or procure a completely new cooling
system as we were looking for a solution back in 2010 that would also accelerate the
cooling process. The bottleneck occurred here and not in the upstream or
downstream production stages.” The enquiry submitted to BBA Innova was also
aimed at implementing options and measures that would increase the throughput
rate of the existing steel cooling-belt by up to 50 per cent.
The Top Cooler concept was considered to be the ideal solution after the engineers
from BBA Innova had conducted an onsite inspection and surveyed the plant at the
relevant facility. “It was important to measure the present cooling power as well as
the possible belt speeds and especially the throughput capacity of the existing plant.
It was imperative that the statics concurred”, said Hans-Jürgen Schmotzer, the sales
manager at BBA Innova, “as our Top Cooler had to be installed directly on the
existing steel cooling-belt”. It did not matter whether BBA Innova or another
manufacturer had supplied the steel belt cooler that is currently being used.
Matching Assortment of Materials
This is one of the precise benefits of the Top Cooler principle: The sandwich design
will result in a distinct increase in the cooling process regardless of the make of
cooling belts that are presently being used. The entire system works as follows
during on-going production: Moving chain sections are used in the Top Cooler to
rotate the installed cooling plates at a speed synchronised to the steel conveyer
underneath them. A belt that makes direct contact with the product on the lower steel
belt cooler is also conducted around the cooling plates. The belt support material
allows a selection of surface materials to be applied. The customer is able to choose
the coating that matches the requirements relating to his products (FDA, high
temperature resistant, non-stick, etc.)
Convenient functionality
The contact pressure applied by the Top Cooler in the cooling system’s “sandwich
area” ensures better performance on its own, as the product is always in close
contact with the steel belt cooler, whose controlled temperature is sprayed by water
jets fitted beneath it. This results in improved heat extraction. “This combined with the
cooling circuit integrated in the Top Cooler means that the existing performance can
be increased by up to 50 per cent, but this depends on the product and the belt
coating”, said Hans-Jürgen Schmotzer from BBA Innova. Another benefit is that the
cooling element can easily be raised for cleaning, for example, before a product
change takes place: “This also guarantees easy operation and great flexibility, even
the operating side can be installed differently in order to comply with the customers
wishes and local conditions.”
Perfect fit
BBA INNOVA’s Swiss customer also said: A specific Top Cooler was produced for us
after the cooler specialists from BBA Innova had completed their calculations and it
fits perfectly on the existing system that was made by another manufacturer and it
was also designed and adapted to meet the required increase in the cooling power.
The Top Cooler actually covers less than a third of the overall cooling zone, yet it
provides a 50 per cent performance increase. “What we hoped to achieve with BBA
Innova has actually been fully realised here. This shows that our partner from Aarau
is not only completely flexible when it comes to designing systems, but also in fully
implementing the contract”, said the very pleased customer’s plant manager with
regard to BBA Innova’s approach to designing and manufacturing the Top Cooler, in
order to jointly gain further experience in current production operations.
The machine has been lent to the customer for four months with a take-back option.
This does not present a problem for BBA – just the opposite in fact. BBA Innova’s
chief executive officer, Wolfgang Kircher, is very pleased to have such an excellent
industrial partner. After all, a certain residual risk has to be accepted from the
customer’s side. Wolfgang Kircher also said: “It is only with open minded customers
that you are able to produce innovations for the final start of series production and
successfully position them in the market afterwards.” We would also like to point out
that the relevant company has bought the Top Cooler from BBA at the previously
agreed remaining purchase price in the meantime.
Christof Krüger