Manufacturing

Automotive Parts

A specialist manufacturer in the North East provides plastic components for one of the big car firms, including fuel tanks injection-moulded 24/7. Should work stop, production at the car plant would also slow or stop within 12 hours. When a chiller failed on a large injection-moulding machine and a spare was unsuitable, the company contacted Andrews. We supplied a 50kW chiller with internal water holding tank, circulation pump, 20m of flexible hose plus factory fitted by-pass – essential because the water flow around an injection-moulding process is not constant. Based on our experience, the right system was despatched and production was back online in less than six hours.

Steelmaking

In the summer, a steel plant in Wales ran into problems: cooling towers supplying water to quench tanks couldn't cope with high ambient temperatures and production was slowing. Andrews visited the site and took detailed temperature readings; it was clear the best solution was to deliver additional cooling to supplement the towers. With a system flow of 245,000 litres per hour, the customer needed to reduce the temperature by 4ºC. Andrews designed a system using two 500kW chillers with circulation pumps, and temporary hoses connecting each to a sump tank under the towers. Installation went smoothly and the temperature drop was achieved.

Automotive Engines

When a production line was halted at an engine plant operated by one of the world’s biggest car companies, Andrews was called in. Before assembly, diesel engine parts are lowered into a solvent de-greasing tank with a chilled water coil to condense rising vapour. When the chiller failed, the process shut down. Andrews' specialists calculated the cooling load then provided a 50kW chiller with integral pump and tank. This meant fast installation when the unit was delivered, less than five hours after the call. Equipment was on hire for three months. The manufacturer was delighted with the service and used Andrews' calculations when writing the new chiller tender.