Optimize Cycle Time & Quality with Turbulent Flow
By Sam Lanza, Product Sales Manager

The cooling portion of the typical molding cycle can be 75% to 80% of the total molding cycle time. Therefore, anything you can do to reduce the cooling portion of the cycle can greatly affect cycle time and increase productivity dramatically. In addition, enhanced cooling will reduce warping and shrinkage of molded parts. As most experienced processors already know, however, simply cranking down the cooling water temperature does not necessarily increase productivity or decrease cycle time, but it does increase energy consumption by the chiller. The key is heat removal efficiency and the key to additional heat removal is turbulent flow. In this regard, Conair Thermolator® mold-temperature control units can provide important advantages in molding plants that supply chilled water directly to molds.

First, TCUs allow processors to fine-tune the temperature of the water to the process — allowing them to optimize cooling for different molds and/or materials. Dual-zone models can control two process temperatures at different locations in the mold.

Almost more important, however, is the fact that mold-temperature control units also function as booster pumps, ensuring adequate pressure and water volume to create turbulent flow through the mold. Turbulence can normally only be achieved by increasing flow rates to a minimum of about 4.8 gal/min/ton of cooling capacity and chillers alone cannot always deliver enough water to guarantee turbulent flow and increase heat transfer. The additional pumping capacity of the TCU to the process can ensure optimum cooling even as process demands change.

Properly configured, a cooling-water system that incorporates chillers and mold-temperature control units can help processors dramatically increase process efficiency and productivity.

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