Challenge
A major manufacturer of car components in the Czech Republic was seeking to test out a Trane Rental heating and cooling solution to reduce energy costs at its huge plant near Nymburk. The 30,000 square feet factory, which has over 1,200 employees, has been relying on gas boilers and ageing air-cooled chillers to fulfil its substantial cooling and heating requirements. However, the company sustainability goals and operating cost reduction objectives prompted them to find new HVAC solution that would drastically increase energy efficiency, cut costs and reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.
Before investing in new units, the facility manager decided to rent the considered units. 'Try before you buy' would give them confidence in their HVAC equipment buying decisions, with the goal of assessing the actual savings. The year-long trial has enabled the company to determine its exact requirements and the level of savings that can be made. Free heating was a key element of the trial. Another imperative was that any installation of the rental units would not disrupt the manufacturing operation in any way.
Solution
The Trane Rental trial was set to provide only part of the factory’s overall cooling and heating needs and was focused primarily on the factory’s administration building. The local Trane Rental Services team supplied two different units:
• 1 Air-cooled chiller Sintesis eXcellent GVAF 100 to replace an existing air-cooled unit and
• 1 Water-to-water heat pump City RTSF 070 to replace an existing water-cooled chiller.
The aim of the RTSF heat pump unit was to provide both cooling and free heating: 260 kW of cooling capacity at 17/12°C for the factory production line along with 300 kW of free heating – at temperatures of up to 75°C – for employee comfort in the factory’s administration building.
Results
The project was a huge success. The GVAF air-cooled chiller was far more efficient than the company’s existing unit. Substantial savings were also gained through the free heating provided by the RTSF heat pump. Overall, the company achieved outstanding five-figure savings over a period of just four months.
The company has now placed an order to buy four new Trane heat pumps units: two RTSF 070 units and two RTSF 090 units. The four heat pumps will provide a total cooling capacity of 800 kW for manufacturing processes and 1.2MW of heating for both manufacturing process and employee comfort.
