The use of dry coolers for sustainable mould cooling in Malta

Abstract

Water and energy resources are facing significant pressures and the need for sustainable manufacturing is indispensable. This work looks into process cooling and explores the integration of sustainable cooling technologies. Playmobil Malta Ltd’s mould cooling system was used as a case study and by means of a sustainability analysis, the current cooling tower/chiller system and a proposed dry cooler system were compared. Two configurations of the latter system, which differed in the order of how the cooling equipment was connected to the load, were analysed with the aim of finding the most cost effective and environmentally friendly option. The proposed dry cooler system proved to be technically and sustainably viable with one configuration achieving better results than the other.