Client: Eminox Requirement: Cooling system Solution: Breezair Evaporative Cooling System

A Cool Solution for Eminox

The conundrum of how to cool down workers on the factory floor without creating a high velocity impact that would affect a tig (tungsten inert gas) welding process has been resolved by CoSaf Environments with the installation of the Breezair Evaporative Cooling System at one of Eminox’s three factory buildings on its site in Lincolnshire.

Temperatures in excess of 30°C have been reduced by up to 6°C to provide the workforce with a cooler and more pleasant working environment. A major European manufacturer of purpose-designed stainless steel exhaust-systems and emission control devices for heavy-duty diesel engines, Eminox main manufacturing activity and head office is located on a 6.5-acre site in Gainsborough. The site comprises of new and old factory buildings providing a total of 66,000 sq.ft. of manufacturing area.
The older style building has an apex roof and no natural ventilation. The 3000 sq. metre structure houses heavy-duty plant including presses, sheet metal equipment and tig welding equipment. During the summer months, temperatures on the factory floor reached in excess of 34°C on warm summer days making the 40 strong workforce extremely hot and uncomfortable. Their discomfort was exacerbated by the fact that all workers are required to wear overalls.

Looking at ways of overcoming the problem, Harry Fitzakerley, Head of Maintenance Health & Safety & Environment at Eminox employed CoSaf Environments to look at various options at providing increase comfort levels during the summer months.

Dismissing air conditioning as prohibitively expensive, his first consideration was to introduce air changing to provide between 12 and 15 changes per hour. However, he decided that this would only move air around the factory and not cool down temperatures. Instead, CoSaf Environments designed and implemented a evaporative cooling system in association with high level natural louver ventilators. Now, hot air is expelled through the roof ventilators and cool, refreshing air is introduced to the factory via five evaporative cooling units sited on the roof with the cool air being ducted through internal pipework to strategic locations within the factory.

“The Breezair evaporative cooling system designed by CoSaf Environments has worked extremely well reducing temperatures by around 6°C”, said Harry Fitzakerley. “The workforce can regulate the system to control the level of cooling required”.