A custom injection-molder in western Pennsylvania preferred a single-temperature chilled water system for both machine cooling and mold cooling.

With limited plant floor space, the company wanted a system that would fit it the space constraints and deliver the capacity needed. Initially, the company chose an outdoor chiller system with an indoor pumping station along with a fluid cooling system for energy savings. This allowed the company to off-load the chillers at reduced ambient temperatures. One drawback for the company was that with the system chosen, glycol was required to prevent freezeup.

After operating with the initial system for some time, the injection molder decided that due to environmental issues, glycol cost and the need to get glycol off the molding floor, a new chiller system was in order. The company approached Sterling Inc., New Berlin, Wis., for a new solution.

Sterling supplied a remote evaporator system where the chiller evaporator —process water/refrigerant heat exchanger — is installed indoors to negate the need for freezeup protection. To simplify the installation and to reduce field installation costs, Sterling supplied a pumping system with the chiller evaporators mounted. The chiller compressor and condensing units were located outdoors to minimize floor space.

With the new system, the injection molder was able to stay within its space constraints and eliminate glycol from its chiller system.