High-temperature process heat is the key production factor in the plastics industry: reactors/polymerisation plants, drying processes, extruders, calenders, tools, presses and other equipment require defined temperatures in addition to large amounts of heat, especially during continuous operation. Polymer production in particular, but also many thermoforming processes, are extremely sensitive to even slight temperature fluctuations in terms of quality and yield. At the same time, plants must be able to handle numerous load cycles without compromising product quality. International industrial practice therefore demands robust, energy-efficient and low-maintenance systems that can be seamlessly integrated into existing production lines.
CAW supplies thermal oil systems and thermal oil heaters for precise and uniform heat supply. Thermal oils are particularly suitable when high temperatures and heat flow densities are required and several consumers are to be supplied from a single energy centre. The design of the heating surfaces, volume flows and system pressure losses is process-related, ensuring stable temperature control and manageable energy distribution.
For the increasing number of sites with a strict focus on decarbonisation or without connection to fossil fuel networks, CAW is planning to use electric heaters as a heat source for thermal oil or warm/hot water circuits. Sniffing gases from storage tanks/tank farms, which are harmful to the environment and also pose a fire or explosion risk, are efficiently co-combusted in the large-volume combustion chambers of the thermal oil heaters. TRO systems are used for thermal exhaust air purification in the case of solvent-containing exhaust air streams from coating, compounding or cleaning processes. Waste heat from these systems can be efficiently recovered via economisers and shell and tube heat exchangers, for example for preheating feed water, process air or other media.
CAW supports plastics manufacturers and plastics processing companies from the analysis of heat consumers and the concept of media networks to safe and rapid commissioning. The aim is to find a solution that maximises process quality, energy efficiency and plant availability at the same time.
