Cooling water reduction in the plastic bottles blowing area at a rum industry
Abstract
In this paper, the refrigerant condensing system in the plastic bottles blowing area at Rum industry is presented. Target values of temperature and water quality should be obtained for a good process. Rejected heat at the blowing machine and the water flow at the condenser were calculated. Refrigeration cycle COP was 2.44, with 51 % relative efficiency. Refrigeration cycle was simulated using HYSYS. Influences of pressure and refrigeration on the cycle parameters were analyzed. Three variants were evaluated in order to improve the refrigeration cycle: a plastic forced-draft cooling tower, 2.5 m diameter and 6 m height; a cooling pond, 100 m2 and the substitution of the refrigerant. The best variant was number 2, with $21 508 as investment with IRR 44.9 %, higher than 12 %, and ROI 53.2 %, higher than 30 %. The investment is recovered in a year.
