WHEN A RIVER
HELPS
WATER FROM NEARBY LABE
COOLS WELDING CIRCUIT IN
VRCHLABÍ
1
V
rchlabí’s EGV/4 department – Prototype Body and Powertrain Carrier Build uses spot welding technology. Overall, 23 resistance welders are
operating here. Owing to high temperature loads, resistance welders need to
be maintained in a stable environment.
To that end, water from the nearby River Labe is used. This system is different
from the one connected to the cooling facility described in the article opposite.
Past and present
In the past, water was rerouted through
a system of pipes to the plant that would
distribute it as needed. When the machines were cooled, water was returned
to the river. Today, the system is complemented by various types of filtration.
The whole process is automated and meticulously monitored by local workers.
They went for it mainly because modern
spot weld pliers with electronic control
had been introduced. The original ones
worked well in damp conditions, which
may cause haywire or damage electronics in the new model. Another reason was
the effort to limit water flow through the
workshop, as it flowed through at a time
when it was not needed.
Unique idea
The measure they came up with did away
with water flow without control and the
spot welding pliers’ dampness. They created an internal circuit, which they connected to machines that needed to be
cooled. For example, when it is heated
to a certain point at the peak of production, intelligent control discharges fresh
river water into the interchanger for as
long as necessary. As soon as the device
temperature has stabilised, it stops discharging water and switches off. Thanks
to that, less water is used, and filtration
is not required as often. In turn, the system is under less load, and technical water treatment is not needed. “It is a simple facility with a long service life, and
its maintenance only involves replacing filters. Apart from spot welding pliers, it also manages to cool the new robotic workstation and, if necessary, can
be used for five more pairs of spot welding pliers”, noted Jindřich Horáček from
EGV/4 – Bodywork Build.
Apart from the unique facility mentioned above, the Vrchlabí plant is also
preparing a wide-scale installation of
bubble filters aimed at saving water when
washing hands. EVA JAROŠOVÁ
14
ŠKODA MOBIL OCTOBER 2018
2
3
STATIONS THAT
SAVE ENERGY
1 Circuit pumps for Body Shop
M14
2 Cooling towers located on
the roof and equipped with a
noise barrier
3 ŠKO-ENERGO employees
checking parameters of the
cooling tower
ANNUAL ELECTRICITY SAVINGS OF COOLING FACILITIES
AT ŠKODA AUTO EXCEED 4 MILLION CROWNS
A
n inconspicuous door in Body Shop M14 four of them operate as per technological requirements.
hides an ingenious system that the ro- Similarly, at M6 aggregates in cutting emulsions have
botised welding lines could not do without. successfully been reduced. Another solution was proWater is discharged from the station to every robot in posed at Press Shop M15 and the cooling station in
order to cool down the spot welding
Body Shop M14. All measures brought
pliers. This is how massive pumps
electricity savings of about a quarter
By carefully treating
supply water to over 1,000 robots.
of a million crowns per year.
water, ŠKODA AUTO
The station is regularly checked by
constantly reduces the
ŠKO-ENERGO employees who monHow the facility works
volume necessary to
itor the whole cooling process and
The heart of the station is cooling
produce one car. Now it
search for possibilities of reducing
towers and circuit pumps with freis a mere 1.76 m3 in the
energy consumption. By introducquency changers whose automatCzech Republic.
ing the new monitoring system, they
ic system prevents unwanted flow of
can see in real time the opportuniwater at a moment when production
ty for savings directly in crowns per
closes the valves. The chemical treatyear. “People often don’t have an idea how much cir- ment and filtration facilities are located here to ensure
culation costs. They think if the water inlet is restrict- the water has the required quality. The stations opered, they save nothing and the machine will be cooled ate year-round, 24 hours a day, and work without havin the wrong way. However, each of them is designed ing to be attended to. The water that evaporates in the
to heat water in a specific manner. For example, if it cooling stations is supplied by ŠKO-ENERGO with inis supposed be heated by 5°C but in reality reaches dustrial water from the Bradlec water works – for in1°C, we can reduce the flow to one-fifth”, explained stance, in Mladá Boleslav alone, it is 200,000 m3. (To
Ladislav Dlask from ŠKO-ENERGO.
give you a better idea, this amount would fill about
That is why they focus on the most significant sav- 400 25-metre swimming pools.) The Mladá Boleslav
ings and propose possible measures to individual de- plant has six cooling stations, each of which is intendpartments. For example, at Paint Shop M17, water ed for a different department. The Press Shop, Body
flowed through five compressors, although only two to Shop and M6 each have their own. EVA JAROŠOVÁ
Overview in figures
ŠKO-ENERGO services six
stations in the main production
plant and two in Kvasiny, for
the Body Shop and Paint Shop,
and one in Vrchlabí for the
transmission production
During standard operation,
around 3,300 m3/h of
water, 810 m3/h and 400
m3/h circulate in Mladá
Boleslav, Kvasiny and Vrchlabí,
respectively
Annual electric energy savings
in all cooling facilities exceeds
4 million CZK