Customer

The venerable printing house Brune-Mettcker in Wilhelmshaven has been on the market since 1907. For over 100 years, it has been producing printed materials and newspapers here, and delivering these to its customers throughout Germany. It produces up to 600,000 copies a day in 24/7 shift operations.

The owner-run business has always moved with the times, implemented its experiences, and further developed and combined its findings into a long-term (or printable) concept for its customers. Brune-Mettcker Druck is a member of the “Star Club” of the World Association of Newspapers WAN, a illustrious group comprising just 30 publishing houses worldwide.

Project and implementation

The project installation was designed and planned in concert with out regional partner, H. Kolschen Kälte & Klima GmbH in Schortens, just outside of Wilhelmshaven.

A total of 32 ink distributors, 16 heat exchangers in switch cabinets, the dampening solution supply and 25 servomotors are cooled in the process chain. This used to be handled by a 17-year-old, air-cooled chilled water unit without free cooling. Because the facility was installed outdoors, a frost-resistant water-glycol mixture had to be used as the coolant.

As the use of glycol necessitated a system separation using plate heat exchangers, the target chilled water temperature had to be set at 20°C, although a temperature of 22°C would have sufficed for the consumers.
Following the system redesign, the eChiller now separates the systems, thereby allowing the target temperature to be raised by 2°K, providing for a further efficiency boost.

Operating safety and the use of a natural and safe coolant were top priority in this case. Also the eChiller’s extremely low maintenance and repair times played a central role in the decision for EE, as the printing equipment essentially operates and needs to be cooled 24/7. In this way, Brune-Mettcker can avoid production downtimes and the costs associated with them.

A weekend was chosen to dismantle the legacy technology, and install and commission the two eChillers including their coolers. The eChiller’s standardised construction format meant that no walls or roofs needed to be opened up, and everything that was needed could be brought in through existing doorways.

Result

The winter power consumption of the old chilled water unit was 31.8 kW as it did not support free cooling.

With the deployment of both eChillers, average consumption over the first months has fallen to around 8kW (including pumps and cooler).
According to our customer, this effectively translates into a low four-digit reduction in electricity costs per month!

The eChiller’s energy-efficient technology also results in a savings of around 40 metric tonnes of C02 per year!

Mario Heldt, print shop manager at the Wilhelmshaven site, sums it up in a single sentence: “By using the eChiller, we have further improved the environmental friendliness of our production, become exempted from the F-Gas Regulation, and save enormous amounts of energy – we’re overjoyed!”