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Spot Coolers Provide Relief |
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The cost of fuel remains high. In the past 12 months, it has risen
faster than anyone forecast. This has had a profound effect on
energy prices and the cost to heat and cool commercial and
industrial facilities. In Japan, energy costs have always been more than double what they are here in the U.S. This resulted in creative ways to address the working environment. The need to minimize energy consumption coupled with the desire to maximize worker comfort, safety, and productivity has led to some interesting products. Among these was the creation of the air cooled portable air conditioner. Dubbed “spot coolers,” portable air conditioners were designed to promote safety and provide relief in the manufacturing environment during the long, hot and humid Japanese summers. Denso Corp., a large Japanese conglomerate best known as the OEM provider for Toyota, employs over 40,000 production workers in Japanese manufacturing facilities. During the summer, worker output and productivity had always dropped significantly. In this same period, industrial accidents were also at their highest. In 1970, management set out to find a resolution for this dilemma. The project of cooling workers to increase productivity and worker safety was given to a veteran company engineer. He studied the problem for two years performing experiments with air delivery, temperature and humidity drops, air volume and air velocity. This study produced designs for a line of portable air conditioners that could operate in extreme environments while providing safe and comfortable relief from summer’s oppressive heat. These units were deployed company wide with excellent results. Productivity went way up, and lost time accidents dropped by more than 50 percent during the summer months. The result was that morale improved tremendously. It wasn’t long before outside vendors, seeing the units in action, asked if they could purchase units for their facilities. Within just a few years, these portable air conditioners were being sold across the Asian continent and the “spot cooling” industry was born. Denso exported spot cooling to the US in 1983. New models were introduced for the American market. Most of these new models were designed to address the fast emerging computer and equipment centers housed in office buildings and other commercial facilities. But the line of equipment addressing the industrial facility – the Classic series – was left just as it was originally designed. Specifically engineered to combat “heat stress,” these units quickly found a home in the American production facility. Most American manufacturing plants are un-air conditioned. It is not unusual for temperatures within production and distribution facilities to reach or exceed 100º F during the summer. In some plants, such as steel or paper mills, ambient temperatures remain well in excess of 100º F all year long. To provide a solution in these extreme conditions, the spot cooler was designed with an operating range of 70º to 115º F. In addition to higher ambient temperatures, spot coolers were designed to perform continuously in harsh and dirty surroundings. Many mills and production plants produce airborne particulates and contaminants that would render a standard a/c unit useless in months. Industrial grade, the Classic series was designed to provide more than 10 years of continuous use in these conditions with minimal maintenance. It has been proven that spot coolers can increase worker productivity by greatly reducing heat stress. But this relief doesn’t come at the expense of worker health. What good is cooling a worker if in the end, you send him home sick by placing him in an unhealthy temperature extreme? The original design of the Classic series regulates the temperature and humidity drop to be within a safe and healthy range from the surrounding levels. Portables are most often deployed in the American manufacturing environment in the following applications: Assembly: Heat stress is often exacerbated when coupled with piece work or assembly, particularly when there is minimal movement or change in the environment. Assembly line workers are prone to mistakes, accidents and reduced productivity when temperatures rise. Cooling an entire plant to provide worker comfort isn’t feasible. However, thousands of production facilities across the nation have discovered the benefits of spot cooling their production workers. In addition to providing worker comfort resulting in a corresponding productivity increase, spot cooling has been proven to decrease dehydration and worker break time for relief. There are models that roll around on wheels and can be deployed or moved as necessary. Others can be hung from the ceiling, off the floor and out of the way, or mounted on walls and ducted to as many as eight work stations with overhead ducting. Maintenance: The spot cooler has found a niche in the industrial tool crib. Many equipment repair, service and maintenance functions are prolonged when ambient temperatures are high. The discomfort from crawling under or over hot equipment to bring it back on line is magnified when ambient temperatures are high. Some service and repair issues are so time sensitive that minutes of down time translate into thousands of dollars of lost revenue. When equipment fails in a paper mill and needs to become operational as fast as possible, a spot cooler in the tool crib can reduce the heat stress and discomfort that working in a 110º F ambient creates. A conveyor system that goes down in a molding plant needs to get “up and running” as quickly as possible. Ducting cool air on the technician when he’s under the conveyor system reduces salty sweat in his eye and the number of times he must break to cool down. Work in confined spaces: Confined spaces not only limit air flow, they are also prone to heat build up. Working in a storage tank or other vessel, down a manhole, inside an airplane fuselage, in the hold of a ship – these are all examples of confined spaces that are prone to excessive heat build up. Motionless, stale air creates significant heat stress. High ambient temperatures amplify the effect. In these applications, the injection of cool dehumidified air into the space can provide significant relief and prolong the time that one can remain in that environment. Process Cooling: Another frequently used application is that of process cooling. Injecting cool air somewhere into the production process often serves to decrease production cycle times, provide more even curing or reduce curing times, reduce scrap, or allow for faster packaging. Process cooling typically produces measurable and quantifiable benefits and provides definitive pay back periods for the equipment. Overall, spot coolers can be operated for a fraction of the cost of cooling an entire facility. They provide an element of safety and reduce the danger associated with prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Worker morale is nearly always increased when spot coolers are used. In most cases, the increased productivity associated with these systems provides a payback in months. Finally, OSHA and other safety agencies and departments unanimously applaud the use of spot coolers to reduce heat stress in high ambient facilities. FSM Garth Tagge is VP of Sales for Spot Coolers, Inc., which operates 31 company owned branches nationwide that rent or sell portable air conditioning equipment. Phone 800-367-8675, go to www.spot-coolers.com or email spotcooler@att.net. |
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