Problem
A chocolate maker was having trouble with roughness left on the bottoms of their moulded chocolate bars. Their process involved melted chocolate being poured into bar shaped moulds and smoothed with a rubber doctor blade. Unfortunately, this smoothing motion left the bottom side of the chocolate bars rough and unattractive resulting in high reject rates and poor quality. The globally-active Swedish furniture giant IKEA now even has a few branches in the Middle East. After Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, IKEA opened a new sales point north of Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The 32,000 square meter (105,000 square foot) building was constructed in just 12 months. On the outside it wears the same typical blue & yellow IKEA branding as with all other 300 branches worldwide. However, the structure in Doha is different in one special respect: a giant reservoir tank has been built here, in which water from the surroundings is collected. It stores the valuable fluid so that it can be used later, after filtration, for irrigation.
Turkey has taken a giant technological leap forward due to its close ties with Europe. Several industrial sectors have been upgraded. As a result, they can go toe to toe with the competition the other side of the Bosporus, no matter what aspect of the industry. One example of this new development is the Kadesan Karadeniz Branda Company located in Istanbul. Kadesan produces complete truck bodies. Currently, 12,000 truck covers, 20,000 sliding roof systems and 700 chassis bodies are delivered annually to not only Turkey itself, but also throughout the rest of Europe, Russia and the Near East. Founded 27 years ago, this innovative company currently employs 220 people and is organized into three companies. One of these companies exclusively produces truck covers. Everything is executed in-house – from plotting the graphics and executing the overlap welding for the individual parts, to welding the seams along the edges and attaching the tapes through to assembling the grommets and belts
Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) recently required conversion work on their production facility in Noel, Mo. Although the roof was to be sealed with bitumen sheeting, the building owner specified that no welding was to be performed with an open flame on the roof. A specification the roofing company, Harness Roofing, could easily abide by using the BITUMAT B2 from Leister.
The Coca-Cola Bottling plant in Downey, Ca had been having difficulties with wet beverage cans, resulting in illegible lot/date codes on the cans and “can bursts” that caused ruined packaging and unsaleable pallets of product. Coke had a compressed air system in place that was not only doing an inadequate job drying but it was inordinately expensive in energy costs. To address these problems, Coke contacted JetAir Technologies. JetAir, in Conjunction with WahlWorks Engineering, designed a drying system using the JET-2 High Speed Centrifugal Blower and unique JetAir JetBlast nozzles.
Introduction
Rising energy costs and growing concern for industrial environmental impact has manufacturing taking a second look at their operations' energy efficiency. One area increasingly under review is the use - or more importantly, the misuse - of compressed air. When used "inappropriately" (as defined by the Department of Energy's Compressed Air Challenge), high pressure compressed air bleeds into the atmosphere producing a significant energy loss, as well as a comparably high demand on compressor utilization. With a price tag of $1.5 billion in U.S. manufacturing compressed air energy costs each year (according to the Department of Energy), compressed air alternative solutions, such as high-speed, centrifugal blowers, represent a significant energy and cost saving option for manufacturers. Recently, a major U.s. soft drink bottler replaced their compressed air system with a JetAir Technologies high-speed centrifugal blower system realizing an 87% true energy power savings and an 80% energy cost saving, as well as a return of compressed air compressor capacity. Occasionally even the most arid of regions can experience a downpour of rain. For this reason, flat roofs must be protected in the dry regions too. Inconceivable what may happen if the roof over the emergency room of the enormous Sheikh Khalifa Medical City complex were to leak. As everywhere else in the world, those responsible have put their full trust in Leister.
Air supply is vital for mining work. While in the past metal or canvas ventilation ducts were used, today predominantly flexible air ducts are required. These are manufactured from industrial fabrics by welding with hot air. The company Duflex has specialized in the production of these air ducts. They are not only used in mines; they also protect life and limb in tunnels and in working environments where there is a risk of explosions.
The well-known Austrian commercial firm Haberkorn Ulmer has had a new building erected in Leonding. The highly complex architectural structure is the first industrial firm in a newly established enterprise zone. It comprises an office section with a training and seminar area as well as a warehouse. The office facility is constructed with an ultra-low-energy design. It has hydronic radiant floor heating supplied with groundwater, ceiling cooling, permanent ventilation, daylight-controlled lighting and above-average insulation. This means it fulfills the "Minergie" standard.
Renewable energies are on everyone’s lips. They are set to cover an increasing share of the energy mix in the future. Besides wind and water, photovoltaics (PV), is becoming ever more important among renewable energies. A cost reduction in PV modules is also playing a significant role in helping photovoltaics in becoming even more widespread. This is due to increasing unit volumes and continuous improvements in production techniques. One of the many steps in the production of PV modules involves drying the silicon wafers after cleaning. Here, the drying time on the production lines of the Norwegian special machinery manufacturer, Tronrud Engineering, could be reduced thanks to the use of Leister air heaters. As a result, the entire cycle time for the production of PV modules could also be considerably shortened. Click image to enlarge.
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