While many injection molders use beside the press temperature control units fed by a centralized cooling system to provide precise temperature fluid to control the mold cooling process, Advantage recently completed a project using a more unconventional approach. The molder, making packaging products, elected to purchase customized self contained chiller & temperature control units in a single package. Advantage has been making its Bi-Temp Chillers since the early 1980′s primarily to support urethane process applications but have made many units for injection molders as well.
Typical circuit schematic of Bi-Temp chiller.
The Bi-Temp chiller is a single packaged unit containing a chiller and mold temperature control unit. The chiller supplies a cool water source for cooling the temperature control unit and also cool water for the molding machine feed throat and often to the machine hydraulic system or an auxiliary hydraulic unit often used with electric molding machines. The integral temperature control unit provides water for mold cooling at a temperature range from about 10 degrees above the chiller temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Bi-Temp chiller is very compact and requires a single power drop easing installation and saving valuable floor space. Since the unit was purpose built, the molder was able to have all the features they wanted incorporated into the unit including a custom alarm indicator, gauges indicating when the unit is out of spec, and a signal from the unit that tells the molding machine that the temperature is out of spec. This signal pauses the molding machine and signals the operator to take a look prior to making a significant amount of bad parts.
Advantage BI-1.5AS-920 Bi-Temp unit featuring a chiller and temperature control unit in a single compact package.
Advantage makes Bi-Temp units with capacities from 1.5 to 40 tons and with heating capabilities up to 48 kW. For those molders that need two zones of temperature control Advantage also makes Tri-Temp chillers that include an integral chiller and two tempered water zones.
