Auto Plant Slashes Cooling Costs 40%, Earns $500,000 Rebate
GM upgrades a critical manufacturing plant with no downtime using tekWorx innovative hydronic design and adaptive optimization solution with a short two year payback
Facility Bio
- Spring Hill, TN
- 7 million ft²
- Vehicle assembly, power train manufacturing and stamping operations
- 27,000 tons cooling capacity
Situation
- Central plant serving all manufacturing operations
- Mission critical cooling production, no downtime permitted during upgrade
- Primary-Secondary system with typical conditions and associated performance:
- low CHW ΔT
- high kW/ton
- High system pressure
- Outdated PLC plant control system; no optimization or automation
Solution
- Convert plant hydronic configuration to Integrated Primary-Secondary® with modulating bypass valve
- Convert condenser pumps to variable flow
- Implement adaptive Control Engine Optimization(CEO®) system on new Rockwell PLC platform
- Execute detailed project planning and transition schedule to avoid cooling production interruption
- Establish VPN connection for remote monitoring and maintenance support
Results That Exceed Client Expectations
Financial Savings
- $729,000 in annual savings
- Eligible for $500,000 TVA Utility Rebate
- 2.8 year payback
- 1.2 year payback with rebate
Energy Impact
- 11,100,000 kWh saved annually
- .31 kW/ton energy efficiency improvement
Operational Benefits
- Equipment experiences less wear and tear
- Operators freed up for other tasks
- Automated system now controls all plant equipment
- ChillerCheck® alerts staff to take preventive maintenance actions
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