Text: KDV - Language & More
Our climate is warming up, and that also has consequences for the workplace. Deeper cooling is the message, and in the metal industry, preferably with less moisture in the air. Two-stage adiabatic cooling or evaporative cooling perfectly meets the needs of factory halls, according to the experience of metal company 247TailorSteel after years of collaboration with Oxycom, a specialist in sustainable industrial cooling systems.
247TailorSteel is the market leader in the Netherlands and a leading player in Europe in the field of custom-cut metal sheets, tubes and bent parts. With six production sites, the company is fully committed to technological efficiency and pleasant working conditions. For climate control in its newest factory in Hooglede, the company once again relied on Oxycom and its expertise in creating comfortable and healthy working environments.
This project in Belgium was realized in collaboration with BeProactive, Oxycom's partner for the Belgium market.
Deeper cooling, less moisture
"We were already familiar with the Oxycom system from our other locations. We know it works. It is reliable and energy efficient. Oxycom's approach also feels right and familiar", says Guy van Leeuwen, plant operations manager at the Belgian location. Therefore, the decision to work with Oxycom again in Hooglede was easy.
In the new factory, with an area of 17,000 m², the team opted for IntrCooll technology. "We installed 19 IntrCooll Plus units", says van Leeuwen. "They create an evenly cooled environment without drafts and compensate for the negative pressure created when extracting warm air around the lasers." The benefits go beyond comfort: The two-stage adiabatic cooling lowers the temperature by 4 to 7 degrees more than standard evaporative coolers and does so with up to 70 percent less humid air - crucial for avoiding problems such as flash rust.
Smart and scalable system
Oxycom's solutions are not just cooling systems. They are total concepts for sustainable climate control. "Our IntrCooll units combine cooling, ventilation, heat recovery, and heating in a single system," says Kor Foekens, Oxycom's commercial director. They constantly ventilate with fresh air, creating a stable and healthy indoor climate."
"The two-stage adiabatic cooling lowers the temperature by 4 to 7 degrees more than standard evaporative coolers."
Specifically, IntrCooll operates in four smart modes to ensure a pleasant feeling all year round. In cooling mode, outside air is actively cooled and refreshed several times an hour, ensuring a fresh, clean working environment. When outside temperatures are mild, the system switches to free cooling mode, which cools the building with minimal energy. In heat recovery mode, residual heat from machines is used to warm up cold outside air, ideal for winter. If additional heat is needed, the heating mode provides supplementary heating via built-in batteries.
What makes this case particularly special is the standardized approach. "247TailorSteel developed a blueprint for its Langenau facility in southern Germany and has applied it to every new factory since", says Foekens. This blueprint takes into account zones such as laser cutting or tube processing departments and is tailored to the specific building characteristics. This makes the system scalable and consistent in performance.
Partners in steel and air
The collaboration between Oxycom and 247TailorSteel goes beyond technology. It is a win-win for both parties: All sheet materials for Oxycom's cooling system come from 247TailorSteel. "That makes it a truly sustainable partnership; we strengthen each other," van Leeuwen and Foekens conclude together.
Or, as the CEO of 247Tailorsteel once summed it up, the two-stage adiabatic cooling system "just works". In an industry where precision, efficiency, and reliability are key, that really says it all.
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