For an injection moulding client, Aqua’s emergency hire service kept their process running with minimal downtime and disruption after their existing chiller unit failed.

As soon as our Hire desk took the call, with time being of the essence, a site survey was quickly arranged to determine the precise specification of equipment required and to ascertain exactly what was needed for a quick on site install. Subsequently we were able to promptly dispatch a 20kW chiller for next day delivery.

When it came to installation, the versatility of our units meant our engineers could simply adjust the fittings on the Hire Chiller and connect it to our client’s existing pipework, keeping installation time to a minimum.

With production back on track, our customer then had the opportunity to consider a more permanent replacement unit, but with total peace of mind that their process was running fine. To this end, on the same day as the Hire unit was installed, an Aqua sales engineer met the hire team on site to design and specify a more longer-term solution.

Hire Engineer, Sean Johnson, explains; “At Aqua Hire, sales and service divisions work closely together. If a client calls one of our team, they benefit from a completely 360° approach, as in this case. Likewise, we have customers who initially approach our sales division because they need to expand their production capacity or have legacy equipment on site which is struggling, and the hire team can step in and help them with a temporary solution whilst sales finalise a longer-term strategy which is a win, win scenario for all involved.”

Although it often doesn’t seem possible with the UK’s variable climate, on occasion temperatures get high enough that they start to play havoc with established cooling systems, even if it’s just for a few weeks of the year. For a chemical processing client that was exactly the scenario they faced and a short-term Chiller hire unit provided the ideal solution.

The client’s chemical process is normally cooled by large on-site cooling towers which are perfectly sufficient for most of the year. But, when things heat up in the summer, the towers go over temperature. Not only does short term hire negate the need for investing in new equipment and protect CAPEX, it also affords the client additional benefits:

• Continuity of production
• The latest equipment, readily available, even at short notice
• Full service support, 24/7
• Flexibility – can hire equipment short term with the option to easily extend the hire period if needed

For this particular client, their production can fluctuate quite dramatically and there’s also plans afoot for a rapid period of growth. A Hire solution offers a flexible, cost effective option and ensures the right equipment is on site exactly when it’s needed.

Aqua Hire supplied a large (750kW) Chiller Hire unit as well as providing a full technical design service. The cooling system’s existing aging pipework presented several problems that needed to be overcome, from locating suitable connection points to checking consistent flow would be maintained.

The full solution included:

• 750kW chiller unit
• Full technical site survey
• Technical design & install
• Flexible rental agreement

Aqua Hire specialist, Jack Crawford, commented: “This has been an exciting application to work on and a great example of where our technical design team have seamlessly integrated a substantial sized hire unit into an existing cooling set up.”

For the research and development laboratory at a leading cosmetic company, a bespoke Chiller Hire solution proved to be the answer when they were faced with challenges during product development.

In this scenario, system flexibility was key. The lab was working under the constraints of a very specific time scale when cooling the product. It was critical to ensure it wasn’t cooled too quickly or too slowly, otherwise product would be compromised and have quality and cost implications further down the line.

Being a cosmetic manufacturer, our client had an existing chilled water supply on site. However, for the trial they needed their cooling water to be completely independent so that there was no risk to day to day production in their main plant.

To ensure the laboratory could vary pressure, temperature and flow rates, Aqua supplied the following:

• Variable speed pump – this enabled both pressure and flow rates to be changed as and when required
• Heat exchanger with a 3-way value – this gave full control over the temperature
• 30kW chiller
• System design and installation

With a flexible hire agreement in place, our client only rents the equipment for as long as they need it. Once optimum flow rates and conditions have been established for mainstream production of the product the above equipment can be easily off hired with just one phone call to our hire desk.

For a service and maintenance customer, long term Hire proved to be the perfect solution as their legacy equipment began to struggle keeping up with production demand.

The client, based in Kent had two, non-Aqua supplied chiller units, which were integral to cooling their spot welding process. Aqua had been previously appointed as their designated service and maintenance supplier. When the compressor on one unit failed, our client was faced with a costly repair, disruption to their process and the reality of knowing their second unit could also fail at any time.

As an interim measure, the engineer arranged for the Aqua hire team to supply a replacement 50kW chiller to get production back underway and to give the client time to consider their longer-term options.

Impressed with the unit supplied, the client took the decision to replace both their legacy units with Chiller Hire units on an annual contract basis. This saved on the cost of repair as well as giving a host of other benefits, including:

• Minimal capital expenditure – hire gives you all the advantages and efficiencies of up to date technology but with no real investment. Hire costs are treated as operational spend, rather than capital expenditure, keeping the kit off the balance sheet and improving tax efficiency
• Fixed, regular operating costs – so budgeting is easy each month and there’s no surprises. Costs are inclusive of service and support which negates the need for a separate contingency for repairs and maintenance
• Flexibility – if production requirements change or your business plan changes, equipment can be easily upscaled. Equally, in the unlikely case that something goes wrong with the hire unit it’s quickly and simply swapped with another from our fleet

So, as well as their production being back on course, the client now operates with total peace of mind that they’re now protected from that type of scenario reoccurring.

Often with hire installations time is of the essence and customers are keen to get equipment delivered to site as soon as possible. However, for a client working within the defence sector, the highly sensitive and critical nature of their application meant that technical expertise and attention to detail were paramount, with a complex design stage lasting 10 months.

Our client had a legacy cooling tower on site which they needed to replace, with the existing tower providing cooling to submarine frequency convertors. Aqua were tasked with providing a temporary solution which would keep the facility up and running whilst the cooling tower was taken out of service during the planned maintenance works.

The design scope was worked on with the client over a 10-month period, with every aspect checked and double checked to ensure the system was completely resilient and every possible fail safe was in place. It was crucial that the temporary system had built in redundancy and the final design achieved 740kW of cooling, through 2 x 390kW chillers and a 1000kW plate heat exchanger.

To give an additional level of assurance, remote monitoring was built into the chiller hire units and pumps, so that if a system alarm should be triggered for any reason, nominated personnel would receive a notification by text and email. A visual alarm was also incorporated, with beacon lights built in so that should a fault arise it would be easily visible to warehouse personnel.

The full solution included:

• 390kW chiller x 2
• 1000kW plate heat exchanger
• Primary side pumps
• Secondary pumps – with run and standby
• Remote monitoring & built-in alarm

The maintenance works were scheduled over a 20-week period. This was staged across 2 areas on the site, with each area commissioned in turn over 10 weeks. The temporary system was installed in one area initially and then decommissioned, relocated and re-installed in the second area.

The site also had strict environmental procedures to adhere to. For example, when filling any buffer vessel using site mains water, we provided an “air gap” every time, so no contact was made between the hose and vessel which reduces overall contamination risk. In addition, IBC containers were supplied for when the glycol water was drained down, ensuring it was safely transported around site. At the end of the contract all treated water was removed from site in its entirety.

“For me this project showcases our technical ability and how the hire sector isn’t always about short term contracts and rapid turnarounds” explains Jack Crawford from Aqua. “For planned maintenance clients and complex applications such as this, it’s often more about the finer detail and documentation and working in partnership to ensure things run seamlessly throughout.”

Aqua Hire has been involved with the commissioning of an ecologically focused waste processing facility in the South of England. Aqua was appointed by the plant’s contractor to provide a cooling solution, on a temporary hire basis, to enable the centre to be tested under load before completion.

The project involved redeveloping and upgrading an existing facility, with the new centre having provision for two types of waste treatment process – gasification and anaerobic digestion. The former is used to treat waste that is left when any recyclable items have been separated from it and anaerobic digestion is used with food waste. When the waste is processed it is converted to either fuel or fertiliser for use in farming. The fuel is used to run the plant and then excess is supplied to the national grid.

This new plant gave the local area its first ever energy recovery facility and is expected to treat a third of its household waste, as well as an element of waste from local businesses.

Aqua supplied cooling equipment to the anaerobic digestion process, upscaling on-site cooling capacity so that the system could be thoroughly tested.

The provision of a hire chiller increased capacity from 300kW to 500kW and the addition of a generator took the power supply from 220kVA to 500kVA. Aqua Hire also supplied a fuel tank and a full fuel management service to measure fuel levels and co-ordinate future fuel deliveries.

The full hire solution included:

• 500kw process chiller
• Plate heat exchanger
• Pump, hoses, ancillaries, install & de-install
• 500kVA generator
• Fuel package – including 3000l tank & telemetry

“This project is an incredible achievement and really showcases the next generation of waste treatment facilities. It will benefit both the environment and the local community, totally transforming how waste is handled within the region” explains Aqua Hire Sales Engineer, Jack Crawford.

An increase in temperature and that first glimmer of sunshine each year are normally the first signs that summer is on its way. Whilst this is very much welcomed by the majority, it can herald the arrival of a whole new set of challenges as a UK manufacturing client discovered.

The client, a global chemical processor, uses a cooling tower-based system to provide process cooling at their UK production facility. This works extremely effectively and efficiently for most of the year, but as ambient temperatures rise during the summer months the system struggled to cool to set point due to this increase in the wet bulb temperature (the wet bulb being the temperature whilst taking into account evaporation).

To overcome the problem and ensure manufacturing could continue seamlessly, Aqua Hire installed a temporary chiller-based cooling system. By supplementing the existing cooling tower set up with over 2MW of mechanical cooling, continuous operation is assured all summer long.

The full solution included:

• 3 x 750kW chillers
• Site survey & system design
• Bauer hosing & all necessary connections
• Delivery, installation & commissioning

“This particular site gains all the efficiency benefits a cooling tower system brings but it just needs additional support during the summer months” explains Hire Sales Engineer, Jack Crawford. “A temporary hire solution is ideal because the client just pays for the additional capacity they need, exactly when they need it so it’s a very cost-effective option for them. They now have total peace of mind regardless of what the weather brings!”

When a Wiltshire based rubber compounder’s contingency plan fell through, Aqua’s Hire team were happy to step into the breach with an Emergency Chiller Hire solution.

The plant uses cooling towers to provide efficient and effective cooling to its process across the year. The towers feed water into the factory at an optimum temperature of 20°C.

However, if the ambient temperature rises sufficiently during the summer months, the wet bulb temperature becomes higher than the required 20°C. For the peak summer UK temperatures, the client hires a Chiller to give additional cooling capacity and to ensure the required temperature is constantly maintained. Their existing pipework has stab in points so a Chiller Hire unit can be delivered and quickly installed, getting production back on track.

The Hire option works especially well for the client as it avoids the company having to invest in a Chiller unit which they’re only going to use for a few weeks each year. Equally, by having a Contingency plan in place, the required equipment is already specified and it’s just a matter of delivery to site.

However, on this occasion, when it came to implementing their Contingency, their previous supplier wasn’t able to supply the chiller for next day delivery so Aqua Hire happily took up the challenge!

A member of our Hire team took the initial enquiry in the morning and a site visit was carried out the same day. Within 24 hours from initial enquiry our Industrial Chiller was delivered and installed. Our network of engineers based around the UK enables us to provide clients with rapid turnaround which is critical to the Hire market.

Our solution included:

• 200kW process chiller
• Same day site survey
• Next day delivery & installation

So, whether you’re looking to plan your Contingency or looking for an Emergency Hire specialist, don’t get caught out, make Aqua your first port of call.

A plastics manufacturer based in the Midlands turned to Aqua’s hire division when they encountered an emergency breakdown scenario with the Chiller unit on their plastic thermoforming production line.

For clients working within a 24/7 manufacturing facility, equipment breakdown can have disastrous consequences. Any threat of interruption to production can cost heavily in downtime, loss of revenue and even financial penalties. At Aqua Hire we fully understand the challenges our clients face. Our extensive knowledge of the chiller market enables us to arrange a temporary hire solution to site quickly and efficiency, getting that all important production back on line.

Aqua supplied a 300kW Chiller hire unit and flexible hosing which linked to the client’s existing weir tank. This, used in conjunction with a standby pump, enabled the chilled water to be recirculated around the tank, restoring the process cooling. The problem with the malfunctioning chiller could then be further investigated whilst production continued unheeded.

Our hire solution included:

• 300kW chiller
• Flexible temporary pipework
• Full technical system design analysis
• Installation services

In addition to supplying the short-term hire chiller, the Aqua technical team have undertaken a full review of the thermoforming plant’s process cooling system, giving the client longer term options which will include building additional redundancy into the design.

Senior Design and Project Manager, Shaun Lancaster explains: “Aqua’s sales and hire divisions work hand in hand which enables us to be able to offer the customer the very best solution every time. This is a great example of how short term chiller hire has resolved the client’s immediate issue and given them breathing space to consider the possibilities longer term.”