Manchester Precision's Requirements
OKEL were approached by our client, Manchester Precision Engineering, in April 2019 who were wanting to upgrade their obsolete radiant heating system with a like for like radiant system to heat their factory (42,000 sq. ft).
Manchester Precision are a manufacturer of steel components, which includes components for military aircraft and nuclear power.
As part of the manufacturing process, steel components are transported around the factory. Due to the precision of the manufacturing, it’s necessary that the temperature doesn’t fall below 20°C, at any point throughout the day or night, to avoid impacting the quality of the steel.
OKEL’s Solution
OKEL’s Director visited the site to meet with our client and fully understand their factory heating requirements. He completed a survey of the premises to identify the most effective and efficient heating solution available.
Considering all the findings from the site visit and temperature requirement set out by our client, OKEL proposed replacing the radiant heating system with a modern high efficiency warm air and destratification solution.
OKEL’s design introduced 1000 kw of heat into the premises, consisting of Winterwarm TR100 and TR150 model warm air heaters, designed specifically for heating large industrial space.
It also introduced 8 x high efficiency suspended warm air heaters, designed specifically for heating large industrial space such as factories and warehouses.
Due to the height of the ceiling (11m to apex), it was essential to provide a heating solution that ensured the heat from the warm air heaters remained on the lower ground level.
This was most beneficial to the work force and production processes. To reduce heat loss from above, OKEL’s chosen model of warm air heaters came with the added feature of integral destratification.
This works by forcing heat back down to the lower level if the heaters gradient controls and temperature sensors identify that ceiling temperatures are becoming too hot.
In addition to the destratification feature of the warm air heaters, OKEL’s design included the introduction of Winterwarm WCU60 destratification fans. They were evenly distributed at ceiling height to assist with an even spread of heat throughout the factory. The Carbon Trust estimates that the use of destratification fans in industrial buildings with high ceilings and operating a warm air heating system can reduce energy consumption by 20%.
As well as the heat benefits provided, OKEL system design included a summer ventilation mode to enable continuous air circulation when the outside temperatures started to soar in the summer months.
The Results
A final pre installation site inspection took place prior to the install. Attendees at the meeting included OKEL’s Managing Director, Lead Commercial Gas Installer, MPE’s Operations Director and QSHE Manager. The purpose of the meeting was to sign off the positioning of the equipment and to discuss installations plans, which at the customers request were to take place over several weekends when the premises was closed.
The installation was completed in August 2019 and upon project completion, our client received a full handover to ensure staff were confident on the capabilities of the heaters and able to maximise the efficiencies by effective use of the intelligent thermostatic heater controls.
Electronic Gas Safe commissioning certification was forwarded to our client on project completion.
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