Customer
A leading US manufacturer of industrial chillers.
Application
System evacuation of large, air-cooled chillers.
Challenge
The customer’s existing evacuation process took from 17-20 hours to complete; a significant process bottleneck limiting production throughput.
Project Goals
- Improve evacuation station takt-time.
- Automate the process to allow unattended overnight evacuation.
- Allow data acquisition of the evacuation process for future quality and process improvement.
Solution
The customer replaced the restrictive packed angle valves they had been using for system processing and field service with FasTest’s high-flow PortMaxTM access ports. Additionally, they replaced their outdated evacuation system with FasTest’s EvacMaxTM portable, automated evacuation cart system.
Results
During initial testing on a chiller system with FasTest’s PortMax access ports and EvacMax evacuation cart the customer achieved a reduction in the time required to reach vacuum and run a decay test from approximately 17-20 hours to 5 hours. In addition, the EvacMaxTM ICON software’s ability to track vacuum levels at 3 locations on the system allowed the customer to more accurately monitor vacuum level in the system and identify additional areas of improvement. EvacMax’s automatic data entry and labeling using an optional Bar Code Scanner and Label Printer saved the customer additional time and reduced data entry errors. In addition, the ICON software’s ability to both display the evacuation process in real time and save a data record of the evacuation process was a huge unexpected benefit. Finally, the EvacMax’s ability to run unattended and turn itself off at the conclusion of an evacuation cycle allowed overnight operation, increasing throughput. Since implementing the FasTest solution the customer has reported an increase in production throughput of several chiller systems per day.
