- Chrysler’s aluminum casting plant is a Toronto hot spot. The facility, located in Etobicoke district and shown here, is where Chrysler processes the tons of molten aluminum that go into making various vehicle components.
Taking the heat
Working with large quantities of molten metal in a high-production environment presents some daunting challenges. One of those challenges at the Chrysler facility was dealing with the intense heat that radiates from the vats of molten aluminum which are carried about the plant by manned cranes. The heat often made working conditions difficult for the crane operators and was subsequently slowing down production.
Hot place, tight space
The solution to the problem was obvious: cool the crane cabs with conditioned air supplied by dedicated cooling units that could be affixed to each crane cab. However the amount of space available in which to install a cooling unit was very limited. They tried off-the-shelf, portable air conditioners but no unit that was small enough to fit was powerful enough to do the job. Knowing of the custom equipment design and fabrication services offered by Four Seasons Controlled Climates, Chrysler asked FSCC to come up with a workable solution.
Size does matter
Since larger capacity necessitates bigger components (bigger blower, bigger compressor, bigger coils) in air conditioning design, the greatest challenge was to arrange the specified components in a package that fit the available space without restricting air flow, placing excessive loads on the system, reducing performance, compromising reliability, or affecting the crane’s range of motion.
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FSCC designers utilized CAD (Computer Aided Design) software to design an optimized arrangement of the tightly-packed components and to create a virtual prototype. The design was massaged until the optimum package was achieved. Once the unit was designed, the plans were handed over to the FSCC fabrication department for the construction of a prototype.
After the construction of the chassis and the installation of the various components, the prototype was equipped with sophisticated, yet rugged computerized controls that would keep the unit operating efficiently under the fluctuating, extreme loads it would face inside the plant.
The finished prototype was subjected to a battery of in-house testing. Once it passed the in-house tests it was time to put the unit into trial operation inside the Chrysler facility. The prototype was installed on one of the crane cabs and tested under the most extreme working conditions for an extended period. On several particularly hot days in mid-summer the compact unit was able to maintain a comfortable 75&Mac251;F inside the cab while the ambient temperature reached an almost oven-like 150&Mac251;. Although the long-term test revealed the need for some fine-tuning of the unit’s operation, both FSCC and Chrysler were confident that the design was sound and that the units would do the job very well.
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On the success of the prototype, Chrysler ordered a total of six units, two for each crane in operation. The cooling units are designed for quick connect/disconnect so that if an installed unit requires repair or maintenance it can be replaced with minimal down time.
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- Chrysler's aluminum casting plant in Etobicoke
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- View of the inside of the A/C unit designed and built by Four Seasons for Chrysler. Big air conditioner in a small package.
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The crane cab with the Four Seasons A/C unit affixed to the rear.
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