Cooling products and components

Many production processes require the product to be hot during work and then cooled back to ambient temperature.

In metal processing industries, castings, extrusions, and hot-worked products fall into this category, as do any components that have been treated with heat. Many products are packaged hot in the food industry and must be cooled before storage and shipment.

How to operate and optimise the cooling process?

Cooling a solid object is typically accomplished by spraying it with a coolant, most often water. The rate to cool an object with a water spray depends on the object’s shape, initial temperature, final desired temperature, the heat capacity of the object, and the convection coefficient between the object and the water.

The shape considers the surface area, volume, and indirectly the thermal conductivity of the object. It is also essential to consider that the object’s ability to transfer heat may not be uniform, as it may be made of several substances.

The principal idea is to distribute a high volume of water completely over the object, allowing the greatest contact and heat transfer from the object to the water.

Nozzle spray is advantageous because it can cover virtually any object shape. Cooling takes time; the major advantage of spraying the coolant is the ability to speed up the process compared to simple submersion. As the object cools down, the water in contact with the object heats up. You should flush warm water to allow cooler water to contact the object to continue cooling. This flushing action is an inherent characteristic of the flood of liquid and spray dynamics produced by a spray nozzle.

In some specialty cooling applications, liquid nitrogen is sprayed to cool or freeze products in a time and cost-efficient manner. The extremely low boiling point of liquid nitrogen (-196°C) allows it to maintain extremely low temperatures and high cooling efficiency in product cooling applications.

Factors to consider to achieve an efficient cooling process

There are several key factors that are important to optimise the cooling process. Our experienced staff and engineers are happy to help with calculations and develop the right solution.

Target temperature for cooling object(s)
Shape of object(s)
Temperature of obejct(s) before cooling process
Speed of travel (if moving)
Required coverage
Available and required cooling media flow rate
Available liquid pressure drop (∆P) across the nozzle = supply pressure at nozzle inlet - process pressure outside nozzle

Project review and proposed solution

To deliver the optimal solution, it is important to go through in detail various factors that affect product choice, type of solution, investment objective, and other requirements at an early stage of the project.

Linda Caporicci Column internals, Droplet separation, Spray nozzles & systems, Other products I look forward to providing product advice and solutions! Let's meet via a video call or a site visit. You can also phone or email us, of course.

Sol Millerv Dust control, Spray nozzles & systems, Tank cleaning I look forward to providing product advice and solutions! Let's meet via a video call or a site visit. You can also phone or email us, of course.

Alexander Bergman Droplet separation, Column internals, Spray nozzles & systems, Tank cleaning I look forward to providing product advice and solutions! Let's meet via a video call or a site visit. You can also phone or email us, of course.

Hans Linder Spray nozzles & systems, Tank cleaning, Safety showers, Tank storage equipment I look forward to providing product advice and solutions! Let's meet via a video call or a site visit. You can also phone or email us, of course.

Robin Ryberg Spray nozzles & systems, Tank cleaning I look forward to providing product advice and solutions! Let's meet via a video call or a site visit. You can also phone or email us, of course.

A start-up meeting is important to find out about various factors that will affect choice of equipment and solution in order to achieve the most efficient and sustainable solution. We are happy to set up the start-up meeting as a web meeting or a site visit, depending on your preference. All details and information from the start-up meeting we will summarise and go through with you to make sure we agree on project scope and objective.

Next step, we present a proposed solution, focusing on function, lifespan, quality, choice of material, operating and maintenance costs, and environmental impact. Our goal is to deliver a sustainable solution that creates added value to your company,