Smart exhaust air management for colorless solvents in printing operations conserves the environment and saves energy costs

CCL Label is one of the world's leading companies in the packaging industry, offering a wide range of label solutions. At the Dornbirn location, the company specializes in the production of shrink sleeve labels (shrink films), which adapt optimally to the shape of packaging and offer versatile design options.

Its customers include major international brand companies such as Henkel, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Ferrero, Müller, Pfanner, and Danone, to name just a few. The new building in Dornbirn encompasses modern office and production spaces totaling 13,000 square meters. CCL Label continuously invests in modern technologies and selects suitable partners, such as the Vorarlberg engineering company NETZER GROUP. The globally active plant manufacturer was commissioned with planning and coordinating the entire building technology (heating / air conditioning / ventilation / sanitation / electrical) and implementing accompanying measurement, control, and regulation technology. The focus is always on optimal energy efficiency and thus reducing operating costs.

A newly developed smart exhaust air management system

During the production process of shrink sleeves using the gravure printing method, highly concentrated and low-concentrated exhaust air is generated. Highly concentrated process exhaust air is directly fed into thermal exhaust air cleaning. The heat generated during this process is recovered and utilized. Low-concentrated exhaust air occurs, for example, when using water-based printing inks, which are fed to an adsorber for concentration, extracted via an appropriate exhaust air duct, and thermally treated. The solvent vapor mixture burns autothermally. This means that the energy needed for the reaction comes from the fuel itself, making it an ecologically and economically very advantageous solution.

A second exhaust air duct collects the exhaust air from production and auxiliary rooms. Here, too, a certain percentage of solvents must not escape outside. These are directed to cleaning via an activated carbon adsorber wheel. On one side, the solvent is absorbed and filtered out of the exhaust air, and on the other side, it is driven out through thermal treatment of the adsorber. This process creates a highly concentrated airflow that is fed into thermal combustion. The waste heat from the thermal exhaust air cleaning system, the chillers, and the compressed air compressors is extracted via a heat exchanger and used as primary energy for heating.

Comprehensive expertise for such requirements

Knowing how to handle particles of any size pays off. In the production rooms, a slight negative pressure is maintained so that solvent particles stay inside and do not emit outside. To achieve this, the reference pressure from atmosphere to room is measured, and the ventilation units are controlled according to the pressure difference. This ensures that the solvents remain exactly where the NETZER GROUP wants them—inside.

Measuring, controlling, regulating – daily business

This makes NETZER the perfect partner for the company to manage 13,000 square meters of space and schematically represent the corresponding energy flows, to evaluate, reassess, and possibly adjust after a production cycle of one year. The new 1,000-square-meter high-bay warehouse must never exceed 28°C, as otherwise the still unprinted shrink films stored there could begin to deform. That would be a financial disaster for CCL Label GmbH. The proven expertise of the NETZER GROUP guarantees customers high quality in services and products, absolute safety, precise monitoring, and thus optimal plant operation to prevent such incidents.