AVS Ing. J.C. Römer GmbH: Successfully Reducing Energy Consumption
For decades, the name AVS Ing. J.C. Römer GmbH has been synonymous with exceptionally high-quality plug-in and screw connections, solenoid valves, and sensors. With innovative product solutions, highly specialized manufacturing processes, and a high-performing and highly motivated team, the company has become one of the most successful in the industry. While successful in its core business, the company has also recognized that low energy costs are of particular importance for securing the future of an energy-intensive operation.
During the construction of the new production facility in Grafenau, which has a floor area of more than 15,000 square meters, the focus was therefore on technology that enables optimized energy use. The energy concept implemented there can be described as an outstanding example of energy efficiency and environmental awareness.
AVS Ing. J.C. Römer GmbH, with locations in Königsdorf near Munich, Grafenau in the Bavarian Forest, and Langenberg in the Ore Mountains, is a traditional family-owned business that has been highly innovative and successful for many years. Founded in 1970 by engineer Joachim C. Römer as a one-man operation, it has grown over the years into a company with more than 260 employees today. The company develops, designs, and manufactures components for connecting hoses and pipes or for conveying, distributing, and shutting off gaseous and liquid media. These components include push-fit and screw connections, solenoid valves, and sensors used, for example, in mechanical and plant engineering, in automated equipment for the food industry, in telecommunications technology, in medical and laboratory technology, in water treatment, and in heating and cooling systems. The products feature high manufacturing quality and are particularly suitable for the food and medical sectors due to their certification (NSF) and compliance with standards.
The depth of manufacturing and the commitment to quality across all areas of the company are truly impressive. This is made possible only by the Römer team’s uniquely broad knowledge base, which is the foundation for many of the company’s unique selling points. For example, the company specializes in manufacturing plastic and metal parts—which are incorporated into the end products—in-house with the highest possible quality, using an enormous variety of materials, while meeting the most stringent end-user requirements and aligning with the latest market demands. In addition to manufacturing products in large quantities, the company also implements customer-specific custom solutions from concept to production readiness, even in small quantities.
To provide heating for an industrial building, one typically needs a boiler system with the appropriate capacity, which consumes a significant amount of primary energy in the form of heating oil or natural gas during the heating season. At AVS, the energy cost problem is solved efficiently and simply through a clever energy concept. Energy is not used just once, but twice whenever possible. The relevant systems are configured accordingly. Specifically, the cooling water circuits and the primary heating water circuit were designed for a temperature spread of 30/35 degrees Celsius. To this end, the cooling water supply for the production machines, chiller, and compressed air generation was adjusted accordingly. This temperature design also benefits heating generation via a boiler system, which is required if the waste heat volumes are insufficient to meet heating demand.
In this specific case, the boiler system utilizes gas condensing technology. With this technology, the temperature on the heat exchanger surfaces is deliberately set below the dew point to ensure that moisture contained in the exhaust gas condenses, thereby transferring the heat of condensation to the heating water.
The efficiency achievable with such boilers is approximately ten to twelve percent higher than that of a conventional steel boiler at a heating water return temperature of 30 degrees Celsius.
The 30/35-degree Celsius temperature spread is not only optimal for cooling machines, systems, and processes, but is also ideally suited for heating. All heating surfaces used for space heating or for heating supply air in ventilation systems are designed for this spread, thereby enabling the reuse of energy already utilized through a heat recovery measure.
“With this heating concept from ONI, we can massively reduce the heating energy costs that arise when using conventional technology. In view of further expected increases in energy prices, this technology cannot be praised highly enough,” says Managing Director Robert Süß, taking stock of the situation in this area.
Sensitive manufacturing areas where high-quality products are produced require a specific ventilation system, which is inevitably energy-intensive. To achieve the highest possible energy efficiency in the ventilation system, the large central ventilation units—each with an air flow rate of approximately 45,000 cubic meters per hour—were specially equipped. In the first stage, these units ensure that the waste heat from the exhaust air is used to preheat the supply air. To this end, the units are equipped with rotating heat storage masses installed in a two-part duct. The exhaust air is directed through one duct and the supply air through the second duct using the counterflow principle.
Before the exhaust air is discharged into the atmosphere, it must pass through the air-permeable heat transfer medium or storage mass, where it releases a certain amount of heat depending on the temperature difference and dwell time. After passing through the exhaust air section, the air enters the supply air duct and transfers the heat absorbed from the exhaust air to the supply air. The resulting so-called heat recovery coefficient, or thermal efficiency of the heat recovery system, reaches values of up to 80 percent. Any additional heating is provided by a heat exchanger that uses free cooling water heat as a heating medium.
Summary
“You need the right people at the table for consultation and project planning, as well as on-site to ensure smooth project implementation. When you consider the time from the initial consultation to the turnkey handover of the entire system, and add in the smooth project execution and the impressive energy-saving results, the overall outcome is outstanding—a testament to the exceptionally good collaboration with the experts at ONI-Wärmetrafo GmbH. “Together, we have implemented a project that, through the use of state-of-the-art, energy-saving technology, ensures that our energy costs remain at an absolute minimum,” said Christoph Cegla, Managing Director of AVS Ing. J.C. Römer GmbH, in his positive assessment of the project’s implementation.
