Gurit Composite Components

18th July 2018 — Gurit Composite Components

Babcock Wanson’s high efficiency Thermal Fluid Heaters have been installed at Gurit Automotive’s site in Newport, Isle of Wight, as part of a very close control heating and cooling system for its composite part production facility.

Heating & Cooling System for Composite Part Production Facility

Gurit has been supplying leading OEMs with carbon fibre based Class-A composite panels since 2007. The company’s strength is its understanding of composite materials, structural design and materials processing which provides the capability to formulate, design, prototype and manufacture fully assembled, primed and coloured exterior body panels.

A flexible process heating and cooling solution that can be precisely controlled is vital to the manufacturing process. Gurit selected a Babcock Wanson Thermal Fluid System which is used in their multi mould production facility for composite panel production and hot roller heating for prepreg material production.

The Solution and Client Reaction

Keith Netting, Product Development & Industrialisation Manager and Sam Robinson, Plant Engineering & Maintenance Manager at Gurit Composite Components, comment: “The heaters are well constructed and easy to maintain and have performed well. One existing unit on site has run approximately 24/7 360 days with only one failure in eight years. The controls are straight forward without any unnecessary complicated add ons which is refreshing; they are constructed to carry out what's required and perform very well.”

Babcock Wanson’s TPC450LN fully automatic coil type, multi-pass thermal fluid heaters come complete with integrated burner, control system and safety devices. The system precisely matches fuel input to plant energy requirements for high efficiency operation.

The thermal fluid system is supplied with Babcock Wanson’s unique menu driven software, which provides Gurit with the facility to create up to 50 programmes for the simultaneous heating and cooling system of multiple users in a simple and operator friendly manner. It provides absolute control over the process as well as flexibility in the temperature rise and cooling stages. The software takes automatic readings every six seconds and the data is readily retrievable by simply downloading onto a flash drive. Statistical information is then available in a variety of formats, including clear graphs.

Temperature Control Units

The software operates Babcock Wanson Temperature Control Units on each mould tool. They are connected to both the heating and cooling distribution loops to automatically feed the hot and cold fluid to each tool as and when required, meaning that each part of the line can be at a different part of the thermal cycle at any given time.

Sam is very pleased with the service provided by Babcock Wanson: “We have experienced excellent service from Babcock Wanson. They are willing to help and advise as required, with several site meetings, until the correct solution for our needs was found.”

Customer Testimonials

 — Loucas Antoniou, Engineering Manager at Bakkavor Meals London

“The Thermal Oxidiser is the most efficient way of removing any smells and it’s also very straightforward to use. We have been a customer of Babcock Wanson for many years and have always enjoyed a good service.”

 — Carbon Trust Annual Report 2009/10

“A major carbon footprint reduction will be achieved when the scheme currently in progress to change the main boiler fuel from heating oil to gas is completed in summer 2010. This £900k project will reduce our carbon emissions via energy usage by around 15% by removing the need to use heavy fuel oil, as the new boiler plant will use natural gas as its main fuel source.”

 — Webster & Horsfall

“What we hadn’t expected initially though is the level of control the new system provides us with; it’s amazing. It alerts us to any potential issues, is easy to maintain (no annual statutory inspection is required) and is quick to respond. All that and it doesn’t take up much room.”

 — Peter Connolly, Production Engineer at Vacu-Lug

“The ESM 2000 installation, together with an ongoing programme of process plant lagging and steam trap maintenance, has enabled us to significantly reduce our gas usage and cushion the company against rising gas prices.”

 — Dave Scrivens, Facilities Manager at Plastic Omnium

“Babcock Wanson’s expertise and ability to provide a whole package made them the leading contender for this project. On further investigation, their proposal was also commercially viable, which sealed the deal.”

 — Denis Kelly, Engineering & Construction Manager at Stolthaven Dagenham

“The Thermal Fluid Heaters themselves were ideal for this project as they are based on mature technology and are well proven in the field. They are robust and also require very little maintenance.”

 — Ian McQuarrie, Engineering Manager at Puredrive

“During my three years here, the Steam Generators and Thermal Fluid Heaters have worked flawlessly. Babcock Wanson carries a good name in the business for both quality and equipment longevity. Their knowledge, company wide, is exceptional and the whole package from installation through to service is managed professionally.”

 — Jason Hall, J&A Young Engineering Manager

“We had estimated our steam requirements, but Babcock Wanson had the experience to understand that we had underestimated this. In fact, the erratic nature of the steam loads would have been impossible to meet under our existing spec. Babcock Wanson was able to identify this as well as provide a very energy efficient solution with a number of enhanced features”.

 — Lee Bullen, Corrugated Services Manager at Board24

“It’s running very well, both easy to use and efficient. The service from Babcock Wanson has also been very good.”

 — Peter Shrimpton, Engineering Projects Manager at Bridgnorth Aluminium Ltd

"We were unfamiliar with Babcock Wanson, but we’ve had no problems with it whatsoever; you simply switch it on and it works – simple as that! The service we have received from Babcock Wanson has also been great.”