Trumpf uses water to cool laser-cutting machines
Trumpf, the German industrial machine manufacturing company, has developed what it says is a sustainable cooling solution for its laser-cutting machines.
Instead of using HFC refrigerants, Trumpf’s new Eco Cooler uses pure water as the coolant and uses up to 80% less energy. It was developed by Trumpf in partnership with Efficient Energy, the German company manufacturing chillers that use water as the refrigerant.
Called the Eco Cooler, it uses the water to cool heat-generating components such as laser diodes, optics, drives and control cabinets.
“The Eco Cooler works in the same way as a heat pump,” explains Andreas Hultsch, project leader at Trumpf. “It enables users to control the temperature of components that generate heat during laser processing and also regulate volume-flow rates.”
Said to be unique in the sheet-metal industry, the Eco Cooler will be available on all of Trumpf’s 1000 to 5000 series laser-cutting machines.
“The Eco Cooler will help our customers save energy and reduce the use of harmful substances in production. We see an opportunity here to improve the environmental footprint of the industry as a whole and to drive down costs at the same time”, commented Stephan Mayer, Trumpf’s machine tools CEO.