Waterville TG

Waterville TG is a world leader in automotive sealing systems. They design, fabricate and supply automotive weather strips (EPDM and plastic) to major customers such as Toyota, Ford, Honda, Subaru, BMW, GM and many more. The North American head office is located in the town of Waterville, Québec, where it is a major employer with a commitment to its community and the environment. Faced with new production needs that entailed operating with higher-temperature evaporator water, the plant engineering department at Waterville TG, headed by M. Serge Lamontagne, sought to replace an outdated ammonia-cooled chiller with a new unit that could operate very efficiently in a range of conditions and loads, and that met the environmental goals of the company.

Project Solution

Waterville TG and Leprohon, their mechanical contractor, considered reciprocating, centrifugal and screw-type chillers for the replacement project, eliminating reciprocating chillers because they were not suitable for the tonnage required; and centrifugal chillers because they did not operate efficiently at very low load levels. Having selected the screw-chiller type, and given the company’s previous experience with the efficiency and reliability of Carrier chillers — including a Carrier 30HXA246 in service at the plant and not part of the upgrade project — the engineering department chose a Carrier 23XRV water-cooled screw chiller, the first ever installed in Canada. The 23XRV has met manufacturing parameters and delivered an energy savings of 80 percent over the previous unit. The chiller also uses the environmentally balanced refrigerant HFC-134a, which meets the environmental goals of the company.