The welding line of the car manufacturer TPCA has a new recuperating unit heating the air intake. The equipment of the size of a site container was installed on the roof of the plant using a helicopter. Investments connected with the recuperating unit have exceeded the amount of CZK 2.5 million.

The former ventilation equipment was based on the principle of mixing fresh cold air with heated air from the weld shop. With the new unit, heat from the air outtake will be accumulated in an exchanger and consequently used to heat the fresh air intake.

The main advantages of the new system particularly consist of saved energy and improved working conditions for the employees. The estimate for saved cost is CZK 1 million per year, ensuring return of the investment in 2.5 years. In addition, lower CO2 emissions created upon heating the air for the weld shop in winter months are important to TPCA as well. The high-performance heat recuperating unit is capable of exchanging and heating 13.89 m3 of air per second, thus taking up to 50,000 m3 of fresh air into the plant in one hour.

Matěj Matolín
Spokesperson of TPCA