Press Release

Press Release

Development of Rapid cooling apparatus "HD Blast Cooler" ~Revolutionary technology that can shorten cooling time to less than 1/100 compared to conventional methods~

October 24, 2017
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.
Yutaka Electronics Industry Company Ltd..
NAOMOTO Corporation

Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (President & Director: Satoru Katsuno; Location: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture), Yutaka Electronics Industry Company Ltd. (President & CEO; Takafumi Morita; Location: Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture; hereinafter "Yutaka Electronics Industry") and NAOMOTO Corporation (Representative Director and CEO: Yukio Naomoto; Location: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture; hereinafter "NAOMOTO") jointly developed a "rapid cooling apparatus" (product name: HD Blast Cooler) that can cool metal products in less than 1/100 of time compared to the conventional natural heat radiating method and fan cooling method.

The problem with the cooling methods that used natural heat radiation or fan, which were mainstream in the process of cooling metal products at the factory, was that cooling time was long. There was also a method of shortening cooling time by immersing metal in water, but the problem with this was that it caused defects in products due to cracking and that drying was necessary after cooling. Thus, a cooling method that shortened cooling time and resolved defects in products was desired.

By applying micro droplets (mist) and high-pressure air to products, the developed apparatus cools products without causing defects in less than 1/100 of time compared to the conventional natural heat radiating method and fan cooling method. Products weak against water can be cooled with high-speed cold air from the installed fan.

The developed apparatus will be released in January 2018 from Yutaka Electronics Industry and NAOMOTO, aiming for annual sales volume of 50 units.

The developed apparatus will be exhibited at "Techno Fair 2017" to be held on October 26 and 27 by the Technological Development Division of Chubu Electric Power (20-1 Kitasekiyama, Odaka-cho, Midori Ward, Nagoya City).

[Comparison of existing products and developed apparatus]

Existing product 

Developed apparatus 

 

 Natural heat radiating method

 Fan cooling method

 Immersion method

 Method

・Radiating heat into the air without using a fan

・Wind cooling using a fan

・Cooling by immersing products in water

・Cooling by mist and high-pressure air
・Can be cooled with high-speed cold air from fan

Features 

・Cooling speed is slow
・Cracks do not form on products
・Drying is unnecessary after cooling

・Cooling speed is fast
・Cracks sometimes form on products
・Drying is necessary after cooling

・Cooling speed is fast
・Cracks do not form on products and drying is unnecessary after cooling

 Cooling time

・Several hours

・Several hours (shorter than natural heat radiating method)

・Several seconds (cooling) + 1-3 minutes (drying)

・1-5 minutes

Main features of "HD Blast Cooler"

  1. Drastic decrease of cooling time
    When naturally cooling metal products (around 0.1-10kg) by radiating heat from 900°C, it originally took more than several hours, but cooling time is shortened to approximately 1 minute at the shortest with the developed apparatus.
  2. 3 types of cooling mode to answer customer needs
    To answer various needs such as no need of drying with no water remaining, cooling materials that change its nature with water and cooling in the shortest time possible, cooling method can be chosen from 3 types of mode with different mist flowrate control and high-speed cold air.
  3. Resolution of cracks and residual water
    Defects in products such as residual water and cracks are resolved with different cooling modes.
  4. Compact size
    Conventionally, several dozen products were cooled for long hours in large space. With installation area of 0.7m×0.8m, the compact-size developed apparatus does not require large space.
  5. Compatible with small-volume production of various kinds of items
    Since products can be cooled one at a time, it is compatible with the production method of sending each item to the next process one at a time (single flow) aiming at small-volume production of various kinds of items, which is desired by the automobile industry in recent years.

Go to the Top of the Page