Sophisticated weep control system reduces wasteful expenses while ...

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Schneider Electric Case Study > KRK Products The background “I’ve had experiences with Schneider Electric products for more than 10 years, and they have been incredibly reliable. They aren’t products I have to worry about not working again in a couple years. They just keep going.” - Rick Krahe, Co-owner, KRK Products Gone are the days of hand washing cars with a soapy sponge and a bucket of water. Today’s on-the-go society demands ways to wash automobiles quickly and affordably, and the car wash industry has responded. According to the United States Census Bureau, there are 113,000 auto washes in the U.S. alone. With such a crowded market, car wash owners must keep their costs low to stay competitive. One expensive function for many standard car washes is weeping, which runs water between washes to keep lines and nozzles from freezing in cold conditions. Simple weep systems inject antifreeze into the line after each wash cycle, which may be unnecessary and costly during higher activity periods. Basic water weeping systems are also wasteful because they turn on and off based solely on temperature, without considering activity levels. Unnecessary water weeping increases water utility bills and sewer fees, and creates an icy mess in the wash bays. The challenge KRK Products, an auto wash operator and builder in Willoughby, Ohio, saw the need for an intelligent weep controller that could adapt to weather and activity levels and run only when needed. Such smart control could reduce water and antifreeze usage, lower sewer costs, and avoid excess ice buildup. After years of testing weep control settings for optimal performance, KRK Products designed the Master Weep Control. To be competitive, KRK Products needed to build the Master Weep Control affordably but without cutting corners on quality. Based on past machine design experience and a strong recommendation from a local distributor, KRK Products turned to Schneider Electric for dependable machine components that fit the budget. “The reliability and cost-effectiveness of components are essential when building machinery,” said Rick Krahe, co-owner of KRK Products. “If my product fails, a car wash can freeze up and it is out of business until it thaws out. I’ve had experiences with Schneider Electric products for more than ten years and they have been incredibly reliable. They aren’t products I have to worry about not working again in a couple years. They just keep going.” The solution KRK Products chose the Magelis XBT GC all-in-one HMI and control, which is part of the Schneider Electric MachineStruxure architecture. MachineStruxure is a comprehensive automation solution for industrial machines that’s based on flexible hardware platforms and SoMachine software, a single, modular software suite. As a combined HMI/PLC solution, the Magelis XBT GC costs less and is more compact than two separate components. With an integrated HMI and PLC, Magelis XBT GC has the ability to provide all the intelligence necessary in a compact size, which is most important when fitting into an established car wash system. “We install in very confined spaces,” Krahe said. “Most car wash control rooms are very crowded so we need to keep enclosures small. By using the compact Magelis XBT GC, we keep the Master Weep Control small so it fits within the existing space.” KRK Products | 2
Schneider Electric Case Study > KRK Products In addition, Magelis XBT GC provides the flexibility to expand functionality by adding I/O, making it customizable to fit a wash owner’s needs. The Master Weep Control is able to handle several bays on a single control, and output capacity can be expanded inexpensively in the event of future car wash growth. “If my customers need to expand their washes later, we can expand without additional control systems,” Krahe said. “We can fit it into one panel and just add I/O. We don’t have to go through the expense of adding another control panel.” The Master Weep Control includes other Schneider Electric components, such as Zelio power relays, AB1 terminal blocks, TeSys D-line contactors, Phaseo power supplies, and Type T industrial control transformers. Reducing waste improves operation efficiency The Master Weep Control is an intelligent system that considers activity, temperature, and time of day to instantly adjust water flow levels and antifreeze injections. To understand how much water can be wasted, KRK Products monitored six manual wash bays and one automatic wash. The manual washes used 73 gallons/hr at 25 ºF and 146 gallons/hr at 14 ºF. The automatic wash weeped 255 gallons/hr at 25 ºF and 511 gallons/hr at 14 ºF. By installing the Master Weep Control, operators can save enough on water usage, antifreeze usage, and sewer fees to get a return on investment in a single six-month season. Running less water in cold conditions prevents excessive ice buildup, which is labor-intensive to clean and creates an unappealing and unsafe environment for customers. To reduce unnecessary service checkups to each wash, an optional modem can be added to the system that alerts operators (via text or central computer system) of problems such as low antifreeze, depleted soap levels, or malfunctioning pumps. Fast setup maximizes profitability Downtime can be expensive to a car wash owner, so equipment upgrades must be executed quickly and efficiently. KRK Products can install the Master Weep Control in a multi-bay wash in a short time because setup is simple using SoMachine software. The software features many tested, validated, and documented architectures that are preconfigured, so the engineer just drags and drops the desired function block and changes the parameters. Such fast start-up gives OEMs a faster time to market and lower installation costs too. All MachineStruxure products use the comprehensive SoMachine software environment, so KRK Products can program the HMI and PLC components of the solution with a single download. In addition, the Magelis XBT GC features a USB port through which all applications can be loaded for quick installation and service. OEMs can save up to 50 percent in design and implementation time versus other separate HMIs and controllers. “The setup with SoMachine software is intuitive,” Krahe said. “It gives me enough choices of how to write things in a way that makes sense. I don’t have a degree in this stuff, but I’ve been able to create whatever I’ve needed. The software is tremendously flexible.” KRK Products | 3
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