Rotational mold system having energy storage and recovery

The preliminary design of an energy storage and recovery rotational molder system is described. The design allows recovery of process energy during mold cool down, storage of the recovered energy, and subsequent reuse during mold heating. A recirculating heat transfer fluid is used in conjunction with multiple storage tanks at varying temperature to offer efficiency improvement over present conventional hot air rotational mold systems. Total process cycle time obtained by the energy recovery system is required to equal that of present mold systems. Advantages of the design are identified to include cost reductions associated with energy conservation and reductions in scale of the physical size of the overall system. Obstacles encountered during the design process are discussed and include unique fluid delivery issues associated with the use of heat transfer fluids, heat transfer issues related to maintaining process cycle time requirements, and safety concerns. The development of the molder system is supported by a consortium of industrial sponsors and is intended to result in the fabrication of a system prototype.