The major project under the 'Think Blue. Factory.' initiative at the Volkswagen Pune Plant of 2015 is the new Heat Recovery Unit (heat exchanger). This unit has been installed at the exhaust end of the Top Coat Oven in Paint Shop.
The sustainable results of this project were achieved by generating hot water using the exhaust flue gases which are vented out at 320 degree centigrade. This hot water is then used for heating application in Pre-treatment process in the Paint Shop itself.
As a result, 80% reduction for hot water generation for this purpose was achieved that saved 492,483 SCM of Natural Gas consumption and 37 MWh/a of electricity as well as reduced CO2 emissions by 1013 tons/a. The savings in consumption of Natural Gas are equivalent to 4916 MWh/a. On an average this translates to the energy consumed by nearly 1300 Indian households in a year.*
Commenting on the achievement from the new project, Andreas Lauenroth, Executive Director - Technical, Volkswagen India Private Limited, said "The Heat Recovery from our oven in Paint Shop is major breakthrough in our efforts for achieving cleaner manufacturing.
Volkswagen Pune Plant is moving with the right pace to achieve and surpass the targets set for 2018 under Think Blue. Factory. programme. This year, we will come closer to our target of contributing to the 25% global reduction in this respect."
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