Monday, November 1, 2010
Fluid Cooler Replacement
The weekend of October 22 we completed a major equipment replacement in 24-hours, from 5:00 pm Friday to 5:00 pm Saturday. The prep time was three weeks to get ready for the water source loop upgrade. Two weeks for two technicians, one completing the electrical device installation and one completing the piping. The device assembly included upgrading to a variable speed drive for the blower and an electronic sump level control. The piping included reconfiguring the make-up water feed and installing flanges to match the existing piping. The last week was spent double checking the material and getting everyone on site ready for the shut down.
We used the building automation system to override the make-up air systems pre-treat coils and fans for the lab air handlers to maintain the water source loop temperature. We brought in our portable cooling units for the critical data rooms as a precaution but we didn’t need to bring them on line. We were able to maintain an acceptable loop temperature to keep all critical equipment on line.
We isolated the tower on Friday night, drained down the glycol from the fluid cooler and disconnected the piping and power. The crane arrived at 7:00 am Saturday and by 10:00 am the crane and old fluid cooler were leaving the site. By 3:00 pm all the water and electrical connections were complete and commissioning was underway. At 4:00 pm all water source systems were back on line and the building was functioning as normal.
The following week we returned to complete non-critical items like drain piping, heat trace and insulation. The variable speed drive was given a full commissioning as well as the upgraded controls system. The new cooling tower is expected run with a 25% reduction in operating cost. We also expect a reduced cost in maintenance with less wear and tear on the fan assembly with soft starts as opposed to across the line starts. The new tower also has a stainless steel basin for an extended life. The dampers have a four actuator set-up instead of the two actuators the original tower had. Another cost saving option was the factory installed bundle insulation package.
The installation went extremely well. We gave the site manager and owner’s representative constant e-mail updates from the site; including pictures of the progress as we passed each major milestone. A major amount of the field work was completed by a fourth year apprentice. I am proud to say I was his mentor when he was in eleventh grade at Hodgsen Vo-tech. He then was a co-op for ModernControls when he was in twelfth grade. He is an outstanding employee and in our opinion the type of person we want to represent our company. I like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with the project for making it a success.
We used the building automation system to override the make-up air systems pre-treat coils and fans for the lab air handlers to maintain the water source loop temperature. We brought in our portable cooling units for the critical data rooms as a precaution but we didn’t need to bring them on line. We were able to maintain an acceptable loop temperature to keep all critical equipment on line.
We isolated the tower on Friday night, drained down the glycol from the fluid cooler and disconnected the piping and power. The crane arrived at 7:00 am Saturday and by 10:00 am the crane and old fluid cooler were leaving the site. By 3:00 pm all the water and electrical connections were complete and commissioning was underway. At 4:00 pm all water source systems were back on line and the building was functioning as normal.
The following week we returned to complete non-critical items like drain piping, heat trace and insulation. The variable speed drive was given a full commissioning as well as the upgraded controls system. The new cooling tower is expected run with a 25% reduction in operating cost. We also expect a reduced cost in maintenance with less wear and tear on the fan assembly with soft starts as opposed to across the line starts. The new tower also has a stainless steel basin for an extended life. The dampers have a four actuator set-up instead of the two actuators the original tower had. Another cost saving option was the factory installed bundle insulation package.
The installation went extremely well. We gave the site manager and owner’s representative constant e-mail updates from the site; including pictures of the progress as we passed each major milestone. A major amount of the field work was completed by a fourth year apprentice. I am proud to say I was his mentor when he was in eleventh grade at Hodgsen Vo-tech. He then was a co-op for ModernControls when he was in twelfth grade. He is an outstanding employee and in our opinion the type of person we want to represent our company. I like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with the project for making it a success.
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