Air
Conditioning Systems Using Modular Chillers
 For
many in the air conditioning industry, modular chillers are a dream
come true. As cooling systems continue to age and the demand on
them rises, chiller conversion and replacement decisions are imminent
for most building and facility managers. There are many options
to choose from and choosing the right solution means a lot of research.
When it comes to building renovations, retrofits, or the replacing
of existing cooling systems that are either too expensive to repair
or operate, modular chillers are often the perfect solution. Our
modular chillers are a popular alternative to conventional chilling
systems for three main reasons: low installation costs, low operating
costs and low maintenance or repair costs.
1. Low installation costs are an important consideration
for anyone who has to install a cooling system in the basement of
an older building or in a mechanical room on the top floor of a
multi-story building without altering the building. This applies
to anyone, for that matter, who has to install an air conditioning
system in a place that is hard to reach without major renovations.
Modular chillers can be installed without any significant interruption
to your business and without incurring the enormous cost of renovating
your building. Because of their small footprint, they can easily
fit through most standard doorways, hallways or stairwells and even
in the smallest of equipment rooms. You won't need any special moving
equipment, except perhaps a dolly, and these modular chillers are
compatible with most existing water piping systems.
2. Low operation costs are just as important, if you want
a cooling system that is energy efficient, expandable, reliable,
quiet and environmentally friendly. A modular chiller is more efficient
than the older centrifugal chiller under full and part-load conditions,
which can mean significant savings given that most chillers operate
95 percent of the time or more under part-load conditions. Modular
chillers use a refrigerant that is more environmentally friendly
than most and usually consumes only one-fifth of the refrigerant
that is consumed by conventional chillers. They are more environmentally
sound in the sense that they give you more control over how and
when your building is cooled, thereby reducing any wasteful use
of energy. Thanks to their built-in microprocessor controls, it
is much easier for you to match your cooling load and to cool a
room when needed. These chillers are also super quiet (79 dB(A)),
allowing you to put them where you want. They are reliable to the
extent that the cooling process never needs to be interrupted, even
if there is an equipment breakdown and they are compatible with
most building automation systems for remote on/off control. All
these features mean much lower operating costs than you would ever
find with conventional cooling systems.
3. Low maintenance and repair costs are one more reason to go
with a modular chilling solution. This cost, however, is not the
same for every modular chiller design. Some designs absorb the cost
associated with equipment failure, by giving you the option to purchase
a backup unit in case the primary chiller breaks down. Other designs,
like the one by Tandem Chillers, make it possible to remove the
defective piece of equipment, repair it and then reinstall it, all
without interrupting the cooling process. Having this option saves
on buying extra chillers for stand-by. In addition to this, modular
chillers are generally designed so that most parts can be purchased
at your local wholesaler and fixed by a qualified local HVAC professional.
Replacing An Existing Air Conditioning System
Replacing your air conditioning system with a modular chiller is
not a decision you can make until you are confident that this solution
will work for your own particular building. Older buildings, hi-rise
apartments, office buildings, hospitals and casinos each present
their own unique challenges. Each building has its own distinctive
function and structure, which will have an impact on your decision.
More often than not, the decision to replace is driven by long-term
costs. Aside from lower installation and maintenance costs, a new
modular chiller gives you the opportunity to better match current
and future cooling demands. Older cooling systems were often sized
for the original load of a facility. However, since installation,
many facilities require a greater cooling load because of more people,
technology and square footage. By better matching current loads
with new units, you can get better performance and operating efficiencies.
Regardless of what type of building you are dealing with, there
are three things to consider before you can decide if a modular
chiller is for you.
1. Determine Your Cooling Load
Determine how many tons of cooling are required to meet the variable
cooling loads created by the building, such as climate, number of
people traveling through the building, the type of equipment , etc.
2. Estimate Accessibility
Determine how difficult it will be to install a chiller in your
building. In most cases the room where the chiller is going to be
installed is accessed through a narrow staircase, hallway or by
elevator. In many instances, buildings were constructed around the
cooling system, making it virtually impossible to extract the old
system and replace it with a new one. Physical site constraints
often demand that the installation of a modular chiller unit must
be done in stages where modules are delivered in sections and assembled
on site.
3. Calculate Your Cooling Load Variation
Determine whether or not there are activities in the building that
will create an occupant load within the building which varies greatly
throughout the day and the week. This results in a wider than usual
range of cooling loads and complex operating and technical requirements
for the chiller plant which are most efficiently met through the
use of a modular chiller. Try, if you can, to calculate future cooling
load ranges, given that there will probably be more people in your
building, newer equipment, and expansion. Whatever you decide, make
sure that the cooling system you purchase has all the controls needed
to handle these cooling variations.
 Health
Facilities -hospitals, retirement homes, clinics.
When it comes to upgrading existing air conditioning systems in
a health facility such as a hospital, retirement home or clinic,
there are several requirements that must be met. Given that most
health facilities are largely underfunded, most buildings are older
and still rely on air conditioning technology that is no longer
energy efficient. Since the facilities are usually in a business
which deals with large numbers of people with health related problems,
the buildings are large, multi-storied facilities containing a lot
of equipment that generates heat. In most cases, the building was
built around the cooling system in either a small mechanical room
in the basement or in a small room near the top of the building.
Replacing this system with a conventional chiller is going to be
difficult without using heavy moving equipment, i.e., helicopters
or cranes, and knocking down many walls to get the chiller into
the basement. Not only is this going to be expensive and time consuming,
it also means a major disruption to the daily operation of the facility
and is very hard on the patients themselves. In cases like this,
the only solution is one that does not involve excessive reconstruction
or any major disruption of the facility's daily operation. Moreover,
the cooling system must be relatively quiet and safe so as not to
disturb the building occupants. The unit must be compact since space
will be extremely limited and it has to be able to tie into existing
water piping.
 Historical
Buildings - state capitol buildings, museums, churches.
When you have an older building with no air conditioning or an obsolete
system that can no longer do the job, you are often talking about
a building that was built before air conditioning was even invented.
It is usually a building where corridors and doors are only designed
only for human passage. Walls are thick, and often the main element
of support, as in a brick-built house, making them hard to remove
or tear down. The cooling system, if there is one, is in a very
small room in the basement. Upgrading the cooling system or installing
a new system in an older building is going to be overly expensive
and time consuming unless you can do the job without any renovations.
The new system will have to be small enough to fit in the equipment
room and it will have to fit through small doorways and stairways.
In some cases, the new system will have to sit beside the old system
because the old system can't be extracted without removing walls
and widening doorways.
In an older building, there are obvious clues that a chiller is
ready to be replaced: it has exceeded its expected service life,it
is costing more to maintain the system and it is wasting energy.
A new chiller is more energy efficient, will eliminate the CFC problem,
reduce maintenance costs and is more compact, allowing you to put
2,500 tons of cooling in the footprint of a 1,500-ton chiller. This
gives more you more capacity without sacrificing more space. This
is an important consideration when space is an issue.
 Government
and Commercial Buildings - courts, office buildings, banks.
In any government or commercial building, the biggest obstacle to
replacing the cooling system will to be the impact on the daily
operation of the building. With so much depending on the operation
of a government or a business, any interruption in the daily activity
of the building is to be avoided at all costs. The second major
problem is the fact that these buildings require cooling all year
long even though these requirements can vary rapidly at any given
moment. Extreme wide load variations throughout the year demand
that you have more control over the cooling system than is possible.
Cooling systems for government and commercial buildings are often
located in basement mechanical rooms and are accessed through a
narrow staircase, hallway, or by elevator. Non-modular chillers
have larger physical dimensions, requiring structural alterations
to the foundation walls and the construction of an area well to
allow for the delivery of the unit. Significant renovations within
areas such as a basement mechanical room, and storage areas, including
the relocation of major electrical and mechanical equipment on site,
would also be necessary to allow for the installation of a larger
unit. The additional construction work would nearly double the chiller
installation costs and potentially disrupt everyday operations.
 Entertainment
Venues - casinos, restaurants, bars, halls, hotels, art galleries.
In buildings such as casinos, restaurants and hotels there are often
cooling requirements that are unique to all entertainment venues.
Entertainment venues are often places that hold many people or often
see an extremely large transfer of people. Since the amount of traffic
can change quickly, the building usually requires a rapidly changing
cooling load that can change to suit each room in the building.
Because most entertainment venues are constantly growing, expandability
is desirable and necessary.
Cooling systems for hotels and casinos are often located in basement
mechanical rooms and are accessed through a narrow staircase, hallway
or by elevator. Non-modular chillers have larger physical dimensions,
requiring structural alterations to the foundation walls and the
construction of an area well to allow for the delivery of the unit.
Significant renovations within areas such as a basement mechanical
room, and storage areas, including the relocation of major electrical
and mechanical equipment on site would also be necessary to allow
for the installation of a larger unit. The additional construction
work would nearly double the chiller installation costs and potentially
disrupt operations.
 Education
and Technical Institutions - universities, colleges, schools, labs,
data centres.
In most educational and technical facilities, the same problems
are often encountered when it comes to upgrading the cooling system.
The systems are usually located in the basement in a mechanical
room that is small and awkward to access. These systems are often
unreliable, inefficient and would cost too much to replace even
if that were possible. In some cases, a single cooling source is
responsible for supplying air conditioning to multiple buildings.
These institutions are unique in their functions for several reasons.
Being designed for education and experimentation, they have a large
need for heat generating equipment such as computers and lasers,
are often in need of expansion, and require a comfortable working
environment for students, teachers, scientists, etc.
These factors make selecting the right cooling solution a challenge.
The daily activities of these institutions cannot be disrupted.
The cooling system must be reliable, safe, quiet and environmentally
sound, given the nature of the work that goes on in these types
of buildings. The biggest obstacle is the matter of control. Control
over the cooling, where and when it takes place, is more important
than in any other setting. Rigid standards must be in place to ensure
that normal everyday functions continue to operate without any problems.
It has to be possible to cool each room according to the needs of
its occupants and equipment. Since these buildings are in operation
year round, these controls have to be in place for the entire year
and capable of handling a wide range of cooling needs.
 Industrial
Processes - plastics, rubber, metal working, plating, die casting,
printing, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemical and petrochemical.
It is a common mistake in any typical industrial setting to
install a cooling system that is eventually incapable of providing
the required process cooling due to expansion. If you have an industrial
process where expansion is inevitable but difficult to anticipate
or calculate, a modular chilling system is the perfect
answer.
Designed specifically for future expansion, with fully assembled
external water piping our modular chillers are easy to install,
remove and re-install for service when required. When you
expand your process, a new module can be brought in and installed
within a matter of hours with little downtime.
Our high efficiency - high EER (energy efficiency ratio) modular
chiller system is designed so that chiller units can be field-coupled
to meet large tonnage requirements with an ongoing energy
savings throughout the life of the chilling system. With
a small footprint, these units occupy less space than a larger tonnage
unit or units. Our system is specifically designed for future expansions
by allowing chiller units to be added in stages to precisely match
cooling load requirements.
With our microprocessor controller in each chiller and a master
control unit incorporating our exclusive "intelligent chiller control
program", we can signal potential problems before they happen, saving
costly down time, and stage compressors on system temperature, thereby
accurately maintaining the leaving water temperature and saving
energy by operating compressors only as they are required.
Our control system has its own unique maintenance program operating
in the background to manage the following functions: lead-lag compressors,
equalize compressor run time, totalize compressor run time for viewing,
monitor phase loss and reversal, under and over voltage, and voltage
imbalance, prevent compressor short cycling (minimum run time and
off time) and stage compressor starts so that one compressor at
a time starts to ease inrush current. .
Contact us today:
Tel: 1.877.513.8330
Email: sales@tandemchillers.com |
