Page 34 - Climate Control News Magazine December-January 2022

Cooling towers
Dry cooling showcase
Products can reduce peak and annual energy use by 44 per cent versus traditional air- cooled products.
He said water use is reduced by 90 per cent.
“Users can also save on refrigerant charge with coil volumes reduced up to 90 per cent com- pared to traditional equipment,” Anderson said, noting that CO2, ammonia, and fluid cooler models are available.
ABOVE LEFT: The conference was held at the Schaumburg Convention Centre Hotel, Schaumburg.
ABOVE: Demonstration taking place at the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association (RETA) conference.
THE BALTIMORE AIRCOIL Company (BAC) showcased commercial and industrial refrigera- tion solutions at a conferences hosted by the Re- frigerating Engineers and Technicians Associa- tion (RETA).
Held last month at the Schaumburg Convention Centre Hotel, Schaumburg, the showcase featured the company’s Vertex Evaporative Condenser, and the TrilliumSeries Adiabatic product range.
BAC said the showcase combined the best of evaporative and dry cooling which can optimise energy and water savings.
BAC strategic accounts manager Dave Ander-
son said the Vertex Evaporative Condenser offers maximum uptime with easy and safe accessibility. “It also has the lowest total cost of ownership with the lowest installation, maintenance, and
operating costs,” he said.
“Installation costs are reduced by 30 per cent,
in part by aligning the upper section to the lower section in less than 15 minutes per cell, due to the industrial-grade rigidity of the unit.
“Water volume is reduced by up to 30 per cent, saving on water and chemical costs.”
By combining evaporative and dry cooling, Anderson said the TrilliumSeries Adiabatic
Passivation is worth protecting
PASSIVATION IS A technique used to make a metal passive. It reduces the corrosive effects of environmental factors, such as water or air, through the formation of a protective film on the surface of the metal.
In essence, it shields the base material and helps the surface to become resistant to corrosion.
“PASSIVATION CAN BE IMPACTED BY A RETICENCE TO DRAIN THE SYSTEM BETWEEN PROCESSES.”
Preserving the art of passivation is important.
Over time metals can suffer significant dete- rioration if not passivated. This may cause sys- tem failures, lead to higher repair costs and more frequent production shutdowns. It may also cause harm to people and the environment.
Despite the importance of passivation, the pro- cess is often overlooked during the commission- ing phase. This is because there are perception issues surrounding the benefits of passivation.
This is due to the difficulty in confirming the ef- ficacy of the process, but also because non or poor passivation will often have no immediate effect.
Hydrochem marketing lead, Neil Cox, said problems can take years to manifest, but when they do the failures are catastrophic.
“The difficulty in demonstrating immediate value to the client reinforces a perception that the process therefore should not cost much,” he said.
“Circuit volumes are necessary to accurately calculate the dose for each treatment chemical required, yet these are often not provided. This can have a direct effect on both the cost and the overall outcome.”
Selecting the correct treatment is of para- mount importance but can be destabilised by the presence of unexpected non-traditional metals, poor make up water qual- ity or other unanticipated operating conditions.
RIGHT: The passivation process offers many long term benefits.
“Passivation can be impacted by a reticence to drain the system between processes for environ- mental reasons,” Cox said.
“This can viewed as shortsighted when con- sidering the potentially curtailed life expectancy and enduring sub-par performance of non-passi- vated systems.”
Unfortunately, the passivation process is typi- cally one of the last tasks in the commissioning schedule. The inevitable concertina of activity as handover looms can lead to insufficient time be- ing allowed to properly complete the recom- mended passivating activities. ✺
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