COOLERS AND CONDENSERS
Cooling down costs for industrial
While many end-users have accepted increased utility bills for reliable heating and cooling over the years, advances in technology means effective and efficient temperature control can now be achieved with a fast return on investment. Here Richard Metcalfe, sales director at ICS Cool Energy, outlines how acr contractors hold the key to unlocking crucial energy and cost-savings for industrial customers, opening up a world of new business opportunities.
A
ccurate temperature control is an essential tool for manufacturers across the country, ranging from food processing to injection moulding. Given the energy- intensive nature of most industrial processes, manufacturers have often struggled to find the right balance between effective process cooling and the cost of achieving it. Now that many acr businesses operate in a consultative capacity, offering a well-rounded service as well as installations, one of the best ways of tackling the issue head-on is to broaden the scope of temperature control perceptions and equipment with end-users.
Cooling Tower usage
In the absence of more advanced technology, cooling towers have provided the necessary temperature control support to water-cooled chillers and manufacturing processes for decades. However, some end-users continue to use them out of habit, unaware of the comparatively high operating and maintenance costs, and the associated health risks. Cooling towers are big users of water which invariably drives up utility bills and they also represent a serious risk of harbouring legionella bacteria; a major operating hazard for manufacturers, especially those working in the food processing sector. Regular chemical treatment is used to combat the risk, but doing so further increases overall system operating costs. What’s more, all cooling towers must be registered with the local authority.
Given the volume of technical advances that have occurred in recent years, there are big opportunities for industrial end
28 March 2017
users still using cooling towers to make a change. Being able to offer a cooling system that’s cheaper, safer to run, and outlining these potential long-term benefits can really help acr contractors consolidate their position as a trusted adviser to customers.
Understanding adiabatic
For those industrial end-users with cooling towers, business opportunities with the introduction of the concept of adiabatic cooling. Like cooling towers, they are externally sited, however they are noticeably safer and more cost effective to run. Operating as a dry cooler for most of the year, a fine mist of water is introduced into the inlet air stream to reduce the air temperature during periods of high ambient air temperature. As such, its water consumption is much lower than that of a cooling tower. If we put the issue into context, taking a typical 2MW cooling tower and a cost of £1.14 per m3
for water for both
incoming and effluent charges, the cooling tower water would cost over £42,000 a year, compared to the 398m3 water consumption of the adiabatic cooler, which would cost just £453. If industrial end-users need any more convincing, many adiabatic coolers, such as those from ICS Cool Energy, use UV disinfection to mitigate legionella risks, so no chemical dosing is required.
Similarly, they do not need to be registered with the local authority which takes away some business bureaucracy. From an installation point of view, adiabatic coolers are typically one unit, so no on-site erection is required. Ultimately, they
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