Even Green Gear Needs To Be Clean Gear
A company in Memphis, Tennessee is spending in excess of $1 million to install new cooling towers and upgrade the HVAC system in an office building it recently bought. Owners of a building in Knoxville, Tennessee just spent more than $250,000 to replace a cooling tower and make other improvements to earn Energy Star status for the building.
More and more companies are making substantial investments in new cooling towers and other equipment to reap the financial and operational benefits of a “green” building. But, whether the equipment is brand new and energy-efficient or older and not so efficient, these owners and operators have in common – the need for complete and comprehensive maintenance program.
Cooling towers by nature are fairly complex and expensive, but there are certain basics to maintaining them, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. According to the DOE, an improperly maintained cooling tower will result in condenser temperature 5-10 degrees higher than it should be. Each degree will increase chiller power costs by from 2.5% to 3.5%, so if your chiller uses $20,000 per year in power, that could increase you power bill each year by as much as $7,000!
Another government agency, the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) suggests a minimum basic cooling tower maintenance program should include these elements:
- Daily visual inspection of the entire system, including sequencing
- Weekly checks of switches, fans and cleaning of screens
- Monthly checks of lubrication, fan and motor supports
- Annual cleaning
Some requirements, such as cleaning, will vary depending on the equipment you are operating and where you are located. If you are situated in an area where there are clear-cut seasons, some manufacturers recommend cleaning before and after “the season” and some recommend cleaning quarterly.
While most of the tasks associated with the regular inspection are fairly simple and straightforward, there is one task that is not – cleaning it. Cleaning used to be a time-consuming task that required the cooling tower to be shut down for extended periods of time. But new machines have been invented that allow cleaning while the system is up and running.
Regardless of what combination of daily, weekly and monthly tasks works best for you, it is clear that the best way to get the most out of your new “green” equipment or your older gear is to properly maintain it.
Rich Silverman
Goodway Blogging Team
Public Domain Image by Zonk 43 courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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