Engineered Systems: Desiccants melt away frost problems in LA facility

Located in the heart of the Los Angeles distribution district, Konoike Pacific (K-Pac) California (Osaka, Japan) is the newest and largest technically advanced cold storage and distribution facility on the West Coast. Founded in 1995, the facility focuses on providing manufacturers and shippers with domestic cold storage and distribution, as well as import and export expertise to the Asian-Pacific Rim.

K-Pac's 18-acre development offers an array of transportation services to importers, exporters, and domestic shippers of refrigerated commodities. Core services include cold storage, distribution, transloading, United States Department of Agriculture inspection, electronic data interchange (EDI), off-dock container freight stations, computerized inventory management, and direct rail service via Union Pacific/Southern Pacific and Burlington Northern/Santa Fe railroads.

The facility was constructed using a "rack-supported" design or built from the inside out. Its freezer building measures 120,940 sq ft and includes two small coolers to temper fruits and vegetables and one large freezer for storage of frozen foods and blast freezing of unfrozen foods. The facility has 28,935 sq ft of chilled capacity and 92,005 sq ft of frozen capacity.

The coolers have a 65[degrees]F range, between -30[degrees] and 35[degrees], depending on product cooling needs, while the large freezer is maintained at a constant -30[degrees]. The combined freezers offer a total of 26,000 pallet positions.

HUMIDITY + COLD = PROBLEMS

In 1999, K-Pac faced a number of operations difficulties that were directly tied to high humidity levels. As is the case with any cold storage facility experiencing high humidity, moisture condensation caused ice to form on floors and doors and hindered loading and unloading operations. The ice posed a threat to employee safety and had to be chipped or melted off by hand - a time-consuming job for workers and an added labor cost.

"Whenever you have a big temperature differential, you automatically have high humidity," said Bill Johns, facility manager for K-Pac. "We were seeing a lot of ice and frost build up on and around our freezer doors because of the high humidity. This extra moisture increased our defrost cycles. On a regular basis, we had to use ice chippers to remove the ice from around the doors."

"Ice that formed on the floor made it difficult for our forklift operators to brake on the slippery surface. This slowed down loading and unloading operations," added Johns. "The efficiency of our operations and safety of our employees were definitely being affected by the humidity levels."

K-Pac also realized that it could reduce energy costs by purchasing a system to help take the water load out of the air. With a dry loading dock, refrigeration coils operate more efficiently and defrost less frequently, reducing electrical power costs.

TRIAL RUN PAVES THE TRAIL

K-Pac decided to take action. After speaking with Munters Corporation (Selma, TX) engineers about desiccant dehumidification for refrigeration plants, K-Pac requested an in-plant demonstration. "We ran the demonstration unit for three or four weeks in June and part of July [1999]," said Johns. "The Southern California Gas Company (SCGC) monitored the loading dock temperature and humidity during the demonstration and participated in the evaluation." Near the end of 1999, K-Pac managers approved a proposal for installation of a FreezAire F30, a FreezAire FlO, and a gas-driven engine.

K-Pac hired Precision Refrigeration (Los Angeles) to install the FreezAire units. The job took about three days and went extremely smooth because of extensive preplanning, says Igor Cherdak, Precision Refrigeration's president. "We hadn't installed this system before, but it was pretty straightforward, there were no problems, and we were on schedule," he says.

In May 2000 the installation was complete. The F30 unit was mounted on the roof at the north end of the facility above the loading dock with a weathertight seal and thermal barrier and the F10 unit was installed on the smaller south dock of the facility.

The gas-driven engine passed Air Quality Management District testing and is close to being certified for operation. Once it is running, the jacketed water from the gas-driven engine will be used to heat water and to preheat the reactivated air of the F10 unit. When the hot water is available, it will reduce the load for the reactivation air gas burner and save energy.

COOL BENEFITS

According to Johns, the Munters dehumidifier is performing as planned. "We noticed the benefits of installing the FreezAire F30 system during the first week," said Johns. "Currently, the loading dock is maintained at 50 to 55[degrees] and the humidistat is set at 40% rh. The unit cycles on and off and keeps the rh between 40 to 50% by the freezer doors, right where we want it to be," he adds. By removing moisture from the air in loading dock areas and preventing humidity from condensing on floors or invading storage areas, the units have increased efficiency and safety of operations.

"The forklifts brake much better with dry floors and they run a little faster now," said Johns. "And icicles and snow no longer develop on the ceiling. In addition to providing a safer working environment for employees, the units have decreased truck loading and unloading times by keeping the loading dock dry, and improved product quality by preventing frost build-up through consistent temperatures," said Johns. "And there's less of a need to defrost because moisture is removed through desiccant attraction, rather than through condensation."

Steve Rawski, senior account executive for SCGC says that while data is still being analyzed, the system has without a doubt provided noticeable energy and cost savings. "The people in K-Pac Operations are of the perception that the system has saved them money, but we're probably still a few months from being able to quantify it," he says.

"We are very pleased with the performance of the Munters dehumidifiers," says Johns, adding that the company is considering adding another FreezAire unit to an uncontrolled loading dock on the other side of our building that's frequently opened during the week.

Technology school embraces system integration

Situated on an 18-acre site about seven miles from the main Montana State University-Billings campus, the MSU-Billings College of Technology includes more than 110,000 sq ft of classroom, laboratory, and shop space. The college annually serves more than 500 full-time and part-time students. Additionally, professional training and continuing education classes are provided to 1,000 individuals annually from many different industries.

More than 20 years old, the school's rooftop units were in dire need of replacement. Also, the school wanted to replace all of the controls in the facility with open technology LonWorks [R] controls, to better manage energy costs. The College of Technology's maintenance supervisor, Ray Carl, wanted to be able to control all the devices via the Internet, but he also had to meet stringent state budgetary guidelines.

A CONTROL SOLUTION

When administrators decided to automate the school's facilities control system, they selected the Vykon [TM] Building Automation Suite by Tridium Inc. to be an integral part of that upgrade. With a system that incorporated Vykon, the school now has the ability to access and control, from any standard Web browser, the LonWorks controls in the building, as well as the new hvac system on the roof, which uses BACnet [R].

"I am tickled pink," Carl says. "Because Vykon can integrate diverse control systems, we saved a lot of money." The school slashed its energy costs by more than 20% each month since the installation.

Systems integrator, Electro Controls, was awarded the Montana State building automation system (bas) contract. The company's general manager, Jonathan Fry, says that when his company was awarded the contract, college officials wanted to replace all of the building's control devices with devices that used the LonWorks communications protocol, allowing the maintenance staff to access and control those devices.

The maintenance staff also wanted to have access to the control devices at anytime and from anywhere via any standard Web browser, which is why Fry recommended that Tridium's Vykon be a part of the bas.

"The college never really considered the integration of the four rooftop Trane hvac units, which have BACnet controls with the controls in the rest of the building that used LonWorks communication protocol. They were considering that a separate issue," he says. "But with just one extra day of work, we were able to integrate both systems easily. Vykon made it so easy and so simple to connect these two systems."

OTHER BENEFITS

One of the features that impressed Carl about Vykon is the systems' alarming capability. When there was a severe problem with the school's hvac system one weekend during subzero degree weather, he received an alarm from the system at home. "I have the system set up where I receive an e-mail, a fax, and a beeper alert when there is a problem. Because I can use my password and access and control the system from any standard Web browser, I was able to assess the problem from home," he says. "Without this system, I wouldn't have known there was problem until Monday morning."

Variable-speed drive a house favorite in casino retrofit

To improve efficiencies and reduce operating costs at a notable casino in Atlantic City, district-energy provider Conectiv Thermal Systems beat the odds and cashed in on a variable speed drive (vsd) chiller retrofit engineered by York International Corp. (York, PA).

DISCOMFORT ROULETTE

This large, popular casino, which was refurbished and reopened in May of 1996, features 140 sq ft of gaming space, housing 16 gaming tables, and over 1,500 slot machines. The casino also includes 500 guestrooms, three world-class restaurants, an 11,000-sq-ft ballroom, a 20,000-sq-ft exhibit hall, and many other amenities.

The facility's 3,000-ton chiller plant, comprised of three 1,000-ton York Millennium YK centrifugal machines charged with HFC-134a, is owned and managed by Conectiv Thermal Systems, a district energy company which is a subsidiary of Conectiv, based in Wilmington, DE.

Conectiv supplies both chilled water and steam to the facility, according to Frank DiCola, Conectiv Thermal's vice president and general manager. The thermal energy provider operates and maintains this satellite plant as part of its 17,000-ton district energy cooling facility that supplies chilled water to casinos such as Trump Plaza, Bally's Park Place, Caesar's Wild Wild West, and Claridge, just to name a few.

Casino comfort control is a very reactive business - one that hinges on cooling equipment that can follow loads and respond quickly to fluctuating temperature requirements. It takes just a 10 change in space temperature to cause discomfort and wanderlust.

A finely tuned and highly responsive climate-conditioning system has a direct impact on the casino's and Conectiv's bottom line, according to DiCola.

"This is a 24-7 business," DiCola asserted. "We need to have the same burning desire to satisfy our customers as they do. Since these casinos are so close to each other, if a customer gets uncomfortable in one establishment, they can just pick up their winnings and move to the casino next door."

CONECTIV PLAYS VARIABLE-SPEED CARD

While the district-energy provider is unable to predict precisely the facility's cooling demand, they have to be ready to respond at a moment's notice.

"If the casino has a show that's going to start at 8 p.m., depending on the performers, they may have to cool that room off at 7 p.m. or 4 p.m., or sometimes not at all," elaborated Joe Lang, district sales manager at York's Philadelphia office.

Responding to the casino's shifting cooling needs often requires that Conectiv relegate one or more of the plant's chillers to off-design duty, resulting in frequent cycling and inefficient use of the plant's mechanical resources.

"Conectiv has a genuinely vested interest in making sure that the plant is optimized. We were concerned about the number of times we started, cycled, and stopped the chillers," DiCola said.

The prevalence of off-design conditions, low load and/or entering-condenser-water temperatures (ECWTs) motivated Conectiv to explore whether the chiller plant could be operated more efficiently during those conditions.

To evaluate its options, Conectiv performed an extensive engineering study. The analysis, supported by chiller performance modeling data furnished by York, explored a variety of new equipment and retrofit scenarios, including hybrid gas/electric plants and off-peak thermal storage, looking for a solution that provides the most comfort at the least cost.

"We looked at all types of technology, from gas-driven chillers, to a combination of steam-driven turbines and thermal storage. But, based on lessons learned at other regional district-cooling plants and at offsite plants we manage here, having the ability to follow more closely the load of the customer was more advantageous for us," DiCola reasoned.

Based on their past positive experiences with the technology, DiCola and his engineers knew, and the study later confirmed, that variable-speed drive (vsd) chiller control would enable them to take full advantage of reduced loads and lower ECWTs.

Simplicity of York's single-stage compressor design means that vsd operation can be coordinated with the single set of pre-rotation vanes. What's more, open-drive motors eliminate concerns about insufficient refrigerant motor cooling when operating with reduced ECWTs.

The compact water-cooled design of the York vsd allowed it to be mounted directly over the chillers to conserve equipment room space.

CONECTIV CASHES IN PAYBACK CHIPS

Conectiv is always searching for technologies that will give it the ability to respond to customers' cooling profiles in the most economical way. In addition to better load following, combining York vsd chillers and Conectiv's VariChill controls have resulted in greater overall plant efficiency and optimized energy use.

Based on actual savings garnered from the use of York drive technology at the site and at its off-site locations, DiCola projects that the technology allows them to maximize their return on investment (ROI).

When lower ECWTs are available, energy consumption of the vsd-outfitted chiller has gone down as low as 0.21 kW/ton. Thus far, the Integrated Part-Load Value Power (IPLV) consumption is 0.581kW/ton for the retrofitted machine, vs. 0.656 kW/ton IPLV on the non-vsd chiller. Also, with more than a year's worth of actual operating data on tap, the retrofitted chiller's energy usage has declined by more than 158,000 kWh, DiCola reported.

The chiller upgrade cost $87,000. Based on actual annual dollar savings of $31,142/yr garnered since the project went on-line, Conectiv should recoup its investment in two to three years. Furthermore, DiCola projects that the retrofit will capture a 36% return on investment, 16% better than Conectiv's minimum internal ROI hurdle.

In the high-risk game of district chiller operation and maintenance, variable-speed technology stacks the odds in Conectiv's favor to better manage varying demands and energy costs.

Boiler replacement brews up 1596 savings for Labatt

Labatt Breweries Ontario is a division of Labatt Breweries of Canada, which was founded in London, Ontario in 1847. As one of the nation's longest-established and most successful brewing companies, Labatt brews 60 quality beers in eight breweries from coast to coast and distributes in 40 countries internationally. One of the company's largest breweries is in Toronto. The plant's 350 employees work three shifts and in some 500,000 sq ft, they produced roughly 52 million gal of suds last year.

In the summer of 2000, the facility's plant manager, Robert Bowman, decided it was time for the plant's 30-plus-year-old secondary water tube boiler to go. While the plant has a primary boiler that carries about half the load, the boiler Bowman wanted to replace served mainly as a backup and covered weekend loads. Some of the secondary unit's tubes had been removed, it didn't have an economizer, it had refractory problems, and its skin had been repaired a number of times.

"The desire to increase energy efficiency was a major part of the decision. The boiler served as our weekend load as well as a backup for the main boiler, and its combustion efficiency on the high end was OK, but on the low end, the radiation and combustion losses put it in the low 60% for thermal efficiencies," he said.

WEIGHING THE OPTIONS

Bowman contemplated a number of options. First, he considered selecting a cogeneration unit that would produce electricity and steam, but the capital investment involved, combined with the cost of natural gas, made it prohibitive. Next, Bowman pondered the option of retrofitting the boiler. However, changing the tubes and refractory, and upgrading the combustion controls would have been costly and the unit still would have been inefficient on the lower end of operation.

He also thought of replacing the unit with a new, or even used, large water tube boiler of the same type. That idea was shot down because it was cost prohibitive, and also because the existing boiler was basically landlocked in the building. Putting a similar unit in that space would have required removing part of the roof and lowering it in from above.

"So it came down to replacing it with smaller units that we could bring through the doors," Bowman said, adding that this familiarity with the Miura EX 300 BHPs from his previous job also made the decision easier. He had selected Miura boilers when he worked as engineering services manager with E.D. Smith (a food processor of jams, ketchup, salsas, pasta, and various other sauces). In that situation, the installation facilitated a staff reduction since Canadian requirements for boiler operators are tied to boiler size. By installing compact Miura boilers he reduced his staff requirement from three operating people per day (one each per three shifts) to only one dayshift person on at a time. This person's role became more focused on accomplishing maintenance.

LOW-END EFFICIENCY ACHIEVED

Easing the operating staff wasn't the objective at Labatt. The project was justified on a payback of energy savings, Bowman said. "It would allow us to have higher- and lower-end efficiency and the multiple units would be able to handle increasing loads," he added. The installation, which was performed by a local contractor, Gimco (Markham, ON), went relatively smoothly.

One of the main tasks was tearing out the existing boiler, and that went off without a glitch, Bowman said. One of the only challenges involved in the installation was that the boilers were delivered upright, when in order to get through the plant's doors, they had to be turned on their sides. However, there were no other significant problems.

The installation was complete in August 2000 and the results have impressed Bowman. The new Miura units now carry about 40% of the plant's needs. "We operate these boilers all the time to supplement our primary boiler to maximize our efficiencies. They run 30,000 lb/hr -- 900 bhp [boiler horsepower,]" Bowman, said.

"There was about a 15% reduction in fuel for equivalent loads, and we have been getting good efficiencies on weekends that we never realized before. We could probably justify the addition of another 300 hp and 200 hp -- they would give us more backup power and the smaller unit would better handle the smaller loads," he added.

Performance contract helps hospital help others

Sharply increasing maintenance costs are part of reality for any aging hospital building. New regulations, mandates, and environmental guidelines, along with unplanned maintenance costs can put a severe strain on an already tight hospital budget. These increased costs make it difficult to provide a comfortable, attractive, and safe healing environment. Updating an aging infrastructure is critical to the long-term success of many hospitals.

OLD BUILDING, OLD PROBLEMS

Methodist Healthcare-McNairy Hospital is an 86-bed hospital occupying 59,000 sq ft in rural Tennessee. The original hospital building was built in the 1960s. Several additions have been built since then to accommodate growth and expansion.

Due to tightened budgets, the facility department was unable to properly address recurring comfort complaints from several areas of the hospital. Trane met with the hospital staff and learned of their specific issues.

"Our 30-year-old physical plant was in need of major updating and replacement. The location of the hospital made it difficult for service companies to address our problems on a piecemeal basis. These issues, coupled with the magnitude of capital required for the project, made it necessary for us to explore alternative ways to get the job done," said hospital administrator Rosemont Tyler.

To fix these problems, Methodist Healthcare-McNairy Hospital chose the Performance Agreement for Comfort (PACT) from The Trane Company (La Crosse, WI). PACT was presented as a means to address the hospital's facility issues using the existing operating budget with guaranteed results. "We knew some of our mechanical equipment needed to be replaced," said Lawrence Monroe, maintenance supervisor. "But funding was low. We chose to work with Trane because we had all Trane equipment and a trustworthy relationship." The hospital board agreed, and Trane began the PACT process.

MEETING ALL OF THE HOSPITAL'S NEEDS

During the preliminary study, necessary improvements were identified to increase comfort, reduce operating costs, and manage risk. The existing generator was old and improperly sized for the hospital's existing load, the operating room comfort needed attention, and much of the mechanical equipment was reaching the end of its useful life. Trane developed a PACT program to meet the hospital's objectives. "The PACT process was a different way of working with Trane. I really felt informed and part of the team," Monroe said.

The final PACT proposal was presented to the hospital with unanimous approval. The company provided facility solutions and additional revenue to the hospital. "Trane's approach to the project was very comprehensive. The single point of accountability made it easier to make decisions and saved a lot of our time," said Tyler.

A new emergency generator was installed to provide the hospital with protection from electrical outages. A new variable-air volume (vav) system was installed to serve the operating rooms and X-ray areas. This retrofit improves system efficiency, meets code requirements, and provides reliable comfort delivery to these critical areas. A lighting retrofit was completed to improve light levels and reduce utility costs.

Further utility savings have been realized through converting electrical vav reheat to steam. A Tracer Summit[R] building management system was installed throughout the hospital to reduce operating costs and to provide monitoring and control of the critical areas in the hospital. New chillers were installed to provide more efficient and reliable cooling to patients and staff, and fancoils were added for better comfort delivery to patient rooms.

Finally, an ongoing performance management and training program is in place to ensure projected savings and system performance occur for the term of the contract and beyond.

As in most hospitals, healthcare must continue despite construction. McNairy Hospital had similar concerns. Through careful planning and close communication with the hospital staff, Trane successfully completed the installation with no disruption to hospital operation. "Except for a few normal asbestos management delays, the project ran very smoothly," said Monroe.

THE SAVINGS FUND THE IMPROVEMENTS

The hospital now benefits from over $826,000 in facility improvements using the program. Best of all, the project's annual savings of $113,000 and additional first year savings of $20,000 is funding the improvements and creating an additional stream of revenue. The patients and staff at McNairy Hospital are now in a more comfortable and efficient healing environment.

McNairy continues to see change within the healthcare industry. Fortunately, any change in comfort can be predicted and controlled thanks to the PACT program.