Chiller project back on track

Howie Wall, right, director of operations and maintenance with FMD, and chiller operator Jeff Tokarchuk, are shown with the new chiller they hope will be on line by next summer. Photo by Colleen MacPherson

A hot Saskatchewan summer that taxed the University’s cooling capacity to the limit has prompted the resurrection of project that stalled this spring in an over-heated construction market.

The University is re-tendering the mechanical and electrical components of the half-completed chiller addition after the Board of Governors recently approved a new budget for the project of $10 million. Originally expected to cost $4.5 million, the tender prices for the mechanical and electrical work received in January were $9 million, leaving the University with a chiller sitting inside an addition to the Heating and Cooling Plant, but no way to bring it into service.

The chiller will be part of an elaborate system to air condition about 3 million square feet of campus space. That system currently relies on three mechanical chillers, explained Dave Farion, chief engineer at the plant. Water is cooled in the chillers, then circulated through buildings in a series of pipes before being returned to the central plant for re-chilling.

Drawing on statistics gathered over the summer, Farion said the system “went through more water in the condensers than ever before – 8.8 million imperial gallons, an indication of the load.” The previous high was between 5.5 and 6.5 million gallons, he said.

In July and August, the chillers were only off line for short period of routine maintenance, said Farion. In fact, there were consecutive hot days in July when the demand for cooling exceeded the capacity of the system, which then gradually lost ground. Plus, a mechanical failure took one chiller out of service in July, resulting in a 78 per cent increase in cooling water temperatures.

Outdoor temperature is not the only factor putting strain on the system, said Farion. Additional square footage on campus that requires cooling and diminishing efficiency in the aging chillers also contributed. According to Howie Wall, it all points to the need for additional capacity.

Wall, director of operations and maintenance with Facilities Management Division, said adding the new chiller is part of a well-considered plan, but “we look at things in terms of generations, and the 25-year life of a chiller is part of our plan.”

The oldest chiller will reach the end of its useful life in 2012. Moving ahead with the new equipment now keeps the University on track with a plan to remove the two oldest chillers from service, Wall said. Both contain ozone depleting refrigerant R11 “so this is a sustainability issue too,” added Farion.

When hooked up, the new $530,000 unit will, because of its efficiency, become the primary unit in the cooling system “to make use of that efficiency,” Wall said. It is expected to be in service by next summer.

And the University continues to look far down the road. When it built onto the heating plant to accommodate the new chiller, the University made sure there will be room for yet another unit to be installed some time in the future.