Capital University
TRANE HELPS UNIVERSITY POWER GROWTH—WITH A CHOICE OF POWER
CAPITAL UNIVERSITY WASN’T JUST LOOKING FOR NEW CHILLERS, THEY WANTED FLEXIBILITY, TOO
With two 33-year-old chillers proving inefficient and unreliable, facilities management at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, had already hired ThermalTech Engineering of Cincinnati, Ohio, to make recommendations for a new system. Unfortunately, both chillers failed—with no hope for repair—right in the middle of the evaluation, and more important, right in the middle of the summer. “We needed to replace two older chillers and we needed to make the right decision fast,” according to Frederick McKinney of Capital University. The university wanted a system that would be viable well into the future, providing the ability to handle the additional load requirements of a planned sports complex. “That was the driving force in our being sure the new system had extra capacity,” said McKinney. And, if the university installed a system that used 30 percent of the total gas usage during the summer months, they would benefit from an advantageous rate.
Any solution they chose needed to give them the life cycle of electrically driven chillers as well as the ability to take advantage of the favorable natural gas contract. After much analysis, they found Trane was able to provide a system that did both. Trane supplied the university with two TRANE CenTraVac™ Model CVHF 1,000-ton centrifugal chillers with an accompanying Waukesha Enginator natural gas generator that could supply either chiller at full load. A transfer switch would allow either chiller to be easily disconnected from the utility power supply and powered by the Waukesha generator. With this combined system, the university now had chillers that could take them into the future, and total control over their future energy spending.
The two chillers alternated running on the Enginator throughout their first summer. Because of Trane’s exceptional efficiency, at present cooling demands the campus can be served by a single chiller—even on the hottest summer day. With the projected completion of the Athletic Complex and the extension of chilled water service into a few campus buildings not currently cooled by the central plant, the university will still be well within capacity using both chillers. And McKinney is confident the university is well equipped for the foreseeable future. It was exactly the performance they expected when the chose Trane. According to energy and control specialist Rex Fisk, the superior performance of the Trane system has actually surprised them, “It can bring chilled water down to a operating temperature of 44°F within 20 minutes.” When you compare that with the old system’s average of a few hours, it’s easy to see the university now has a big advantage on unexpectedly warm spring or fall days. And at Trane, we’re happy to give our customers every advantage possible.
Capital University
ThermalTech Engineering, Cincinatti, Ohio
Trane
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