Queen Mary
THE QUEEN MARY CHARTS A COURSE FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE AND IMPRESSIVE SAVINGS
TRANE GIVES THE GRAND OLD LADY OF THE SEAS AN AWARD-WINNING HVAC SYSTEM
In her heyday, when she carried the likes of Sir Winston Churchill, Clark Gable and Marlene Dietrich across the Atlantic, the Queen Mary relied on the cool North Atlantic air for ventilation and for comfortable temperatures (heated as necessary) throughout the ship. Now however, she’s been docked in Long Beach, California, where she still pampers guests in original staterooms as the Hotel Queen Mary. She offers fine dining at three on board restaurants and cocktails—with stunning views—at the Observation Deck Bar. But the air in Long Beach is nothing like the cool Atlantic breezes she once relied on for comfort, so chilled and hot water for HVAC is pumped to the Queen Mary from an energy plant three-quarters of a mile away. The plant consists of two centrifugal chillers, one 800-ton capacity and one 375-ton capacity. Large chilled water coils were installed in the ship’s air intakes to distribute cool, dehumidified air through original ductwork. The system, in place since 1969, could no longer handle the demand. This Grand Old Lady needed an HVAC makeover, and Trane had the right systems to do it.
Facilities Director Jorge Gonzalez and the Queen Mary’s owners began studying a variety of replacement chiller options, including gas direct-fired absorption chillers and electrically powered centrifugal chillers. Both the gas and the electric companies offered significant rebates, but after careful analysis, they decided to install a new TRANE EarthWise CenTraVac™ centrifugal chiller. One factor that weighed heavily in their decision making was that the CenTraVac's greater efficiency meant it could easily handle the load with only slightly more than half of the cooling capacity. The CenTraVac chiller provides 650 tons of cooling capacity but only consumes .463 kW per ton at full load, and a meager .374 at part load (with a 78°F condensing water temperature). This level of efficiency meant improved guest comfort and sought-after operating cost savings for the Queen Mary.
This efficiency hasn’t gone unnoticed. The TRANE EarthWise CenTraVac chiller was recently awarded the Green Seal Stamp of Approval. This award recognizes products that are environmentally friendly when they’re manufactured, as they’re used, and ultimately, when they’re disposed of. The CenTraVac chiller also recently received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Protection Award for being one of the industry’s most efficient, lowest-emission chillers. What do these awards mean to the Queen Mary? Big savings. The Trane EarthWise CenTraVac chiller is saving the Hotel Queen Mary more than $100,000 a year in energy costs. She also realized additional economies by reducing the chilled water pumping power required. Previously, cooling required a 250-horsepower pump, but after installing the new chiller and reengineering the system, Gonzalez was able to replace that pump with a 150-horsepower pump, resulting in significant savings. Trane brings award-winning comfort to every job and smart savings wherever possible— even when the client’s a little at sea.
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