Filtration Facts

Effective Filtration Equals Great HVAC Energy Savings

Heat Exchanger Fouling Prevented With Payback In Less Than Six Months

Heat exchanger fouling is a costly situation in terms of both (a) loss of water system efficiency and (b) maintenance costs, as well as (c) countless other problems it can cause in an HVAC or process water environment. When properly applied, filtration of the water and process fluids before they enter the heat exchanger can prevent fouling from occurring. For systems containing dirt, sediment and other solids, the savings can be huge, and can include water savings, energy savings, as well as others.

A multinational equipment manufacturer in the Midwestern U.S. faced this situation on their production line, where heat exchangers were repeatedly clogging and fouling due to scale in the process water. Among other problems, this made it very difficult for the heat exchanger to maintain the proper temperature for the water, wreaking havoc with the production process. The company tried using bag filters to solve the problem, but bags need to be emptied when they are filled. In this situation, the scale and other solids in the water was so great that the bags had to be replaced once every 5 weeks. The cost in materials and labor to change the bags was over $80,000 per year, and that did not include other costs being driven higher due to the lowered efficiency of the entire system or the lost production time.

A Better Filtration Solution
Frustrated by the costly and not very effective bag filter solution, the maintenance team at this large company continued to look for other solutions to their problem.  They found it -- a nearly maintenance-free filtration solution that also lowered water usage and kept the heat exchanger operating at maximum efficiency 24/7. It was a complete filtration solution that included a LAKOS Centrifugal Separator and purging system. The time it took for the reduced expenses of the new system (just heat exchanger cleaning costs alone) to pay back the costs to buy it and install it? Less than 6 months.

Download The Heat Exchanger Fouling Solution Case Study
Get more details about this situation, as well as the BEFORE and AFTER costs to clean the system. Heat exchangers are valuable pieces of equipment, and keeping them running efficiently will yield tremendous savings. Effective filtration is a great way to accomplish this goal.

Energy Efficiency Is Not Just A Class At University Of Nevada

Centrifugal Separators Go From The Big Screen To The Gulf of Mexico

The idea of using centrifugal force to separate two elements of different densities has been around for many years. Despite the scientific explanation for centrifugal force and its real world applications in our lives, to some people it often sounds too good to be true. It is hard for some to believe that gravity and centrifugal action can be exploited in such ingenious devices that can work so efficiently and effectively. Such has been the case with the most recent application to appear in the headlines recently -- a centrifugal separator which might be able to help clean up the Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill.

Not Just Movie Special Effects

A company co-owned by actor Kevin Costner has developed a centrifugal separator designed to remove crude oil from sea water, and centrifugal action is at the heart of the machine. The technology for the portable liquid separators was originally developed by national laboratories for defense purposes, but Costner and his business partners purchased the patent in 1990. Costner began working on ways to remove oil from water while working on his 1995 science fiction movie "Waterworld". British Petroleum has placed an order for some of the devices, in the hopes it can succeed where other techniques and products have failed.

Two Other Uses Of Centrifugal Separation

In addition to Costner's Waterworld-inspired oil-from-water separator, centrifugal separators are used to solve a number of less-theatrical problems as well, including: 

1. Medical uses - centrifuges are devices used in laboratories to separate liquids from other liquids (such as blood) for testing.
2. Solids-from-liquids centrifugal separators, used to remove sand, dirt, and other solids from water (as well as other liquids like cooking oil). LAKOS Separators are the leaders in this field, and are used in a variety of residential, water well, industrial, and heating/cooling applications.

LAKOS Centrifugal Separators

LAKOS centrifugal separators utilize the same fundamental forces of centrifugal action as Kevin Costner's device and medical centrifuges. Nearly forty years since gaining its first patent, LAKOS has been continuously innovating and improving upon this technology and the unique solutions it can provide.  Liquid enters the LAKOS Separator at an angle, and internal slots accelerate the flow so that solids heavier than water are moved (through centrifugal force) to the outer wall of a separation chamber and drop to the bottom of the separator, while clean fluid exits the separator. This can be better explained by watching an animation or video of the solids being separated from the liquid.

Free Download - Independent Testing Proves Efficiency

Just how efficient is a LAKOS Centrifugal Separator at removing solids from liquids? Up to 98% percent efficient, according to independent 3rd party testing. Get the free results of this testing today !

Evaporative Condensers Reduce Costs of Refrigeration

It takes a LOT of energy to keep a popsicle frozen in the desert.  Come to think of it, it takes a lot of energy to keep a popsicle frozen in any conditioned interior space – in a desert or anywhere else.  

Grocery store owners know this all too well.  According to National Grid, refrigeration accounts for 44 to 62% of the energy consumed in U.S. grocery stores depending on the climate zone.  So when grocery store owners are looking to economize on energy, refrigeration is a smart place to start.  In fact, refrigeration system optimization can reduce energy use by 24% relative to standard practice.  This could account for a substantial increase in a grocery store’s profits, since energy expenditures are approximately equal to a typical grocery store’s profit margin.

Evaporative Condensers vs Cooling Towers
Evaporative condensers are an effective way to trim refrigeration energy cost in grocery stores, as well as in many other businesses.    These devices operate similarly to cooling towers in that they remove heat from the refrigeration system.  However, in cooling towers, the cooling water does not come into direct contact with the equipment being cooled; instead it passes through a refrigerant-water heat exchanger in the condenser to achieve thermal transfer.  Evaporative condensers, however, spray water directly over the coils and a fan blows air through the falling spray of water.  As the water evaporates, the remaining water becomes cooler through what is known as the latent heat of evaporation.  The cool water absorbs heat from the condenser coil, cooling the refrigerant into liquid form.  This is an energy efficient means of heat removal and can result in significant savings.  

Although evaporative condensers can be significant energy savers for businesses with high refrigeration needs -- particularly in more arid climates -- they come with one disadvantage.  They use a lot of water, and this water must be periodically “bled” off into the sewer to prevent the accumulation of excessive mineral deposits, such as magnesium, silica and calcium.  These minerals build up on the condenser coils, impairing heat transfer and thus efficiency.  In addition, the air flowing through the water spray contains many particles such as pollen, mold and dust that eventually accumulate inside the system.  Frequent bleed rates (along with chemical treatment) are used to combat these particulates.  The outside contractors that service cooling towers and evaporative condensers have been known to use tower bleeds liberally to prevent scale formation.  After all, they don’t pay the water bill.  Their top priority is to prevent scale formation—period.    

Water Waste

How much water is used as a result of evaporative condenser operation?  According to the Alliance for Water Efficiency, many systems used 50% more water than necessary.  

Filtration Can Reduce The Waste And Improve Efficiency
Cooling tower basin cleaning is one way to minimize the bleed rate/water waste on cooling towers and evaporative condensers. Effective filtration of evaporative heat rejection systems, which includes centrifugal separation, also helps prevent the accumulation of bacteria that leads to Legionnaire’s Disease. 

You can read more about this by downloading “Fighting Legionella with LAKOS”.

District Energy Has Right IDEA About Filtration

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) Conference and Trade Show takes place June 13-16, where energy efficiency and Best Practices in energy management will be on display. District energy utilizes a central plant to provide heating and cooling to multiple buildings in one area so they do not need separate chillers, heat exchangers, or cooling towers. As described by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke at last year's conference, it is a method of saving energy that is available now, and is an important part of the alternative energy plans being encouraged by the U.S. Federal Government. From Manhatten to Dubai and many other communities  and district cooling installations at universities, this method of managing energy is critical to supplying heating and cooling in the most efficient method possible. 

This year's IDEA Conference schedule includes sessions covering:

• Combined Heat and Power (CHP) -- Co-generation to increase the efficiency in a power plant.
• Large Scale District Cooling Systems - Optimizing a Smarter Grid
  
• Innovative Water Reuse: Sustainable Water
  Management and Conservation Using Advanced
  Cooling Technologies
  
• Green Methods to Prevent Chilled Loop Problems
• And many more
  

Filtration For The Central Energy Plant

The proper use of water filtration will also be demonstrated, since effective filtration reduces water waste AND energy usage in HVAC systems. Examples may include the benefits of district energy in a healthcare facility, as well as other ways in which heat exchangers, cooling towers, heat pumps, and other key components in a District Energy installation can operate more efficiently and with less maintenance. Preventing fouling of the heat exchanger or chiller, and sweeping the cooling tower basin clean so that solids do not accumulate are keys to a sustainable, successful District Energy solution.

Citizen's Thermal Is A Classic Case Study

Citizen's Thermal is a district energy management company based in Indianapolis. Their client list includes the city of Indianapolis, Methodist Hospital, and Lucas Oil (Colts) Stadium. Filtration is standard equipment for many of their applications, and LAKOS is proud to be part of their Best Practices.

Download The Citizen's Thermal Case Study and read details explaining how this is accomplished. District energy is a great solution for some of today's energy problems--> and LAKOS can help.

And if you attend the IDEA Trade Show in Indianapolis next week, stop by booth # 54 to learn a bit more about how LAKOS Separators can help with these and many other HVAC challenges.

 

Legionella Outbreaks and Reducing Healthcare Risks

 

Another recent round of outbreaks of Legionnaires Disease have made the news recently, underscoring the fact that even though we know the cause, prevention is still not always taken very seriously. Like those Legionella cases mentioned back in mid-December, many of these may have been prevented as well. According to the Center for Disease Control, the disease has already caused 538 deaths in the U.S. so far this year, and even more non-lethal cases have been found.

• In Sacramento, a cooling tower that cools and heats California's state capital building has twice tested positive for very low levels of Legionella
  
• Australia has seen a jump in cases of Legionnaires Disease recently as well. In the Victoria province alone there have already been 34 cases to date -- double the average
• In the United Kingdom, a recent death attributed to Legionella at a hospital and
• Also in the UK, fines charged to a building owner for NOT having a Legionella prevention system for the cooling towers

ASHRAE Guideline 12 outlines ways in which Legionella can be prevented, and a centrifugal separator is a suggested part of the solution. Properly sized and applied, it can prevent the situations in which Legionella can grow.

Legionella In Healthcare Environments
Hospitals and other healthcare environments are particularly vulnerable to Legionella and other bacteria because of the demographics of the patients, including elderly people and those already suffering immune deficiencies. Following proper cooling tower basin cleaning techniques in these facilities is a great step to prevent the growth of Legionella, but also to save water, energy, and reduce other liability risks inside the hospital.

Want to learn more about the special Legionella challenges in hospitals? Or just about preventing Legionella in general?

Visit our special hospital filtration page or download our "Preventing Legionella" brochure !

HVAC Professionals Filtering Through Social Media

Engineers have inquisitive minds and like to know how things work. They are often the first to try something new, sometimes out of curiosity, but also from a desire to discover better methods and smarter techniques. Things like better designs for products and buildings, such as those directed by LEED standards, sustainability, and life cycle costs. They also discover better ways to communicate with each other and with others in their field.

So as a group, how has the engineering profession -- and especially those in the building and HVAC sectors -- accepted and adopted social media communication tools like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook? So far the results seem mixed. HVACRBusiness Magazine conducted a poll of its readers late last Summer, in which 26% said they already had company Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn accounts, but 48% said they WOULD use social media if they only knew how. It's one reason why HVACR Business created a special social media site just for HVACR contractors at SocialTract.com where contractors can create and maintain their own blogs with minimal effort. Some individual contractors and engineering firms have braved the new social media world on their own, such as California-based Rosenthal Plumbing, whose music video on YouTube has been viewed more than 5700 times. Blogs, videos, and other methods can also be used to answer questions about preventing heat exchanger fouling and cooling tower basin cleaning.

Industry associations and media like ASHRAE and Contracting Business have embraced social media as well. ASHRAE has corporate Facebook and Twitter accounts and also maintains a special MySpace account just for students. Social media can be a great way to look for job, such as using a Twitter account that lists jobs just for HVAC.

LinkedIn And Professional Groups

One of the best uses of social media is for networking and strengthening existing relationships. LinkedIn maintains a number of groups relating specifically to HVAC, engineering, and filtration that are a great resource for sharing information. That list includes: 

• Consulting-Specifying Engineer (153 members). For engineers and others who have a professional interest in buildings. Topics of interest include sustainability, innovative design solutions, awesome new products, career development, industry events, and more.

• Water Technologies-Water Filtration (6000+ members) Group claims to have everything water related.

• Filtration Networking (1300 members) For those interested in networking throughout the industry to share market/product knowledge, industry contacts, job search, and general information.

• CleanTechies Around The World (10,000 members)  Joining requires approval in this group for active professionals, committed students, concerned citizens, interested politicians, and devoted educators. Consists of engineers, lawyers, financiers, technicians, consultants, architects, designers, communicators, students and teachers who are pursuing careers in CleanTech.

• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) (8700 members) Requires approval to join also has a few other requirements as well.

• Water Treatment Solutions (2454 members) This group is for water treatment professionals to exchange knowledge and ideas about water problems. Subjects to be discussed are related to treatment of wastewater, cooling water, and boiler water and other.

• MyWaterPlantJobs Group (218 members) A group for those who manage, operate and maintain water and wastewater treatment plant facilities worldwide.

• Wastewater Construction Group (502 members) Their goal is to communicate in all disciplines relating to water, wastewater and reclamation facilities, including design and construction.
  

It's Your Turn

What about YOU?

Have you jumped into the social media pool yet? You can start out slow and easy by:

• Following LAKOS on Twitter
• Joining the LAKOS Facebook fan page

• Subscribing to our Filtration Facts Blog by typing in your email address up above

• Join LinkedIn and check out some of the many forums and groups there, including the LAKOS LinkedIn account

 

Every Day Is Earth Day In Buildings With Closed Loop Filtration

It is April 22 and Earth Day in the U.S. This is the 40th anniversary of this special day created to focus our attention on the environment and the precious resources of our planet, and how we as stewards are responsible for using them wisely. This includes clean air, clean water, and sustainable living practices that leave the earth in better condition than when we found it. 

Special events are being planned to commemorate this event, including: 

• Special activities and awareness programs will be celebrated on college campuses across the country, such as battery recycling, computer and electronics recycling, and solar energy demonstrations.
• Opportunities to adopt a coral reef or donate time and money to other conservation causes.
• A Climate Rally at the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Sunday, April 25th. Organizers hope to build support for additional legislation to preserve the environment in the U.S., including changes to limits of carbon emissions.

Ongoing Commitment Is Key
While annual events like Earth Day help us focus our attention on the environment for a short time period, it is how we implement these ideas the rest of the year that really matter. Sustainability, energy savings, and wise water use should be part of our personal living practices, as well as in the buildings and businesses in which we work. Some of these practices are obvious and easy to identify, such as: reducing water usage in hvac systems, keeping all systems (computers, hvac, and others) operating at highest energy efficiency, and recycling water and minimizing other waste as much as possible. Filtration of water is an important component of each of these efforts, utilizing techniques such as cooling tower basin cleaning, submersible pump sand protection, preventing heat exhanger fouling, and many others. But some sustainable practices are not so easily recognized, such as "closed loop" filtration.

Closed Loop Filtration
"Open loop" water systems are those which are exposed to the outside air and environment, and because of this, they require continuous cleaning and filtration to operate at highest efficiency. Dirt and grime can cause reduced efficiency and water waste. "Closed loop" water systems are NOT exposed to the outside air, and theoretically SHOULD NOT need ongoing filtration. Once the system is free of dirt, grime, or other particulates, the system should remain relatively clean, but theory and reality are not always the same.

Closed loop systems often DO need a filtration system to remain clean, due to pipe rust and other suspended solids in the system. This keeps chillers, compressors, heat exchangers and other closed loop equipment operating in good working order and operating at maximum efficiency.

New White Paper

The Manager of Building Operations at a large 700-bed hospital recently authored a White Paper outlining the benefits of closed loop filtration. Stollery Children's Hospital at the University of Alberta uses a chilled water system and experienced problems until filtration was installed. Download the Hospital Closed Loop White Paper today and read how LAKOS Filtration keeps the system operating at maximum efficiency.

Schools Should Consider A Field Trip To The Nearest Cooling Tower

Remember the first time your 8th grade science teacher took the class outside to see the school's cooling tower? You learned all about exotic, mysterious sounding things like heat transfer, evaporation, and bacterial colonization?  Okay, so maybe that didn't happen in YOUR 8th grade class. But times are changing and many schools today are adopting more hands-on curriculum.  

"If you take kids outside, it typically engages them, especially ones who are struggling," says Jerry Lieberman, an educational researcher, according to an article in Newsweek magazine. We tend to agree, and a cooling tower would make a great field trip.

Hands-on Sustainability Learning
These days school buildings and campuses are becoming living, breathing classrooms-particularly with the increased push toward sustainability. Throughout the U.S. and world, school campuses are taking on a more colorful and more memorable role in education, a role that was once held almost exclusively by textbooks.  Consider these examples:

• Sidwell Friends Middle School, a private school in Washington (the same attended by President Obama's daughters), built a sewage-treatment plant in the middle of campus to recycle wastewater as a way to acquaint kids with the water cycle.
• Oil City Elementary in Louisiana raised a few thousand dollars of private funds to build three outdoor classrooms. As a result, the school, which was very nearly shut down due to low performance and inconsistent enrollment, has become one of the highest achieving in the district. Enrollment and test scores are also up.
• Ninth-graders at the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers, a high school on Manhattan's Upper West Side, got some hands-on green building experience by helping to install insulation and solar panels at the school.

These are just a few examples of the exciting, meaningful learning experiences being created in our schools today.

Physics, Biology, Chemistry-It's In There!
It makes you start to wonder: how many school lessons can be found in a common, lackluster piece of equipment like a cooling tower? Quickly you will realize that cooling towers -- frequently visible yet mostly unnoticed by students -- are working examples of some of the most commonly taught principles and concepts in physics, chemistry, biology, and even HISTORY!

The following scientific terms and concepts are all important considerations in the design and operation of a cooling tower:

Evaporation, Thermal Conductivity, Oxidation, Calcification, Bacterial Growth, Bacterial Colonization, Algae, Fungi, Photosynthesis, pH, Absorption, Anaerobe, Corrosion, Solubility, Suspended solids, Turbidity, Ambient Air, and many others.

Cooling towers even provide a lesson in American History because of their association with Legionella, a naturally occurring bacterium frequently found in cooling towers before proper water treatment practices were established. Legionnaire's Disease and Legionella both acquired their names after a July 1976 outbreak of a "mystery disease" sickened 221 persons, causing 34 deaths. The outbreak was first noticed among U.S. veterans attending a convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia. The epidemic occurred in the same city and within days of the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The rigorous investigation of the outbreak led to the discovery of the bacteria, since known as Legionella. 

If the school is into teaching environmentalism (and what school or college isn't these days?) an educator might explain how cooling towers provide "free cooling" thus reducing a school's energy consumption.

Water Conservation and Saving Money

If water conservation is the focus, the instructor might explain how a school's cooling system accounts for about 14% of the water used in a school -- equivalent to approximately 3100 gallons of water per day in the average school. Today's environmentally savvy youngsters might be surprised to learn that depending on the climate zone and cooling system of the school, cooling tower water waste can be greater than all the water fixtures of a school combined. The teacher could challenge them to think of ways to minimize this waste. Enter yet another opportunity for a basic physics lesson: Centrifugal Separation, the premise of LAKOS' TowerClean system, which helps keep cooling tower water clean, thus saving water and keeping the planet green.

What about teaching the importance of saving money? Making an HVAC system more efficient through effective cooling tower filtration is a GREAT way to save money. We know one pharmaceutical company in Puerto Rico that expects to save $100,000 over the next 12 months by using a cooling tower basin cleaning system.

Download our newest Cooling Tower Cleaning Case Study about this system and read all the details.

And give us your comments about the science of cooling towers and cooling tower filtration. What other points would you add?