Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 @ 02:15 PM
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?
Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Feb 11, 2010 @ 01:26 PM
One sector of building construction that continues to thrive in a shaky economy is healthcare. Both in terms of new construction and facility improvements, investment in healthcare infrastructure continues to grow, and energy savings and sustainability are being adopted to an increasing degree. Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas recently became the
first healthcare facility in the world to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Platinum Certification by the U.S. Green Business Council (USGBC). This is despite the fact that most believe it is more difficult to cost effectively implement LEED design techniques in a healthcare environment than most other facilities. As changes in patient treatment and industry standards drive equipment needs, room size, and overall hospital layout, facilities are remodeled or torn down and rebuilt. Energy and water/air handling demands are high.
Energy Used In Hospital HVAC Systems
Healthcare organizations spend more than $5 billion each year on energy to care for patients, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. The Consortium for Energy Efficiency reports that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems comprise approximately 45% of a typical healthcare facility's energy use. Keeping those HVAC systems operating as efficiently as possible is one of the most important ways to reduce energy use. Effective cooling tower filtration can help to accomplish this.
Water Use In Hospitals
Healthcare accounts for 7% of the commercial and institutional water used in the U.S., according to a recent study co-sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA). Of that water, the largest percentage (31%) is used by the cooling/heating system. Making sure that water is not wasted is a key to overall facility water savings and sustainability. Once again, effective filtration can help to reach this goal.
Filtration Is Part of The Solution
Proper filtration of an HVAC system can help a hospital achieve its energy savings and sustainability goals while also reducing water waste. It can also help reduce the risk of Legionnaire's Disease and other health hazards. Not to mention reducing the risk of employee injury which could occur during manual basin cleaning.
Read a recent Case Study illustrating how a large healthcare facility in Indiana used cooilng tower basin filtration to meet these challenges.
Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Jan 14, 2010 @ 02:27 PM
A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that hotels and restaurants account for approximately 15% of all commercial water use in the U.S. today. And of that 15%, the water used for cooling and heating accounts for about 11% (see chart). That is a tremendous amount of water.
In addition, the amount of energy used to pump that water can be very large. In fact, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are often the largest electricity users in hotels, accounting for 30% or more of total costs.
So by making sure the HVAC system is operating efficiently, hotel managers can lower the costs of hotel operation by minimizing both water AND energy usage. Filtration can help to accomplish that, and the amount of savings to be expected can be determined by using an Energy and Water Savings Calculator.
Specific Filtration Solutions
The specific ways in which filtration can typically improve the total system efficiency include:
Through either method, proper filtration can prevent the accumulation of dirt and other solids. And that keeps all the system components operating at their highest efficiency.
Poor choices for filtration (such as having no filtration at all) can lead to a variety of problems for building owners as well as guests, up to and including
death from things such as Legionnaire's Disease.
On the other hand, the benefits of effective filtration include:
Energy managers for large hotel chains have learned from experience that the expense to
retrofit an existing installation will often pay for itself in a short amount of time. Just by making sure the heat exchanger is operating at its highest efficiency, hotels can realize huge
energy savings. A large number of
prominent hotels have chosen LAKOS Filtration Systems to make their comfort cooling as efficient as possible
Recent Case Study: The Hilton Garden Inn Hotel near Chicago's O'Hare Airport is an excellent example how a properly selected retrofit filtration system can pay for itself very quickly. After years of disappointing results, a new system was put in place using improved installation techniques and
energy-saving centrifugal separators. A little bit of filtration was good, but a well-designed and correctly sized filtration system was even better.
Want to learn more? Download the complete
Hilton Garden Hotel Case Study and read more about how an effective filtration system helped them save energy and conserve water.
Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Dec 17, 2009 @ 02:15 PM
Two recent cases of Legionnaire's Disease stress the continuing need for awareness of:
- Causes of this disease
- Methods of prevention
First - The Most Recent Outbreaks
Hospital In Florida -- This past Tuesday, December 8, Legionella bacteria was found in a patient room at the University of Florida College of Medicine. As reported in the Gainesville Sun newspaper, the patient later died, and the facility's heating and cooling system is being examined as the likely cause.
Hotel in Florida -- As reported in the Miami Herald and other news sources, the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami was shut down this past weekend after three guests over the previous few months had contracted Legionnaire's Disease. At this time, the source of the outbreak is believed to be the hotel's water system.
About Legionella and Legionnaires Diseases
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in the United
States alone, between 8,000 and 18,000 people are hospitalized each year with Legionnaire's Disease, but because of misdiagnosis and other reasons, the ACTUAL number of case may be higher. Some cases prove fatal. It is most often contracted by breathing in the Legionella bacteria in water vapor, and is not spread by personal contact or by drinking water.
Preventing Legionnaire's Disease and ASHRAE Guideline 12
A high number of Legionella cases can be traced back to insufficient filtration and water handling techniques in a cooling tower and other types of heating and cooling systems. ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) has published guidelines on ways to reduce the risk of Legionella . The prevention of Legionnaire's Diseases is covered in Guideline 12, where evaporative heat rejection equipment such as cooling towers and evaporative condensers are noted as possible causes of the disease. Their recommended solution is given in section 7.6.1 which states that "Keeping the system clean reduces nutrients available for Legionella growth....centrifugal gravity-type separators and bag-type filters can be used to assist in removal of debris..."
LAKOS Solutions
Visit our Hospital solutions page for more information about Legionella and other hospital filtration solutions.
And DOWNLOAD our "Legionella Prevention" brochure with more details about how the risk of Legionella can be reduced through proper filtration.
Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Nov 12, 2009 @ 01:17 PM
Energy savings resulting from using one product or another are easy claims to make. Often much harder to prove. The same is true when claiming reduced water usage in commercial heating and air conditioning systems.
But when it comes to cooling tower filtration, the benefits of installing an effective filtration system can be measured in actual dollars. And those cost savings can be HUGE. If you systematically consider the local kilowatt hour costs, labor costs, water costs, decreased labor time saved by automating the filtration process (instead of manual basin cleaning), number and size of chillers, etc, and other factors, the actual costs and savings can be determined. 
And by factoring in the cost of an automated filtration solution, a Return On Investment can be accurately calculated.
And that is not even taking into account the other benefits of effective cooling tower filtration, which include:
- Reduced risk of Legionella growth
- A GREENER facility with higher sustainability
A spreadsheet capturing all of this information has been developed and is available for download. It includes industry standard fouling factors for chillers, typical replacement time and costs to manually clean heat exchangers, and other cost and energy use assumptions based upon U.S. Department of Energy published standards.
What about YOUR cooling towers and chillers?
How much $MONEY would YOU save by installing such a system?
Download our energy savings and ROI calculator and find out today !