Challenge
As a result of poor service and neglect from a series of water treatment providers, a healthcare center in the southwest had some serious equipment problems. Chillers were so heavily scaled that heat transfer was very inefficient and energy costs were spiking. Boilers were laden with iron deposits. All cooling towers had such massive scale deposits that the A/C condensers were operating with high head pressure during low load season. The chillers were surging in March in spite of low outside air temperatures.
Approach
Garratt-Callahan recommended a 90-day clean-up program using a “modified hardness/pH” application. Soon, the hospital’s chillers were virtually free of scale, and their efficiency increased by about 20 percent. The cooling tower and its fill were saved. After successfully removing some 95 percent of iron deposits, the boilers were once again operating efficiently.
Result
Altogether, the healthcare center’s facilities management estimates that Garratt-Callahan has saved them more than $90,000 (including the cost of replacing the fill in the cooling towers), annual water savings of more than $12,000, and substantially reduced energy costs. In addition, tower maintenance overhead has been reduced through the elimination of some 60 man-hours per year of pressure washing and other labor.
"*" indicates required fields
Read Next: G-C LumiTrac® Case Study