Company looks forward to a fruitful alliance with Italian partner

Paolo Gasparini, Managing Director, FAST, with Aslan Al-Barazi,

IMEC recently signed an exclusive agreement with FAST-Italy for serving the UAE and Qatar markets. FAST is part of the Giordano Riello Group, and include in their range of products, chillers, AHUs, FCUs, air conditioning and rooftop units.

“The reason we chose FAST is the quality code of manufacturing that FAST follows, including their 18,000-square-metre, completely automated, state-of-the-art production factory,” said Aslan Al-Barazi, Executive Director, IMEC. He added that Eurovent Certification on their main products as well as being part of the Giordano Riello Group, which is well known in the cooling sector in Italy, were additional factors.

Expressing optimism, Al-Barazi said, “We are, therefore, sure the products will be of high quality and fully compliant to the end-user requirements.”

Jose Franco writes about the need for manufacturers to modify their heat-removal devices in tune with present and future requirements.

Cooling towers with ultra low-noise fan installed by Baltimore Aircoil Gulf at Emaar Plaza Baltimore Aircoil Gulf

Customisation is the now the name of the game when it comes to cooling towers. The market calls for various innovations in these heatremoval devices, which send process-heat waste into the atmosphere. Manufacturers should, therefore, incorporate into their products a number of features like noise attenuation systems, hybrid towers for low plume and optimal tower sizing with respect to space availability.

Jeevan Joy

These needed modifications to creating specialised cooling towers are necessary, says Jeevan Joy, the managing director of Spig Middle East, since large-capacity plants for district cooling call for customisation. And the Gulf region has great demand for cooling towers, especially in the power, petrochemical, process and district-cooling industries. Joy remarks, “The largest demand is from the power and petrochemical sectors.”

HYBRID CT

Frank van Leemput, the area sales manager of Dubai based Baltimore Aircoil Gulf, sees in the future hybrid cooling towers which minimise the use of water, are easy to maintain and have more features against Legionnaires Disease (LD). He says manufacturers are currently busy finding ways of installing cooling towers indoors and in “difficult” space layouts, reducing noise emission by these devices and improving their safety and maintenance as well as coming up with LEED-driven solutions.

“At the product level,” van Leemput says, “there is now interest for ‘silent’ solutions – as some areas are fully built-up and residential towers are close to each other – and ‘enhanced reliability’ solutions like closed-circuit coolers which protect the chiller against sand and dust.”

While a number of district cooling projects have been cancelled due to the economic slowdown, van Leemput says the situation in which buildings are forced to find places within themselves for their own HVAC plants presents some opportunities. Consider, for instance, a project that needs modular or mobile chiller plants, and the demand for versatile products.

“Cooling towers are now to be fitted in a building which was not foreseen to be equipped with cooling towers,” says van Leemput, “and the roof is very often not an option.” He adds, “At a geographical level there is a shift in market activity – that is, cash-rich and areas filled with government projects are now taking the forefront, such as in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

A hybrid cooling tower, which relies on both water and air to cool the working fluid, is being introduced in the market, notes Rami Al Khalil, the Abu Dhabi-based sales manager at Morex, which has for 18 years served as a full-service manufacturerrepresentative company for the HVAC&R industry in the Middle East. He says there are big tenders involving various projects in Saudi Arabia, such as the King Abdulla Financial District, as well as in Qatar and the UAE.

‘L8’ and LD

Cooling towers, whose common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries, chemical plants, power stations and building cooling, are covered under ‘L8’, a code of practice approved by the international community to control the spread of LD. The towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures of up to 200 metres in height and 100 metres in diameter, or rectangular structures that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long. Smaller towers are built in the factory while the larger ones are constructed on site.

Brought about by bacteria in aerosols or water droplets which people inhale, LD is a potentially fatal form of pneumonia. L8, which applies also to hot and cold water systems and evaporative condensers, calls for risk assessment of these devices, including cooling towers, and the appointment of a manager, rather than a technician, to be in charge of such. It also provides for ongoing review and reassessment of exposure to the bacteria, called legionella, and the development, implementation and management of a risk-minimisation programme.

Anti-LD legislations exist in most countries, along with measures for energyefficient and green solutions in the HVAC&R industry, van Leemput stresses, but are not always implemented. “This makes it more difficult for manufacturers who live up to international standards and code,” he says, especially now that cheaper solutions have become the focus due to the economic crisis. “LEED-driven projects will, however, place a premium on these solutions.”

TURNKEY SOLUTIONS

The Bridge Way Hotel project in Abu Dhabi, where Morex supplied

Companies also have started offering turnkey solutions for district cooling projects, Al Khalil says, and they maintain these projects for a longer period as part of a strategy to improve customer service and package offering. Another strategy being used by some companies nowadays is the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme, which addresses mainly the high costs of a district cooling plant and, eventually, the transfer of technology.

“These are manufacturers which have ‘total concept’ offering – that is, the unit plus service,” says van Leemput. After-sales service should be formalised via contracts, as cooling towers need to be maintained by factory-trained technicians, not by those unfamiliar with the products. The spare parts should be genuine, as well, van Leemput adds, in order to ensure good performance and longer lifespan.

Spig Middle East brings its customer service further to include online monitoring for preventive maintenance, and a global reach for trouble-free operation and maintenance of cooling towers. Joy remarks, “We also have online monitoring solutions which we are offering our customers to have an effective, preventive maintenance by keeping online track of the condition of rotating equipment, and also to evaluate the performance of the cooling towers.”

DEMAND DRIVER

Government projects, such as schools, hospitals and administrative complexes in Saudi Arabia, will mainly drive the demand for cooling towers and other related components within the HVAC&R systems, van Leemput says. Other economies that will dominate the market are Qatar and Abu Dhabi, he adds, citing good economic situation which is much better compared to that in, say, European states.

The various ongoing and planned developments in the Middle East will require millions of tonnes of refrigeration for the next 5-10 years, the beneficiary of which will mainly be the district cooling sector and the industrial and commercial projects. This has been pointed out by Al Khalil, saying that companies may take advantage of the growing markets, such as Saudi Arabia, by teaming up with local suppliers or representatives.

Spig Middle East’s 60,000 TR district-cooling plant at Jumeirah Beach Residence

This is echoed by Joy, who emphasises the big potential for cooling towers in Saudi Arabia, which is having a flurry of gigantic development projects involving universities, hospitals and residential communities. Large requirements from the petrochemical, power, process and industrial segments also make the Saudi market more lucrative.

What Joy wants to see realise is manufacturers working with local partners in promoting the advantages and merits of using watercooled systems in large tonnage applications like district cooling. He stresses that the benefits of using seawater-cooling towers, considering that most of the petrochemical, power and process plants are close to the sea and need large capacities of water flow to cool the process. “The clients need to be made aware that the capacity of existing intake channels is diminishing, and environmental guidelines need to be strictly adhered to,” he adds.

VARIOUS PROJECTS

Spig Middle East is executing some prestigious projects in various developments across the Gulf region, such as the Dubai Motor City, New Doha International Airport, SIDRA Medical Hospital and Research Centre (in Doha) and Hadeed District Cooling Plant (in Saudi Arabia). “We are awaiting orders for a couple of major districtcooling projects, which are in the pipeline,” says Joy, “and we are also awaiting some big orders from the petrochemical sector in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”

Baltimore Aircoil Gulf, which focuses mainly on Abu Dhabi and Qatar, has a number of ongoing projects in the UAE. These include three closed-circuit coolers at Ramada Hotel, in Dubai; five open cooling towers at Wahat Hilli Mall, in Al Ain; 10 open cooling towers with ultra lownoise fan at Marina Plaza Plot (Dubai) and four open cooling towers forced draft with double attenuation package at Landmark (Abu Dhabi).

While Baltimore does not disclose its spending on research and development, Spig says it allots 20% of its annual revenue for R&D and programmes on corporate social responsibility, or CSR. Joy says that Spig, which places at $20 million its estimated turnover in the Gulf for this year, has always focused on technology enhancement and innovations in cooling systems.

This move is reflected in the number of patents and certificates that Spig has received from various accredited bodies for its excellent components and innovative manufacturing techniques. Joy proudly remarks, “We still strive to keep on moving forward and bring out the best for our client, so that they could benefit from powerand water-saving, with utmost considerations to environmental aspects.”

Having components designed for low-supply temperature, Danfoss’s CKL Flat Station is compact and environment-friendly, easy to install (designed for wall mounting) and use and has quiet cooling solutions.

Danfoss said in a note that district cooling flat stations are used in the process of distributing cooling energy into a building, and do not include hazardous refrigerants.

“Of course, the cooling flat stations can also be used in connection with loal chilled water process chillers and traditional chillers,” Danfoss said in a product note.

A standard range of flat station types includes six stations in different sizes and capacities. “When necessary, tailored cooling stations are designed and manufactured according to specification and requirements given by the customer,” Danfoss stressed.

Fitted with plate heat exchangers, the CKL cooling flat stations enable heat transfer via the heavy turbulence and counterflow principle. The cooling substations have internal electrical connections, and are built with prefabricated parts.

These parts are made with automatic pipe-bending equipment, giving supreme quality and short delivery time, Danfoss said.

Buildings do not need traditional chillers when using district cooling, where energy is utilised efficiently from a centralised production system by distributing it to the industrial, commercial and residential buildings to cool the indoor climate.

The new Trane Voyager rooftop units that replace the existing Voyager rooftop unit line are more energy-efficient and suitable for supermarkets, movie theatres, warehouses and other commercial and industrial buildings.

A refurbished house roof with solar energy panels

According to Trane, the new Voyager rooftop units are Eurovent-certified (Class A efficiency for a number of units), with a high Coefficient of Performance (COP) and Energy Efficiency Rating (EER).

Additional energy savings can be achieved with technologies like heat recovery and a modulating and condensing gas burner, making it particularly suitable for cold chain and storage applications, such as chocolate and flower storage.

“Trane Voyager systems combine high reliability and energy savings, easier installation and less maintenance to deliver reduced cost of ownership,” said Pierre Cazal, vicepresident of equipment systems for Trane’s commercial business in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India.

He added, “This flexible system ensures seamless integration with building management systems to improve customers’ heating, ventilating and air conditioning system performance.”

The new design allows the units to perform in extremely warm or very cold environments.

The 15-165 kW-packaged units offer the following:

• A choice of cooling-only, gas-fired, heat pump or dual fuel technologies to meet specific customer cooling and heating needs
• Additional energy-saving options like plate heat exchanger, heat wheel, adjustable fresh air volume and free-cooling
• Plug-and-play design, with a single-point power connection and factory-installed accessories, ensuring easy installation and commissioning

Flowserve McCANNA

Flowserve Corporation has introduced the Flowserve McCANNA cartridge ball valve, a flow control product for the HVAC industry which is designed for less maintenance and more productivity in hazardous or remote applications.

“Flowserve has the experience to design products that increase plant safety and productivity in the most demanding applications,” said Brian Hood, product manager at Flowserve Flow Control Division.

The new product’s captive self-aligning bolting enables its internal cartridge assembly to be robotically removed and replaced in one assembly. During an emergency, valve components can be accessed or replaced in minutes.

Hood remarked, “The McCANNA cartridge ball valve simplifies installation and maintenance while withstanding high operating temperatures and hazardous process fluids.”

The valve’s design is based on proven McCANNA top-entry valve technology. It has a unique one-piece metal seat, which provides better wear resistance and a higher operating temperature range compared to soft-seated designs. The full port top-entry valve uses a single bonnet seal and live loaded stem seals for high seal integrity in hazardous applications.

A Hungarian district heating firm has teamed up with Techem, a global provider of energysaving solutions, to help flat owners in Budapest save on their energy bills by putting across the message via advertising animation.

“Our customers are not experts,” said Zsuzsa Gyarmati, communications manager at of FÖTÁV Zrt, in Budapest. “This is why we show them in a simple and pleasant manner how they can save money for heating and hot water.”

Béla, a cartoon character in the FÖTÁV infomercial, is a flat owner sweating due to constant heating. He complains about the high cost of heating, but eventually discovers FÖTÁV’s new ÖKOPlus programme. Then he convinces his neighbours to participate and applies for subsidies and financing.

By installing radiator thermostats in a building’s heating system, flat owners can save as much as 15% on their energy consumption. This means that district heating is hardly the cause of highheating costs, contrary to the belief of most flat owners in Budapest.

“[T]he setback is the lack of opportunities for individual heating adjustments and transparent billing,” said Techem, which has provided FÖTÁV the exact database and cost estimates for equipment for consumption control and cost allocation.

It added that in 2008 alone, $124.2 million (€90m) was invested into the improvement of energy efficiency in Budapest, where many houses were traditionally provided with district heating and hot water. But the energy costs were at a flat rate, as regulation for individual measurement was limited.

“This caused several customers to have an overall negative attitude towards district heating,” explained Gyarmati. “That is why we have taken the initiative to restructure and modernise through the support programme, ÖKOPlus.”

The state funds the programme with a grant of 50% of investment costs for individual customer. Some district administrations may also fund the remaining primary costs under certain circumstances, such as when a customer cannot afford paying for such.

Under ÖKOPlus, customers are given a period of 10 years for repayment. Customers, who are also given a 10% discount on basic fees, may apply directly to FÖTÁV without involving their banks.

FÖTÁV, however, needs an accurate quotation in advance before deciding on an application. This is quite a problem, as the heating systems installed in most buildings in Budapest are old.

“Within the scope of numerous larger pilot projects, the energy solution provider recorded the data of those houses and flats, whose owners had shown interests in the programme,” Techem said in a note.

There are now 458 flat-sharing communities, or 39,000 flats, participating in the ÖKOPlus programme. Techem transmits the recorded consumption values, and the owners then pass on the data to FÖTÁV, which prepares the bills.

“The energy savings solution provider’s modernised metering and billing services have ensured billing based on consumption, as well as incentives to save,” Gyarmati said. “As a result of which, we have gained satisfied customers and, in the future, we will also provide them with district heating.”

Qatar Oryx Chapter recognises venue sponsor for hosting its seminars and training programmes, conducts one on ‘air syndrome in closed water systems’

The Qatar Oryx Chapter of ASHRAE on February 23 recognised the support it has received from The College of The North Atlantic in conducting its activities. “Since the chartering of our local chapter, we have been intensively supported by various parties of the construction industry,” said Ramiz Gabrial, President-Elect (2009-2010). “The educational institutions were not far from playing their educational role through helping the Chapter to extend its professional services to the local construction industry professionals. The College of The North Atlantic – Qatar was among our major supporters through providing us the use of their campus facilities to conduct some of the Chapter’s technical events.”

The Chapter recognised the college by presenting a certificate of appreciation. Monica Kennedy, Marketing and PR Manager of the college received a brass-engraved wooden plaque from Gabrial. Khaled Mohsen, also of the college, and Seenu Pillai, the Chapter Secretary were present during the appreciation ceremony.

The Chapter on February 27, conducted a full-day training programme, titled ‘Air syndrome in closed water systems’. Faisal Jassim Trading Company and Tour Anderson sponsored the programme, held at the College of The North Atlantic – Qatar.

The subject, of great interest and importance to the air conditioning industry, was presented by Claude Bulthez, the Training Manager of Penumatex Dynamic Water management. In his presentation, Bulthez provided a theoretical and practical description of the problem and stressed on the industry’s wrong perceptions and practices in dealing with air accumulation in a closed water system. Air in closed water systems causes unnecessary loss of energy, loss of water, loss of system controllability as well as total loss of the system operation, Bulthez stressed. The syndrome can occur in heating as well as in cooling systems, he added.

About 80 members from the consulting, contracting and institutional fields (both from the public and private sectors) attended the programme.

Award for The College of The North Atlantic. From left to right: Khaled Mohsen, Monica Kennedy, Ramiz Gabrial and Seenu Pillai

Training programme on ‘Air Syndrome in Closed Water Systems’

Training programme on ‘Air Syndrome in Closed Water Systems

Upcoming Event …

The Qatar Oryx Chapter of ASHRAE on April 10 will conduct a training programme that will focus on cooling towers, centrifugal filtration of water systems and AHU system design. Green Technology and Contracting Company, in association with EVAPCO, Lakos and Rosenberg, will be the sponsor of the seminar, to be held at the College of The North Atlantic – Qatar.

Europe’s severe winter boosted sales in heating products but delayed building projects

Systemair, a global ventilation company, has reported a negligible drop in profit for the third quarter of a split fiscal year.

Net income dropped one per cent to $9.2 million (66.6 MSEK, or million Swedish kronors) between November and January while net turnover sank one per cent to $110.0 million (799 MSEK) for the same period.

”We are satisfied with achieving turnover and profit on level for the same quarter last year,” said the company’s president and CEO, Gerald Engström.

He added that while the biting winter throughout Europe had caused increased sales in heating products, it also delayed and stopped a series of building projects, causing a drop in sales in ventilation products.

Systemair said in a statement that it is “very satisfied” with its “good cash flow and strong balance sheet”. It stressed, “We estimate that our market share is increasing on a number of markets.”

The company’s largest production plant in Skinnskatteberg has returned to a five-day workweek from January 1.

“We are cautiously optimistic for the next quarters,” it said. “When the markets turn up, our production plants will be well-equipped for a substantial increase in volumes.”

Systemair posted a turnover of $454.6 million (3.3b Swedish kronors) last year. It has operations in 38 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

This will help clients address the growing need to improve asset management

IBM and Johnson Controls have teamed up to provide smart solutions that would improve operations and reduce energy and water consumption in buildings worldwide.

In a statement, Johnson Controls said it will combine its sustainable energyefficiency services with IBM’s software and hardware services, to help clients address the growing need to improve asset management.

It added that key elements of the offering are designed to address critical building performance areas, including systems integration, energy management, enterprise reporting, space utilisation and asset management.

“The integration of IBM Tivoli software and Johnson Controls’ building technology solutions provides complete information, in order to make decisions that impact the bottom line,” said Clay Nesler, the vice-president for global energy and sustainability at Johnson Controls.

Nesler added: “With our Smart Building Solution, energy and asset management is enhanced in new ways that optimise environmental performance and operational efficiencies across a single building or an entire portfolio of buildings.”

William Sawyer, the vicepresident of Tivoli Maximo Operations at IBM Sofware Group, said the solution will help a property optimise energy and environmental performance by integrating the building, infrastructure and enterprise systems.

He remarked, “This will provide our clients with advanced intelligence capabilities that will measurably improve building operations.”

HVAC motors with fixed speeds were replaced with ABB ACH550

ABB ACH550

A year after replacing its old HVAC systems with ABB engineering technology, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel has reduced its carbon-dioxide emissions by 35% and overall energy costs also by 35%.

“Considering this is only the first phase of the installation, we’re very impressed with the huge reductions in energy consumption we’ve experienced,” said the hotel’s director of engineering, Keith Tose. “Overall, we see this as the best solution to make Jumeirah Beach Hotel a more energy-efficient building.”

The hotel, which is the first property under the Jumeirah Group, has replaced its HVAC motors that ran in fixed speeds with ABB ACH550 variable speed drives.

HVAC motors with fixed speeds do not allow for adjustments in response to the varying demand for power with regard to the time of day, the time of year and environmental conditions.

“As HVAC motors account for more than 60% of a building’s total energy consumption, motors running at fixed speeds cause higher energy consumption,” the hotel said in a statement.

ABB drives, on the other hand, enable the motors to run efficiently at optimal speed, as and when required. These are connected to a state-of-theart control system, which is fully integrated into the building management system (BMS). The system allows a single-user interface, providing a onestop access to all the HVAC drives in a building.

The statement said the ABB’s ACH550 standard drive is the first dedicated AC drive developed for HVAC applications, and is known to reduce energy consumption by as much as 80%.