Evaporative cooling is an innovative technology that will enhance the indoor cooling conditions in the region, increase energy efficiency; and reduce the congestion on electricity grids, said Steve Slayzak, Vice President of Technology, Coolerado Corporation (Seeley International).  Slayzak was speaking at a technical seminar, organised by the ASHRAE Falcon Chapter on March 28 in Dubai, UAE.

Slayzak brought to the fore the important factors that underline evaporative cooling technology and its relevance to prospective applications. He introduced the technology by presenting the fundamentals of the indirect evaporative cooler (IDEC) that works on principles that are similar to conventional evaporative coolers, but with no moisture released into the air.

Explaining how the cooler works, Slayzak said: “When fresh air passes through the dry channel, it is cooled down and emerges at about 16 degrees C and without the added moisture. The wet-bulb effectiveness at a nominal load is 120%, in comparison to conventional direct air coolers, which have a wet-bulb effectiveness of 80%.”

Explaining how the region will benefit from the technology, Slayzak said: “The higher the temperature, the better it is for us, because our technology almost doesn’t notice the temperature. The efficiency of our product enhances with the rise in the temperature.”

Slayzak also pointed out that the product supplements other technologies like variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems. “Our technology augments VRF technology, because VRF has limitations on treating outdoor air, and that’s our strength,” he said. “We were approached by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI – USA) to demonstrate the technology as a dedicated outdoor air system, and we expect it to be a very attractive combination of technology.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the seminar, Sanjiv Sachdeva, Managing Director of Gulf Engineering Systems, said, “It is very promising, with a lot of potential, and we are promoting it since the last two years in the region, and we already have implemented this technology in a few of our projects in the UAE, and we have achieved the committed efficiency.”