For managing any HVAC system, it is crucial to maintain the associated cooling towers. When the latter are maintained well, a well-designed system will provide a comfortable indoor environment for residential, commercial, and industrial buildings all through the year. In spite of cooling towers being so crucial, they are mostly neglected. They are tough to maintain and repair. A combination of air, water, chemicals, and heat produces a highly corrosive environment, wherein some cooling tower components are more vulnerable to damage in comparison to some others. Key Problems Following are some key issues related to cooling towers:
When cooling towers are correctly maintained, it will keep low the energy costs. Neglecting this issue will raise costs by almost 6% for every rise in 2 degrees F in temperature. For effective maintenance of cooling towers Victoria, a company like FlowMatrix, is the expert. It specializes in carrying out mechanical repairs, inspections, and audits of all brands of cooling towers in Australia. Tips To Maintain Cooling Towers
In sum, keeping the tower managed and clean is the only way to derive maximum benefit from it. For proper maintenance of cooling towers Victoria, one can hire the services of the company FlowMatrix.
0 Comments
Cooling towers are used in refrigeration or air-conditioning systems. They make use of air in the surroundings to the cool water, which cools the target area. A method of cooling tower includes any valves, pipes, tanks, or machinery connected to the system. It will comprise of one or more cooling towers based on the extensiveness of the system.
Legionella Threat When air is forced through or drawn through a cooling tower, it accumulates air-borne particles. As it leaves the tower, such particles are carried into the environment. At times, such particles may be contaminated with Legionella bacteria and if in case these bacteria are inhaled by people, they may suffer from Legionnaires disease. This disease manifests typically as pneumonia. Symptoms of this disease are chills, high fever, muscle aches, cough, diarrhoea, and headaches. Susceptible persons include those over 50 years (mostly males), heavy drinkers, heavy smokers, those with chronic lung disease, diabetics, and those with damaged immune systems. The governments of NSW and Queensland offer guidance about suitable management of cooling towers for reducing the risk of Legionella growth. Also, Australian standards provide guidelines for installing, maintaining, and testing of cooling towers. FlowMatrix is an Australian company that specializes in maintenance, repair, installation, and inspection of cooling towers. It offers its service to over 200 industrial and commercial cooling tower systems across Australia. Risk Management Plan (RMP) For reducing the risk of Legionella contamination, it is recommended that every cooling tower system puts in place a cooling tower RMP. The RMP identifies the dangers to its operation. RMP’s are compulsory in New South Wales and Victoria. The RMP services rendered by professional companies like FlowMatrix include the following details:
With the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD), the country saw itself taking up all possible measures to bring it under control. To further the initiative, preventive aspects of the disease were also looked into. The disease is passed on mainly by intake of contaminated water in any form. Now since it is humanly impossible to test for the presence of bacteria by merely looking at it, what one could be do would be, to look out for its breeding ground and control it right there.
With time and research devoted to the study of the outbreaks of LD, it was found that cooling towers are to be blamed. It provides for the right kind of temperature for the bacteria to breed and grow. And since the water is likely to get aspirated, it goes on to thrive inside the respiratory tract of humans, causing a severe form of pneumonia. What makes it worse is that there is no vaccine in place so far. The only possible treatment is through the intake of antibiotics. Given the high risk posed by these cooling towers, it automatically calls for proper monitoring and treatment of cooling towers. And this has been duly noted. Water treatment companies like FlowMatrix are working on cooling tower solutions. NSW Health recently brought in an updation on the regularisation of cooling towers. This meant owners, who previously had to notify the local authorities on their cooling towers now need to do more. It is also required that cooling towers needs to be registered with the local authorities, tested monthly and also reported if found with high levels of bacteria. Also, each cooling tower should have a risk management plan in place and revised periodically. Among the companies, which specialize in water treatment, FlowMatrix is here to ensure that the stricter regulations do not take a toll on the owners. Keeping the updation in mind, they are here to work with clients to keep a smoother check on the cooling towers, while curbing the disease at the same time. They carry out mechanical inspection, repairs and interpret risk management planning audits to ensure smooth operation. Besides controlling legionella, why do cooling towers need care after all?
-Remove scale deposits: owing to the continuous evaporation, the periodic build-up of scale deposits will happen. These need to be removed for energy efficient functioning. -Ensure proper airflow: failure of this causes the air not to feel cold, poor fan performance, etc. It occurs due to loose components, improper fan alignment, etc. -Clean the tubes: debris may build-up with time depending on the water quality and rate of build-up resulting in clogs. -Inspect water pump: efficiency of the pumping process can increase the performance of the AC. -Treat the water: water quality problems can lead to major scum and scale build-up resulting in the breakdown of the system. |