The Challenge
The Hyde Collection art museum in Glens Falls, New York, is a historic home built in 1910 that now houses historical furniture, books and artwork by legendary artists like Botticelli, Picasso and van Gogh. With so many treasures to protect, it is essential to maintain the ambient environment in the Hyde. There were four main challenges:
Tower longevity: The outdoor environment near the museum is harsh. The prevailing winds put the BAC units downwind of a large pulp mill. This environment caused the units to require constant cleaning and to deteriorate rapidly, which produced continuous leaks and required excessive maintenance. The new tower needed to solve or reduce this problem.
Constant maintenance of interior space conditions: The Hyde required 24/7 cooling. The previous system ran the chillers anytime the outdoor ambient was below 30ºF, and utilized “free cooling” below 30ºF ambient. The facility is required to maintain space conditions of 70°F and 50% RH. Local area design conditions are 90°F dry bulb and 75°F wet bulb for summer conditions and -25°F dry bulb winter conditions. The customer wanted one cooling tower system for a combined maximum flow of 240 GPM while leaving the existing plate and frame heat exchanger in place for free cooling. The new solution would need to be consistently reliable and have built-in redundancy.
Super-fast installation: As an additional challenge, the contractor had to install the new tower during the height of the summer cooling season. With a facility containing priceless art, work could not begin without proper space conditioning. The restrictive work area would not allow the use of temporary cooling equipment, so the change-out had to be completed in eight hours or less.
Respectful of stewardship: The new system needed to be a good use of the contributors' dollars. Therefore, it needed to be easy to maintain, energy-efficient and allow for future growth.
The Solution
The project contractor selected a Tower Tech modular cooling tower to remain in operation year round. Cooling tower water would be controlled to maintain not less than 70°F when in chiller mode and would attempt to maintain 45°F when in “free cooling” mode. The Tower Tech cooling tower came equipped with two low ambient basin heaters with their own sensors and controller. A variable-frequency drive modulates tower fan speed to maintain tower leaving water temperature at the set point.
These features, along with the fan redundancy, Rotary Spray Nozzles™ and Flow-Thru Basin™, provide redundancy and circuit cleanliness. These features also significantly reduce water and chemical use. Furthermore, all Tower Tech modular cooling towers are made from totally corrosion-resistant Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP). The FRP tower is up to the challenging environmental conditions created by the pulp mill.
The Result
The installation of the Tower Tech cooling tower was completed smoothly in the eight-hour window. Web-based direct digital control system monitored the cooling tower during initial startup and through each change of seasons, especially when the outdoor temperature plummets. Energy savings were accomplished by controlling the tower fan and recirculating pump VFDs to take advantage of “free cooling” and by controlling the condenser water so the chillers run at part load, where they are most efficient. The Tower Tech cooling tower reduced total fan HP from 20 to 6. The new “free cooling” operational efficiencies have reduced the chiller run time by approximately 1,858 hours per year. The energy savings derive from a 33% reduction in electrical demand and from extended “free cooling” operation, protecting the Hyde's collection and patrons' investment.
“Tower Tech covered all of our facility’s priorities. We reduced our electrical demand by 30% and we are now able to shut off our chillers from October to April, when, in the past, we ran them year round.” – Keith Jablonski, Facilities Manager, The Hyde Collection
Cooling Tower Specifications:
- Open circuit modular cooling tower
- 6’ high sub-structure
- Rotary Spray Nozzles™ (3:1 turndown capability with 6’ x 6’ Square Spray Pattern)
- U.S. electrical motors with fan motor control panel and temperature controller
- Six direct-drive fans
- Individual rotary disconnects
- Stainless steel fan motor support
Cooling Tower Design Conditions:
- Flow Rate (GPM): 200 min/625 max
- Entering water temperature (HWT): 95°F
- Leaving water temperature (CWT): 85°F
- Entering wet bulb temperature (WBT): 76°F
