MARLEY
MIDDLE EAST AIR COOLED AND WATER COOLED chiller STUDY
(1998)
This
study was carried out for the Marley Cooling Tower
Company, Kansas City USA, to highlight the critical
issues determining the use of air-cooled or water-cooled
liquid chilling units in the Middle East. The Marley
Middle East Study is best summarized from an extract
from our Client’s monthly newsletter-the
MESA Momentum, Feb 2000 issue.
Quote “It’s 125 degrees F and you want
to do what with our water?”
I In the U.S., perhaps as much as 95% of commercial
air-conditioning systems are water-cooled. In the
Middle East, the percentage is about that high
for air-cooled systems.
Most of us know that water is a more efficient
cooler than is air. At Marley, we were interested
to know more about the comparison, to know what
drove the Middle East market. We were unable to
find objective literature on the subject. In late
1998, we decided to commission a comparative study.
-
Purchase
price of chiller systems and their auxiliaries.
-
Space
requirements.
-
Electrical
operating costs.
-
Water
and water-maintenance costs.
- Other maintenance
costs.
-
Sound
levels.
We decided to compare systems in two sizes, 500 and 1000 tons,
in the context of Dubai.
At Mario’s
suggestion, we added to the scope a survey of air conditioning
consulting engineers in the Arab Gulf in order to learn their
perceptions of the two systems.
We emphasized
to Mario that we wereinterested in objective findings and sent
him on his way.
Mario started by doing research for related studies. He then
sketched the two hypothetical locations: the 500-ton as a rooftop
of a 14-storey office building and the 1000-ton as a ground level,
remote a/c plant for a business park. He contacted major chiller
makers for their equipment selection and proposals. He made layout
drawings for four installations: 500 tons both air and water-cooled
and the same for 1000 tons. He made four sets of schematics for
estimating piping and electrical materials. He compiled take-off
quantities and then retained Gulf contractors to do material
estimating and maintenance proposals.
He calculated the water consumption and solicited local water
treatment companies for proposals. He subcontracted a sound consultant
to select and price attenuation to equalize the roof top alternatives.
He retained a marketing firm to carry out the survey of consulting
engineers. Finally, Mario did life cycle cost analyses, comparing
the 15-year cost for air and water systems at the two different
capacities.
Mario’s study revealed that air cooled systems in both
sizes enjoyed advantages in purchase price, plan area and maintenance
costs. And, of course, the water consumption was zero for the
air-cooled systems versus ‘substantial’ for the water-cooled.
However, in both sizes those differences were more than compensated
by energy savings available from the water-cooled systems. In
general, the 500-ton water-cooled system paid back for its other
costs after five years of operation and the 1000-ton after three
years or less.
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Marley shared the findings with their representatives in the Arab
Gulf and suggested the idea of a local seminar. Each one accepted
enthusiastically. Marley commissioned Mario to adapt the study
for water and electricity costs the other five territories.
Starting in October, Marley presented a series of seminars hosted
by:
Faisal Jassim Trading Co., Dubai, U.A.E.
-
Adearest/Sleiman
Group, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
-
Nouri
Industrial Establishment, Kuwait,
-
Mohammed
Jalal & Sons, Bahrain,
-
Masdar,
Comm’l. Supply Div. of CIDC,
Saudi Arabia,
-
Bahwan
Engineering Co., Oman.
Every
representative did highly professional work:
Promoting the subject of the seminar, Assuring the attendance of
influential consultants, users and contractors, Hosting the seminar
in a five-star facility and following it with a buffet lunch or dinner.
Marley,.for.its.part:
Arranged for the seminar material in PowerPoint format, added seminar
segments on cooling tower fundamentals, Marley Ozone, Marley Controls
and Clearflow, Provided handout copies of the presentation on compact
disk for each territory, Traveled to each office for preparation,
seminar presentation and follow-up.
Much of what was covered in the ‘fundamentals’ section
came as news to most attendees. Some mythical objections were dispelled.
Much was learned in Q&A, by presenter and attendees alike. In
the end, there was substantial positive reaction to the subject matter.
We could not have been more pleased with the work done by our Consultant,
Mario Seneviratne of Green Technologies or by our six representatives.
Now, short weeks after the presentations, we continue to follow up
on contacts from the seminar. We are enjoying some warmer receptions
as well as some inquiries from first-time sources. |
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Project
Title:
MARLEY MIDDLE EAST AIR COOLED AND WATER
COOLED CHILLER STUDY
Client:
Marley
Cooling Tower Company
Kansas City, U.S.A.
Consulting
Engineer:
Green Technologies
Inc.
Project
Scope:
- Comparative Study of Air Cooled
Chilling units and Water Cooled Chilling Units.
- Survey of Dubai based
Consulting
Engineers.
- Cooling Tower Performance and feasibility
in Middle East.
- 15 years Life Cycle cost analysis
- Space requirement.
- Water and Maintenance cost.
- Sound levels.
- Pay back analysis.
- Determination of Transition point from Air cooled to
Water cooled system.
- Schematic Design including Piping, Electrical, Materials Selection.
- Water treatment.
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