The coils of an indirect cooling tower atop a downtown Chicago high-rise froze and failed during a weather event which included extremely cold temperatures. The EIS engineer assigned to the project was tasked with determining if there were factors in addition to the extreme weather conditions which contributed to the failure.
The investigation began with an inspection of the cooling tower coils, wherein it was verified that the reported damage was consistent with a freeze event.
Next, a review of the system design drawings and controls sequence of operations was performed to gain an understanding of what measures, if any, might have been intended to protect against freeze damage. It was determined that the cooling tower was equipped with an electric heater in the sump which was to be activated when the water in the sump reached a preset temperature.
It was determined through further investigation that the sump heater was not operational and required replacement. Therefore, the coils in the cooling tower were left without their intended means of freeze protection during the extreme weather event that damaged the coils.
The coils of an indirect cooling tower atop a downtown Chicago high-rise froze and failed during a weather event which included extremely cold temperatures. The EIS engineer assigned to the project was tasked with determining if there were factors in addition to the extreme weather conditions which contributed to the failure.
The investigation began with an inspection of the cooling tower coils, wherein it was verified that the reported damage was consistent with a freeze event.
Next, a review of the system design drawings and controls sequence of operations was performed to gain an understanding of what measures, if any, might have been intended to protect against freeze damage. It was determined that the cooling tower was equipped with an electric heater in the sump which was to be activated when the temperature of the water in the sump reached a preset temperature.
It was determined through further investigation that the sump heater was not operational and required replacement. Therefore, the coils in the cooling tower were left without their intended means of freeze protection during the extreme weather event that damaged the coils.
The coils of an indirect cooling tower atop a downtown Chicago high-rise froze and failed during a weather event which included extremely cold temperatures. The EIS engineer assigned to the project was tasked with determining if there were factors in addition to the extreme weather conditions which contributed to the failure.
The investigation began with an inspection of the cooling tower coils, wherein it was verified that the reported damage was consistent with a freeze event.
Next, a review of the system design drawings and controls sequence of operations was performed to gain an understanding of what measures, if any, might have been intended to protect against freeze damage. It was determined that the cooling tower was equipped with an electric heater in the sump which was to be activated when the temperature of the water in the sump reached a preset temperature.
It was determined through further investigation that the sump heater was not operational and required replacement. Therefore, the coils in the cooling tower were left without their intended means of freeze protection during the extreme weather event that damaged the coils.