Background

There are four direct seawater cooled chillers producing over 1600TR cooling capacity were serious fouled due to no water treatment was used in the past.

Tube cleaning was done twice a month during hot summer time as the growth of micro-organism is promoted at a warmer water temperature. Strainers at the inlet to each condenser are purged once a week to make sure water flow is not blocked by macro fouling such as seashell or mussel.

In order to minimize the down time and enhance the energy efficiency of those chillers, AquaKLEAR is installed. Before the unit was switched on, the condenser tubes of one chiller were inspected and recorded in picture 1. Then the tubes were cleaned.

Result

After two months of operation (which should be cleaned twice in the past)), the condenser cover of the chiller was dismantled for tube inspection. Tubes were almost clean when compared with the previous condition. A very thin layer of biofouling was found on the tube surface which is in a great contrast to the before situation as shown in Picture 2.

From the data log, the COP of chillers is improved by 7.3% after several months of study and the investment is paid back in 23 months.