Background

The air conditioning of the complex is powered by five direct seawater cooled chillers which generates 12500TR cooling power in total.

Chlorine is used to minimize the development of biological fouling caused by the growth of micro-organism and macro-organism. However its concentration is governed by rules due to the harmful effect imposed to the water environment. As a result the biological fouling problem cannot be eliminated.

In order to improve the COP of those chillers, two 3000TR chillers (Chiller No. 2 and Chiller No. 3) were chosen as the pilot with an AquaKLEAR unit installed to Chiller No. 3 to see its effect on biofouling. Chiller No. 2 acts as a reference for the subsequent comparison.

Result

After 10 weeks of operation, the condenser cover of Chiller No. 3 was dismantled for tube inspection. Tubes were clean when compared with the previous record. Biofouling was not found on the tube surface.

The data logged by the existing BMS shows that there is an increasing trend of COP of Chiller No. 3 since the installation of AquaKLEAR. Its COP is improved and finally exceeds the COP of Chiller No. 2 under the same operating conditions. The improvement of COP finally reaches beyond 10% after one year of study.

All five chillers in the plant is now protected by AquaKLEAR against the formation of biofouling. The payback period is within 24 months.