Key Results
650KW of additional cooling plus an additional thermal mixing tank supplying 15,000 Litres of chilled water to the plant at circa 7 degrees
10% reduction in energy costs for chilled water system
The new installation was fabricated and installed in parallel with the existing chilled water system, ensuring critical milestones were met and completion of all final connections to our client’s system were made within an extremely tight project timescale.
About the company
A global medical technology company that is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The forward-thinking company seeks to expand production capacity for new product ranges, while minimising energy consumption and CO2 emissions and maximising cost savings.
Installing improvements without compromising uptime
The company operated a chilled water system that consisted of multiple large capacity chillers located in two separate buildings with the ability to connect the buildings together to share demand. The requirement was to provide additional chilled water capacity with dual redundancy reliability and minimum possible energy consumption.
As the manufacturing process operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it was essential that any new system was integrated without significant downtime. The company sets the highest standards for project quality, reliability and safety and refuses to compromise on these core principles. With this in mind, invitations to tender for a “turnkey” package were sent to the marketplace.
Why Drew & Co?
Deep understanding of the production process
The company’s tender process included a technical and commercial interview where bidders were required to demonstrate their understanding of the production process and the criticality of maintaining services throughout the complex installation stages.
Drew and Co submitted a strong proposal which included innovative manufacturing and installation solutions to overcome the difficulty of maintaining production at all times.
Provision of complete turnkey solution
In order to deliver a new system, without compromising the company’s core principles, at a reasonable cost the company sought to partner with a contractor who could deliver a fully designed, manufactured and installed system under one roof.
A key factor in the decision to appoint Drew and Co was its ability to carry out the full design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the system “in house.” This would reduce the complexity of integration between sub-components of the system, which is often a pain point when using multiple providers within a traditional contract framework.
The Solution
Our solution increased chilled water capacity at the plant by 15,000 Litres while reducing energy costs by 10%.
Key system components:
Chilled water capacity at the plant increased by 650KW
Provision of an additional 650KW fixed speed, high efficiency chiller that would operate in close control with an existing chiller through a modbus control network with a link to the site BMS system.
New variable speed controlled process flow pump sets were installed in duty/standby configuration to maintain constant flow and pressure.
A new 15,000 Litre chilled water buffer storage vessel was installed to assist with maintaining the critical process temperature regardless of fluctuations in demand.
Fully corrosion resistant solution utilising stainless steel 316 and ABS SuperFLO pipework and fittings.
Galvanised structural steel support system to carry the new equipment and pipework.
Close collaboration during design for stakeholder sign-off
Working in a close collaborative partnership with the client throughout the design stages ensured that Drew and Co’s solution met the approval of the multiple client-side stakeholders. We were then able to take charge implementing the required turnkey solution.
Maximising system efficiency
Drew and Co also installed a full suite of new instrumentation to monitor and control demand, pressure, flow, level, and temperature was installed to maximise the efficiency of the system. The automation system has been upgraded and obsolete legacy control equipment replaced, reducing a risk to production from equipment failure.
Installation without interrupting the manufacturing process
As the existing system had to remain fully operational, alternative locations were required for all of the new equipment. Drew and Co identified the most suitable location, outside of the plant itself, for the new system.
To overcome the difficulty in integrating the new system without interruption to the manufacturing process Drew and Co employed a strategy of running the old and new systems in parallel with staged changeovers.
Identifying and seizing opportunities for critical connections
Drew and Co identified a planned manufacturing shutdown over a short Christmas holiday period as an unmissable opportunity to make critical connections. With significant preparatory works in place ahead of the shutdown, Drew and Co mobilised a team of electrical and mechanical fitters to work around the clock to complete the works during the brief critical window.
