24/7 Critical Facilities

  Columbine designed the addition of this new 750KW generator into the existing essential power system of this critical facility.  The existing system consisted of (4) 600KW generators, designed to operate in a (3) run (1) standby arrangement.  The facility had reached the capacity of the existing system and required to add a 5th generator.  As part of this project, the cooling for the generator room was upgraded from a single exhaust fan, that was not capable of cooling the room during an extended engine run, to a system that consist of (10) exhaust fans, (2) per generator.  Each bank of (2) fans are equipped with a VFD to modulate fan speed based on space temperature when the generators are running.

  Redundant systems can come in many different fashions.  Sometimes equipment is replicated, providing N+1 (or 100% redundancy) and sometimes owners only require 50-65% redundancy, allowing the facility time to call for service on a down piece of equipment, but did not have the large upfront costs of an N+1 system.  The below picture is from an Air Handling Unit serving a critical space.  This unit houses twin supply fans, each capable of providing 65% of the required airflow to the space.  This custom air handler was a cost-effective way to provide redundancy, without having to replicate the entire system.

  Redundant systems can come in many different fashions.  Sometimes equipment is replicated, providing N+1 (or 100% redundancy) and sometimes owners only require 50-65% redundancy, allowing the facility time to call for service on a down piece of equipment, but did not have the large upfront costs of an N+1 system.  The below picture is from an Air Handling Unit serving a critical space.  This unit houses twin supply fans, each capable of providing 65% of the required airflow to the space.  This custom air handler was a cost-effective way to provide redundancy, without having to replicate the entire system.

  The above pictures are from a project at a critical facility requiring 24/7 cooling.  The chiller plant consists of (2) chillers, each capable of providing 100% of the building load.  This provides an N+1 type redundancy to the building.  This project consisted of replacing one of the 30-year-old 250-ton chiller with a new high efficiency 250-ton magnetic bearing chiller.  As part of this project, the existing cooling tower was also replaced, and the control system was upgraded.  During construction a temporary chiller was required to provide the required redundancy to the facility while construction took place.  Once construction was completed, the owner saw energy savings from the high efficient, smooth operating new magnetic bearing chiller.