Once upon a time Tri Tool, a 2,800 m2 precision machine shop, was a tough place to work.
The hot Californian summers of above 35 degrees Celsius, combined with a lot of internal heat generated from milling, turning and cutting metal, produced an unhealthy environment for workers.
Compounding this situation was the existing recirculated air conditioning which was ineffective due to airborne fumes created as part of machining processes which blocked the air filters.
Tri Tool facilities manager, Joel Walton, worked with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to solve the contaminated air and cooling problem, and also achieve low energy use. SMUD was seeking solutions to lower peak demand across the network, to avoid investing in new power stations.
Climate Wizard, which is designed and manufactured by Seeley International in Adelaide, South Australia, was installed to solve the issues of cooling a contaminated air environment, while using minuscule amounts of energy.
“The shop floor gets really hot which then requires water to cool material, and that produces a very uncomfortable humidity. The Climate Wizard blows all that hot and humid air out of the building. The hotter it gets, the better it works,” Walton said.
A key part of the installation was to generate and capture performance metrics for SMUD to establish a rebate program. The Climate Wizard operates with a COP of 8.0 (EER = 27.3) in summer, with the indoor temperature typically being 10 degrees Celsius cooler than outside air.
The installation was a single CW-160 that delivers 11,800 l/s (25,000 cfm) into the machine shop via ducts arranged internally, across one wall of the building. Exit paths for the warmed air were installed on the opposite side of the building, allowing the fresh cool air to purge away the contaminated air from the processes.