Low-Cost Tweaks Yield Big-Time Savings

Once Jack Dale Associates (JDA) quantified mechanical-system interactions for Texaco's data center, specified techniques were employed to upgrade the plant while avoiding disruptions to data-processing operations. Total construction costs for chiller-plant renovations commissioned by JDA were less than $600,000.

By Consulting Specifying Engineer Staff

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Once Jack Dale Associates (JDA) quantified mechanical-system interactions for Texaco's data center, specified techniques were employed to upgrade the plant while avoiding disruptions to data-processing operations. Total construction costs for chiller-plant renovations commissioned by JDA were less than $600,000.

Procedures outlined by the engineering team improved energy efficiency and continue to save the petrochemical company more than $100,000 per year in utility costs. The design not only solved operating problems, but also improved the facility's ability to increase its chilled-water reserve for future expansions. Best of all, the upgrades reduced energy consumption. Key features include:

The upgrades help set system demand and to ensure that only the required amount of chilled water is distributed.

Before JDA began work on the project, Texaco had received a number of proposals for resolving the facility's system problems. The least onerous of the proposals would have required a two-week shutdown of the entire 5,000-ton chiller plant and over $2 million to complete.

Table 1 - Existing HVAC System Parameters

Table 2 - Savings from Mechanical Plant Re-engineering

Average cost per kWh: 0.055 $/kWh