MechChem Africa February 2017

Global HVAC specialist sponsors art in Africa In keeping with its historic hi-tech heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration success protecting Michelangelo’s masterpieces in the Sistine Chapel, AHI Carrier has announced a R600 000 sponsorship for the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) at the V&AWaterfront in Cape Town. MechChemAfrica talks to Jaco Smal, the company’s Cape Town-based commercial sales director.

V &A Waterfront’s Silo District is built around the historic Grain Silo complex,oncethetalleststructures on the city’s skyline and central to the economy of the harbour and theWestern Province. Nearingcompletion,theV&AWaterfront’s Silo District is already home to a six-star Green Star SA office space, more than 30 luxury apartments in Silos 1 and 2 respec- tively; and an additional residential develop- ment, aVirginActiveClassicHealthClub, and a super-modern office building in Silos 3 to 5. Currentlybeingfinalised, the state-of-the- art ZeitzMOCAA in the Grain Silo complex is anewpublicnot-for-profitculturalinstitution, thefirstmajorartmuseuminAfricaaspiringto be an internationally-renowned destination for lovers of Art fromAfrica and theDiaspora. The total investment in the Silo District developmentattheV&AWaterfrontbyshare- holders Growthpoint and the Government Employee Pension Fund, which is managed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), is over R2.5-billion. Approximately 2500 people are expected to work at the Silo District, with the original economic impact study suggesting that the expected nominal contribution to GDP from future developments will be over R29-billion by 2023. A district-wide HVAC solution “Carrier’s involvement with the Silo District beganwith a request fromDavid Lombard of Lombard Consulting Engineers, who asked several service providers to identify the best equipment available for a centralised Waterfront Silo District cooling and heating plant room,” says AHI Carrier’s Jaco Smal. “The idea was to supply on-demand chilled and heated water from a central plant room to air-handling units distributed throughout Silos 3 to 6. “Attheheartofthesystemistheuseofsea- water instead of evaporative cooling towers

to reject the waste heat,” Smal explains. “We circulate naturally-cool seawater through heat exchangers so that the system does not require cooling towers to reject heat into the atmosphere. Aswell as the better efficiencies associatedwithwater cooling, this avoidshav- ing to consume water through evaporation,” he explains. “The entire Silo District is built on green principles and energy efficiency. The directivewas to achieve the best possible energy efficiency for every tenant,” he adds. Two Carrier AquaEdge 23XRV chillers werechosentomeetmostofthedemandfrom the four connectedSilodevelopments. “These state-of-the-art variable speed screw chillers are able to operate off condensed water at a temperature as low as 13 °C, which makes them ideal for chilling from the cold-water temperatures associated with the seawater. Weusually run theunits at inlet temperatures of 18 °C to 19 °C, but the chillers have to be abletocopewhentheseawaterdropstolower

Above: AHI Carrier has announced a R600 000 sponsorship of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) at V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. temperatures,” Smal tells MechChem Africa . In addition, a further two Carrier AquaForce 30XW-V water-cooled variable speed screwchillers are used for both cooling and heating. These have very high part-load efficiencies, allowing for exactmatchingof the cooling capacity to the load. “Most importantly, these machines are all extremely robust and reliable. In general, highly-efficient machines are often seen as delicate and unreliable. But these are all designed for reliability, for which Carrier is renowned. Since their initial introduction in theUS in2005, wehavenever had a compres- sor failure,” Smal reveals. As for the efficiency of the Silo District plant room? “Typically, in peak summer, we

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