Working for a leading facilities management company, HVAC Rentals implemented a comprehensive cooling solution which involved a challenging installation of a chiller rental. Before deciding upon chiller rental, HVAC rentals carried out a full assessment, and multiple options were considered in order to provide a temporary cooling solution. As the client’s commercial building was 10 floors high and located on the banks of St Katherine Docks in London accessibility to the building’s integral HVAC system was to be a challenge – but not for HVAC Rentals.
The reason for needing chiller rental and a cooling solution
Upon investigation it was found that the site’s condenser coils had failed on their pre-existing 2 x 700kW Air-cooled chillers, which were located on the roof of the building. This premature failure coupled with access-issues meant that repairs or overhaul was going to take in the region of 12 weeks to complete minimum. As this timescale was also subject to obtaining the correct TFL permits. The cost of coil replacement also outweighed the replacement chiller costs due to the complexity, length and limited access requirements. Although portable air con unit hire was an immediate and quick solution, they required chiller rental as the most efficient and effective solution.
The existing site’s air cooled chillers were connected to a primary pump set pulling off a balanced header. The chilled water was then distributed via secondary pump sets to two AHU’s and various fan coils through the London building’s infrastructure. The client required a rental chiller ideally placed on top of the high rise building.
Due to the building’s design and HVAC infrastructure, it was decided that the only option was to connect a rental chiller to the existing primary circuit. This meant that the rental air cooled chiller would have to be either lifted to roof level or there would need to be built a temporary 10 floor (38 metre) riser landing the central London rental chillers at ground level.
Challenges the London high rise building needing cooling hire faced
- Accessibility – due to the location on St Katherine Docks it was likely there would need to be planned road closures, involving applying for a permit from TFL (which can take a lot of time!).
- High Capacity equipment was necessary
- Rapidly increasing ambient temperatures
- High rise building with 10 floors- this commercial building was designed with critical cooling infrastructure on the roof running top to bottom.
HVAC Rentals considerations in order to provide the rental chiller to the high rise building
- Flatpack equipment in order to safely and quickly deliver and install equipment
- A Barge crane for the rental chiller to be lifted onto the top of the building
- Helicopter lift of rental chiller – utilising a specialist helicopter and pilot experienced in heavy lifts of 3500kg- this would eradicate any disruption such as road closures or disruption to the river traffic.
During HVAC Rentals investigations, the conventional method of using a crane lift was ruled out due to the inability to close highway London adjacent to the building. There was also the option to use the building’s loading bay and turning circle, however after structural checks were completed this option was also ruled out.
Helicopter lift for London rental chiller installation?
Thinking out of the box, HVAC rentals consulted a helicopter expert who was able to provide a lifting solution that would enable the rental chillers to be lifted to roof level. The helicopter expert specialised in heavy lifts in excess of 3500KG, ensuring precision even within tight spaces. Unfortunately due to prior bookings the heavy lift helicopter was ruled out in this instance, However HVAC rentals look forward to seeing the method in action on a future project.
Cooling hire solution for installing the rental chillers
After reviewing the chiller rental project challenges it was decided that a N+1 500kW chiller rental package would hold the building load throughout the summer. After carrying out structural checks, two HVAC rentals air cooled chillers were landed onto ground level, with a comprehensive riser running 38 metres up to the roof. The rental chiller package involved 400 metres of pipework, 100 metres of cable, and 40 metres levitation of temporary chilled water.
Installation of the riser within the high rise building to the rental chiller
Firstly, 2 x 4” pipework (Flow and Return) was installed from the rental chiller running through the carpark to the basement, and to the opening of the wet riser. It was then hoisted using specialist lifting gear and winch to the top of the building to the air cooled chiller rental unit. As expected HVAC Rentals carried out thorough checks on the necessary anchorage needed for the riser, and commissioned specialist anchors carefully placed and installed via chemical fix. The chilled water supports/anchor points necessary for the high-rise pipework riser were certified and tested to match the water+hose weights and fixing points at every floor.
Other factors involved within the rental chiller installation included:
- Pump Validations
- Full building cooling load validation and design review
- Cooling load shedding review
- Temporary chiller pipework riser designed for high-rise buildings in London
Our team of chiller rental experts completed a full validation of the site’s primary system to confirm the desired flow rates were correct for both the site’s chilled water system and our London chiller hire. HVAC Rentals also commissioned:
- Flow rate validation
- Electrical Validation
- Pressure validation
Ongoing HVAC Rentals support
All of our rental chillers have the ability to connect remote monitoring software and hardware allowing HVAC rentals to monitor and control their rental chillers design envelope – meaning they are able to ensure unprecedented uptime of the chilled water system. Also reporting any loss of service within minutes. It also helps the client as well as HVAC Rentals identify any site issues such as pump flow rate problems or nuisance out of hours trips.
