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The FedExForum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies and the
Memphis Tigers is the entertainment capital of Memphis,
located just 10 feet off of Beale. Actually more
like 50 feet from the famous Beale street, but 10 sounds better. Whether you are
cheering for the Grizzlies, singing along with the Rolling
Stones, or watching the big boxing match, do you ever
wonder how a facility this large is heated and cooled?
Just over 3,200 tons of chilled water pass through miles of
pipe, valves, coils, tubes and cooling tower media in order for your
seat to be comfortable, and that comes at a premium courtesy of MLG&W.
Below
is a snap shot of the chiller room at the forum:
In
2005, S.M. Lawrence and the engineering department at
the Forum discovered an oversight in the mechanical design of
this prestigious facility. During winter
months when most buildings are in need of heat,
the Forum will sometimes need cooling. Including
all the lights, cameras, sound equipment, kitchens,
concession stands, restaurants, eateries and human
bodies, the heat load can require the chillers to
operate even in the fall and some winter months.
The
heat load during winter months was anticipated when designing the
Forum. The four (4) large air handlers that
serve the bowl and the main corridors around the bowl
were designed to include economizers to bring
outside air into the arena. The pictures below
indicate what we call the 'bowl' and a look at one of
the four air handlers that serve the bowl:
Economizer mode means that when ambient temperatures
(outside) are colder than inside the arena, the
chillers cycle off and outside air is brought into the
facility by way of an economizer. The economizer
system is made up of vents and modulating dampers that
allow the outside air into the building thus cooling.
This method of cooling the arena by utilizing an
economizer, is what we
call 'free cooling'. The reason it's free is
because we can eliminate the use of the chillers, which
are huge energy hogs.
"Free Cooling" is the
production of chilled water without operating the
chillers. Free cooling is not really free as the
chilled and tower water pumps and the tower fan(s) must
operate. However, the pumps and fans operate with very
little energy consumption as compared to the
centrifugal chiller"
As
engineered, the economizer systems for the bowl units
operate flawlessly. However, we discovered that
during some cooler months, there is still a demand for
chill water.
Puzzled by this, we researched the controls systems and
monitored the air handlers during a basketball game.
What we found is that while the main bowl units were
operating in economizer mode, the hundreds of smaller
fan coil units (small air handlers) that serve areas
like concession stands, restaurants and eateries need
chilled water to maintain comfortable room temperatures.
These fan coil units do not have access to outside air
and do not come equipped with an economizer like the
larger bowl units do. Although though we are
saving energy by operating the larger units in
economizer mode, we still need to operate a chiller even
in the winter months. That's when we uncovered
our solution.
If we
were to install a Plate and Frame Heat Exchanger into
the chilled water loop, then maybe we could add
additional 'free cooling' to systems. We designed
a Heat Exchanger and a circulating pump as shown below:
Since
our installation of the Plate and Frame, we can cool
the entire Forum during winter months with very little
help of the chillers. This 'free cooling'
application by use of a Plate and Frame can best be
explained in Mechanical Matters Volume 1, Issue 3 -
'Free Cooling at the Form'.
The project at the Forum
was an $70,000.00 investment. The payback is 2
years. As the Forum hosts many years of Grizzlies
games and entertainment events alike, this addition of
a 'plate and frame heat exchanger' to one of the most
sophisticated facilities in Memphis, will lower energy
consumption and will save the
Memphis Grizzlies thousands of dollars every year.
To find out more if a
plate and frame heat exchanger is right for your
building, or if you are interested in other 'free
cooling' applications, please feel free to call
anytime. We at S.M. Lawrence look forward to
hearing from you.
-Jimmy
Veteto, 901.378.7655
jimmyv@smlawrence.com
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