Below I will present some details about this experience visiting the laboratory of a renowned equipment manufacturer.
by Alfredo Sotolongo*
The most economical energy to produce is the one that is saved!
Why is it not only necessary but essential that manufacturers of both mechanical and electrical equipment have their own laboratory to test the equipment and confirm that the published characteristics and/or capabilities are correct and true? In addition, it is important to be able to adapt the equipment to needs outside of what is published and therefore, confirm it in the laboratory.
In our case I want to refer to air conditioning equipment. Any equipment manufacturer, regardless of its technology, must be able to corroborate what it publishes in its catalogs or selection programs and especially when it comes to high-tech equipment whose purpose is to achieve the highest possible efficiency.
A few months ago I had the opportunity to visit the laboratory of the company AAON, baptized with the name of "Norman Asbjornson Innovation Center", in honor of the founder of the company. This technically modern laboratory solidifies AAON as the leader of high-performance equipment in our industry. This visit not only helped me grow technically but motivated me to share with our industry colleagues what is available at the moment to truly and impartially corroborate what manufacturers show in their catalogs and selection programs.
The structure of this laboratory is 20 meters (65') high and 12,456 square meters (134,000 FT²) of indoor area. Where sound and thermal characteristics of the following equipment can be measured:
• Air equipment up to 300 tons.
• Chillers up to 540 tons.
• Gas heaters up to 80 million BTU.
And you can create the following external conditions:
• From -20⁰F to 140⁰F temperature.
• Up to 8" per hour of rain.
• Up to 2" of snow per hour.
• Up to 50 miles per hour of wind speed.
It is composed of 10 test chambers that allow to confirm the capacity of AAON equipment and other manufacturers. In addition to offices and meeting rooms or meetings to witness the tests in case witnesses are required, it consists of an area where equipment with the latest state-of-the-art technologies developed by the brand is exhibited.
To request evidence with the presence of witnesses you only have to contact the Center and depending on the availability of the cameras you are assigned a date that is convenient for all participants. This serves to corroborate the capabilities that are published and to be able to maintain the certifications of AHRI (Institute of Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration) and DOE (Department of Energy of the US government).
At the moment this is the only laboratory in the world capable of measuring thermal conditions, the sound of the supply, return and on the outside of the unit simultaneously under real conditions, for equipment up to 540 tons of cooling.
The instrumentation in the psychometric chamber is designed to read temperature, humidity, pressures, air and water flow, fan speed, water speed, voltage, current, frequency, power factor, power, etc ... of these values, the capacity of each computer and its performance are determined. The data acquisition system is capable of reading, processing and storing more than 93,000 data points per minute.
In my opinion, it is very important to know what our industry has to determine the true performance of air conditioning equipment. Especially, when the unit goes to work in conditions different from the most common. In those cases, the conditions must be simulated in order to determine the real behavior of any equipment to any condition.
If you need more information on any of the topics covered in this column, please contact me at the mail: [email protected]
* President of Protec, Inc., is certified as a professional engineer in Puerto Rico and the state of Florida; has more than 40 years of experience in the application and sale of systems and equipment for energy conservation. He is a member of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), AEE (Association of Energy Engineers), ASHRAE and was president of the Miami chapter of that association.
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