Many of the guidelines for designing a central or district cooling plant can be applied to the pharmaceutical industry. Most pharmaceutical companies with central cooling plants have operated these plants very inefficiently for many years, and these problems are now being addressed by the industry. The Clean Air Act and new tax guidelines have forced the pharmaceutical industry to address their utility costs. This article will address some of the common problems faced by the industry and describe measures we have taken to correct them.
With such critical space conditions, it is understandable why a majority of the AHUs were installed both with three-way type cooling coil valves and the old adage, ¿if it isn¿t broken, don¿t fix it.¿ One can see why many central cooling facilities are suffering from inefficient operation and high-energy usage.
In dealing with modern district cooling and central chilled-water facilities, many design and plant engineers are faced with some of the following questions or problems.