Micronics flowmeters help survey heating system at Heathrow
Micronic flowmeters have been used at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4 to survey energy usage in the heating system. The facilities staff at the terminal have a 5-year plan running to 2019, entitled Quinquennium 6, which includes the redesign of the medium-temperature hot-water system, which previously ran at 120°C. The requirement was to run the system at a lower temperature to be more cost effective, more environmentally friend and — crucially — safer.
Assessing the system required logging data during a winter heating season, which was carried out by Balfour Beatty, the delivery integrator for all building works for Heathrow Airports Ltd.
Luke Hirst, Balfour Beatty’s project manager, heard of Micronics from Nick Wells of Power Plan, a Kent company that specialises in the supply, planning and installation of secondary power system. He had used Micronics flowmeters at Terminal 5 and was impressed that there was no need to cut into the pipe, which would have shut down the heating system for the whole terminal.
Micronics recommended using U1000 and U3000 flowmeters with energy calculators and data loggers. They are configured for pipe size, so only nominal setting up is needed on site.
Luke Hirst comments, ‘Operation has proved exceptional. The surveys were carried out without affecting the terminal. As a result of the survey the design of the replacement heating system is being carried out now. We will definitely use Micronics flowmeters on future occasions when the need arises to carry out another survey.’
