McQuay delivers absorption chillers for large projects
The ability of Thermax absorption chillers to deliver cost-effective cooing where a low-cost source of steam or hot water is available is being exploited on a range of projects in the UK.
Absorption chillers have been supplied by McQuay for two hospital projects and a new development at the University of Southampton to provide environmentally friendly and cost-effective cooling. All three sites have a low-cost source of heat, as steam or hot water, to drive these Thermax machines, so their installation avoids the need for a substantial electrical supply. A 540 kW machine for St James University Hospital in Leeds replaces a life-expired absorption machine. it uses site steam and provides cooling for patients on the David Beavers Wing. Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, Portsmouth, is being redeveloped and upgraded. A major new extension will include a pathology department cooled entirely by a Thermax absorption chilled with a cooling capacity of 350 kW and driven by steam. A further 900 kW unit will use the same steam supply and be the principal source of cooling for the other departments and wards in this extension. If cooling demands are greater than the Thermax units can meet, they will be supported to up to five McQuay ALS screw machines using R134a. At Southampton University’s new Mountbatten complex, cooling for over 1500 m2 of cleanrooms will be delivered by a 1750 kW Thermax machine powered by low-temperature hot water from central services. McQuay has been supplying Thermax chillers to the UK market for a couple of years. Its first project was for the University of East Anglia at Norwich, powered by hot water form the CHP plant during summer and mid-season periods.
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