Airedale’s ‘masterpiece’ reduces cooling costs at the National Gallery
Savings of about £16 000 were achieved by the National Gallery in the first year of operation of four Airedale TurboChill chillers installed to replace R22 chillers. Steve Vandyke, head of technical services at the National Gallery, explains, ‘The existing R22 chillers had to be discontinued by 2010. They were very costly and not performing. Airedale designed a bespoke TurboChill unit to the existing footprint in the restricted space of the plant area, and supplying chilled water to a primary circuit.’
Other benefits of the TurboChill units include maintenance-free compressors, since there is no oil in the refrigeration circuit. The chillers themselves also require far less maintenance.
The National Gallery contains over 2300 works dating from the 13th to the early 20th century, including many famous masterpieces. Tight control of temperature and humidity in the 72 galleries is critical and maintained by air-handling units in the gallery space.
Two more TurboChill will be operational by 2011.
In-depth knowledge of integrated part-load efficiencies has enabled Airedale to achieve a 25% ESEER of 5.87. A bespoke sequencing scheme designed by Airedale Controls specialists will integrate all six TurboChill units into a single, highly efficient operating system. Mechanical consultant for the project was Troup, Bywaters & Anders.
