Chiller replacement - 11

On Thursday, the dry cooler was set into place on the lower roof:




Also, the old condensors were removed from the upper roof and replaced by the new condensor units:




Yesterday the chiller was moved from the entrance to the mechanical room to it's final location:



With the chiller in place, the temporary platform/ramp was removed and the door replaced:

Chiller replacement - 10

The first slideshow is for the crane setup. The crane was rented from Capital City Group in Columbus. It was a Link-Belt HTC-8690 -- a 90-ton hydraulic truck crane with a 140 foot main boom.



The second slideshow is for the crane lifts. The order of events:

• Raising the two I-beams for the base of the dry cooler


• Raising the dry cooler to the lower roof


• Raising the new chiller and slidding it into the mechanical room


• Lowering the two old air-cooled condensors


• Raising the two new air-cooled condensors

Chiller replacement - 9

The tie-in of the new permanent lines for the temporary chiller was completed last week.



The old chillers, compressors, and piping have been removed. The concrete pad for the new chiller has been extended. The area is ready for the new equipment.



The parts piles have grown and include the signage for tomorrow's street closing due to the planned arrival of a crane and the new equipment.



A platform has been built through where the door from the penthouse to the lower roof used to be. The new chiller will be brought in through that opening.

Wind damage to roof

This past weekend, the Athens area was subject to high winds. On walking in to work this morning, I noticed that part of the new roof trim was loose and bent up slightly...

Chiller replacement - 8

Last week the temporary chiller was moved slightly, hooked up, and made operational. Here is a view from the building looking down into the alley:



The office ceiling through which the permanent pipes for the temporary chiller pass is shown next. The gray pipes can no longer be seen as they have been wrapped in a white-coated insulation.

Water leak at work

On returning from the New Year's holiday weekend, we found that there had been another water leak at work. A pump in the penthouse was leaking and water found its way through cracks in the concrete decking into the offices below. Three offices and a conference room all had water damage.

The worst hit of the three offices had one ceiling tile fall out from being saturated:



Unfortunately there was a computer below it...

Chiller replacement - 7

The 60-ton temporary chiller arrived today. It was quite an ordeal to get it unloaded from the delivery truck and placed on the back of the crane truck.



The crane truck was then turned around so that the temporary chiller could be placed near where it will be hooked up next week. By early afternoon the temporary chiller was at its final resting spot for today.



The six 5-ton portable coolers also arrived today but at the same time the temporary chiller was being unloaded. As a result, the portable coolers had to be unloaded on a nearby side street.

Chiller replacement - 6

The testing of the new pipes has revealed leaks in several of the joints. Several of the 90-degree elbows had to be cut out due to pin-hole leaks.




There were failures in joints both inside and outside as can be seen by the extra unions in the lines after sections were cut out and replaced.




The conduit has been extended up the outside of the wall, into the stair well, and up into the penthouse.





Finally, the ends of the new pipes are seen close to where the tie-ins will be with the existing lines.

Chiller replacement - 5

This past Thursday, the main part of the permanent pipes for the temporary chiller were completed. Work on the conduit for the electrical connection was still to be completed...



Testing of the new pipes began as can be seen in the following picture which shows the end caps and pressure gauges:

Chiller replacement - 4

The permanent pipes for the temporary chiller have been put through the outside wall, ...



...through the ceiling of a third floor office, ...



...up into the penthouse, ...



...and close to the existing pipes where they will tie in...

Incident Response

Part of the team has gathered around a small screen and the conference phone while working with a vendor...



After working nearly all day, most of the laptops required additional power...

Chiller replacement - 3

The two permanent pipes for the temporary chiller have been started. They are 6-inch, schedule-80 pipes...

Chiller replacement - 2

There are now warning signs on the back door to the building since there is construction along the outside wall of the building:



There are three holes that have been drilled through the outside wall - two for cooling lines (upper left) and one for an electrical conduit (upper right):



This is the hole for the conduit looking from the stairwell to the outside:



Some of the permanent lines for the temporary chiller are now in place in the penthouse:




Welding for some of the other piping in the penthouse has started:

Chiller replacement

The chiller replacement project has begun. Two large holes were core drilled today. Here are two views from a 3rd floor office looking upward:




Here are the same two holes from the 4th floor (penthouse) side:



The next two pictures show the equipment used to drill the holes:




This picture shows the equipment to be replaced:



The last two pictures for today show some of the parts and other equipment in the penthouse: