No place in the world is more advanced in the study of complex carbohydrates – the “building blocks of life” – than the University of Georgia. Since its 1989 opening, the CCRC (Complex Carbohydrate Research Center) has evolved as technology has advanced; and B&K has led a number of mechanical HVAC and plumbing constructions as the sophisticated center has grown. This 2018 project brought a new challenge for keeping the lab’s hot technology cool.
But this laboratory outpost on Riverbend Road, just off the University of Georgia campus, is hardly that.
It’s a scientific center housing the world’s most advanced exploration into carbohydrates, the sugars that are the building blocks of life.
Built in 1989, the building housing UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center (CCRC) has undergone several expansions. Batchelor & Kimball has provided HVAC, plumbing and process systems for most of these; our history with the center dates back to its earliest days.
In the early 2000s, the challenge was all scale and scope. Laboratories housing nearly 90 fume hoods required high-purity air handling. The system we built used 100% outside air, with eight required air changes and individual exhaust for each hood.
But science never stops evolving. In recent years, the CCRC has added a number of high-technology instruments – mass spectrometers that provide exquisite views of complex molecules. The mass specs must be kept cool.
The center’s network of computer servers grew too, as data analytics becomes increasingly important in research. While the servers get smaller and smaller, the heat they generate never abates, and keeping the server rooms unfailingly cool is paramount.
This growth in technology at the CCRC led us to 2018, and one of the greatest challenges we had faced: How to cool heat-intensive technology at the building’s core in the most efficient, cost-effective way?
Trent Strine, our manager on the project, explains how we tackled it.
“Tapping the existing systems for the labs with fume hoods would be cost-prohibitive, because circulated air, not single pass-through air, is what technology needs,” Strine says. “Besides, the chillers were shut off on cool-weather days.”
Outside air condensers would work fine for some areas of the building, he adds. But in the innermost rooms housing technology, the line set would be too long to make outside units viable.
So we looked up, to the building’s penthouse, situated at the center of the facility. There, we could tie into the process water loop, which operates 24/7/365.
At first, we considered a fan coil unit with a water-to-water heat exchanger. But the only cooling available was the process loop, which ran at 74 degrees. Not enough to keep the technology running.
“We felt like we had part of the answer, which was using the penthouse,” Strine says. “Then it occurred to us – a water-cooled condenser would allow us to capitalize on the process water loop, with the right temperature.”
The water-cooled condensers we were familiar with were expensive. But here, diligence paid off. We ultimately found a high-quality affordable system with non-precision air conditioning that would do the trick.
“The new system has worked very well,” Strine says.
The answer was right above us: We could tie into the process water loop, which operates 24/7/365, in the building’s penthouse.
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