Cooling Tower Maintenance

Cooling Tower Maintenance AZ

With energy costs as high as they are proper cooling tower maintenance can mean better profitability for your company.  With time a cooling tower that’s left neglected leaving water temperature will rise.  This can raise your energy costs by up to 6% for every 2 degrees F that it rises.  To ensure that you keep your energy costs low keeping your cooling tower well maintained with help it to run at optimum efficiency.  With the harsh summers here in Phoenix Arizona it can be the critical difference in the performance of your cooling tower, and your company.

If you’d like to save up to 15 percent on your electricity costs these simple maintenance tips can help you save money.  Regular maintenance also will help you save on water and extend the life of your cooling equipment.

What you need to know – A step by step guide to help you

  • Listen for any unusual noises to set a baseline which will help you notice any possible problems. Also check the condition of the unit as a whole.
  • If it requires some hands on work make sure that you follow the lock-out protocol and disconnect the motor switches to make sure you’re working safely.
  • Clean debris from strainers to keep the system clear from excess materials and inspect it thoroughly.
  • Take a look at the water distribution system and keep an eye out for dry areas over the fill coil area. This will help avoid scale buildup and help add years to the system’s lifespan.  If the surface is not fully wetted, inspect the nozzles for cracks and clogs.
  • Flush debris and dirt from the cold water basin out the tower drain or use a sump strainer to maintain water filtration and prevent dirt from collecting.
  • To conserve water and reduce air entrainment check the makeup water supply for the predetermined water level that is considered appropriate.
  • To prevent an accumulation of solids from recirculating water match the bleed rate according to your local evaporation rate regulations and local water quality.
  • Address any tension issues on the belt to ensure the best belt-drive system performance.
  • Following the manufacturer’s recommendations make sure to routinely check oil level, shaft alignment, oil quality if you’ve got a gear driven system.
  • Lubricate fan shaft bearings on a quarterly interval at the very least to ensure proper operation. Consider talking to the professionals about installing automatic bearing greasers that will save you on monthly maintenance.

The frequency of your maintenance can vary depending on the condition of the water and environment in which you operate your machinery.  Solid maintenance habits will help avoid failure and increase the lifespan of your cooling tower.

Professional Cooling Tower Maintenance

Keeping up with all the steps that you need to take to just keep one part of your operation functioning up to its full potential is a time consuming project.  It takes training and education to understand how to effectively perform the routine maintenance that these towers require.  Using dedicated professionals who only do this day in and day out will help your bottom line when it comes to man hours, training, extending the life of your cooling tower and even helping to cut energy costs through ensuring optimal performance.  Let the experts at All Kote use their expertise, skills, and specialized tools to take the headache and guesswork out of how to maintain these critical parts of your operation.

Give us a call at 480-366-4446 or shoot us an email at info@allkotelininginc.com

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Maintaining Your Concrete Floor Pt. 1

Concrete floors are easy to maintain and offer several advantages to high traffic and heavy duty facilities.  While it is extremely durable, there are a few things that concrete floors are susceptible to that should be attended to as they are easily avoidable.  Concrete floors can crack and those cracks can become potentially problematic if not quickly repaired. Mildew can also spread across the floor in environments with moisture present.  We will outline a few ways that you can augment the longevity of your concrete floor and keep your facility running clean and efficiently.  This is part 1, we will outline more methods next week in part 2. Without further ado, here is you the beginning of our list!

  1. Keep substances from building up on you floor: Keeping your floor swept and clear of dust buildup will keep your floor both safe and presentable. Dust is not the only substance that will build up on your floor, water and chemical spills can sit and erode at your floor and it’s coating if left unattended. Mopping and sweeping are important everyday steps that should be taken in order to ensure long lasting service from your concrete floor.
  2. Remove Stains: Certain substances can actually stain your concrete floor and leave it with an unattractive and glaring blemish. Some stains can be completely lifted with the proper cleaning materials, but the best way to prevent stains to clean all spills immediately. Removing stains that have set in can be painstaking and time consuming and the longer a substance sits, the more deeply set the stain will be in the pours of your concrete floor.

 

Next week we will return to briefly outline a couple more methods that you can deploy in order to keep your concrete floor in top condition and providing the service you desired when you initially made your investment.

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Benefits of Polished Concrete Floors

Many facilities employ the use of concrete flooring as it is very durable and long lasting. However, there are ways you can make a concrete floor even more resilient which will cause it to last even longer. Polishing a concrete floor is a great way to extend and maximize your investment in your flooring.  Here are a few ways that a polished concrete floor is advantageous to have instead of an unpolished one.

Reduction of Necessary Maintenance = Saved $

Polished concrete floors are resistant to stains and the general wear and tear from the chemicals, tires, and everyday foot traffic that they may see. The necessity of periodically stripping and replacing wax and sealers disappears with polished concrete because the finish does not need to be reapplied.  Polished flooring also improves lighting with its reflective surface and is not abrasive to tires.

Dust Free

Unpolished concrete floors develop cracks and openings that house dust and also allow it to pass through to the floor’s surface. This leaves the floor with a coat of dust that can be both unsightly and unsafe. The dust from an unpolished floor will inevitably settle on everything in the room and create a scenario in which everything in your facility needs to be cleaned and maintained more frequently. Polishing a concrete floor eliminates this issue and presents a smooth, easy to clean surface that also will be more aesthetically pleasing.

Slip Resistance

Standard polishing is very slip resistant and meets OSHA’s standards for safety. The slip resistant qualities can be enhanced even further by adding special conditioners to the polish that augment the non-slip quality it will add to your flooring.

There are more benefits to having a polished concrete floor such as the fact that you can add designs to the floor to make your space more pleasing to the eyes. Whether focus on safety or visual appeal, a polished concrete floor is superior to an unpolished floor in every way. Call All Kote Lining Inc today and find out how a polished concrete floor can benefit you!

Types of Cooling Towers

Cooling towers are used to extract heat from water and disperse it into the atmosphere, but not all towers do this the same way. There are many types of cooling towers out there because there are so  many various environments and situations that they need to perform in. We are going to cover a few of the common cooling tower types here:

Hyperbolic: Commonly used in nuclear facilities, hyperbolic cooling towers work due to their stack/chimney style design. This design is used to take advantage of the times when the air outside of the tower is cooler than the air inside the tower which causes the warmer, heavily humid air inside the tower to rise and eventually leave through the top of the tower. The upward draft effect cools the water in the tower.

Crossflow: These towers are designed to cool water by sending air across water descending from the distribution basin horizontally. Once the water has descended to the flowing collection basin it has been adequately cooled. While more these type of towers don’t usually cost as much as other types, they are more prone to freezing which could offset the benefit of the lower cost in the long run.

Counterflow: In these type of towers air moves vertically against water descending water and sends the extracted heat out of the top of the tower. It takes power to send the air upward so counterflow towers tend to cost a little more. They are also more compact and ergonomically efficient which is can offset some of the sting of the higher costs of construction and operation.

There are many, many more cooling tower types out there and the science behind the design of each is fascinating. Finding the right cooling tower to for a facility is a huge decision that will have major financial implications in the big picture. Knowledge is your best weapon against wasting valuable resources.

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10 Tips to Maximize Your Cooling Towers

Here are 10 tips to help you get the most out of your cooling tower:

  1. Thoroughly check the condition of your units. Check for the presence of unfamiliar noises. Doings so routinely will give you a record of the behavior of your units so you have a better idea of when to schedule maintenance and repairs without minimal interruption to its everyday use.
  2. Make sure you follow protocol when it comes to beginning work on your unit. Make sure all lock out procedures are accurately followed and motors etc are disconnected. This is a safety measure and should be followed without exception.
  3. Clean all debris that may be near or in your cooling tower system to keep build ups from happening.
  4. Check the water distribution system to make sure the fill coil area is properly moisturized. If it is not uniformly moist, check nozzles for damage or clogging.
  5. Make sure debris and dirt in the cold water basin is washed through the tower drain. This is important because it allows for water filtration to remain effective and to keep dirt from starting to collect.
  6. Make sure the make-up water supply is at the appropriate level.
  7. Prevent solids from accumulating by making sure the bleed rate is adjusted to be in line with the quality of your water and the local evaporation rate regulations.
  8. Make sure the tension level of the belt is proper.
  9. The quality of the systems oil, its oil level, as well as the alignment of the shaft for the gear drive system of your tower.
  10. Make sure the bearings of the fan shafts are well lubricated at least every three months. You can even install automatic systems to grease your bearings.

These tips should help you maintain optimal operation of your cooling tower. Stay on top of your tower and it’s components by consistently monitoring their condition and performance.

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Tips to Streamline Your Cooling Tower Maintenance

Cooling towers are widely used to keep large facilities comfortable and cool. Cooling towers are the size of Large Dinosaurs and keeping them working in top condition can take some work, especially if you fall behind on your maintenance schedule. It is not difficult to keep your towers humming; it just takes some dedication to the process and the time to do so. This blog entry is going to suggest some ways you can stay ahead on maintenance and keep your cooling towers working efficiently without having to break your budget.

Make needed updates

Cooling towers are a large investment to have installed as a part of your facilities operations. That kind of investment is meant to last and that means there are plenty of cooling towers out there that have already seen decades of service. These towers can stay efficient because their owners have made necessary upgrades as time when on and innovations were made. Keeping up with the times in regard to your cooling tower will maintain and even increase the efficiency of your tower’s performance.

Make and execute a plan

Developing a methodology for the upkeep of your towers is both extremely important and massively beneficial.  It takes time to learn your towers and their idiosyncrasies, but once you have a good idea on their behavior you can draw up a standard procedure for all to follow in regard to maintaining your cooling towers.

Collect as much data as possible

As stated above, it takes time to learn the behavior patterns of your cooling tower.  In the initial stages and beyond, collecting as much data about the various aspects of your cooling towers will arm you to be able to keep them running well with the least amount of effort put into their upkeep. Streamlining the maintenance process is only possible with enough data available to do so.

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Cooling Tower Fill Types

At first assumption one would probably believe water to be the core of the cooling towers operations, however the real star of the show are the fills or wet decks.  Fills provide the cooling tower operation with extra surface area for the water in the tower to be exposed to air and absolutely maximize the evaporation process. There are several types of fills out there and different types of cooling towers will utilize different fill types depending on their methodology when it comes to creating evaporation. We will outline a few different fill types in brief in order to set you on the path to furthering your understanding of how cooling towers actually work!

Splash Fills:

Splash fills work by breaking up the flow of water crating droplets by ‘splashing’ the water. The droplets evaporate quickly and increase the rate of evaporation in the right conditions and tower. As the water descends  various splash fills increasingly break down the water into smaller and smaller droplets that have air flowing against the descending water.

Film Fills:

Film Fills operate by spreading water into a thin flowing layer over a large surface area exposed to air flowing across the water in order to extract heat and elevate it out of the tower.  There are patterns on the fill called flutes to help control how the water flows and to keep it at the desirable level for the evaporation to happen at the rate the tower operator is looking for. The goal of the flutes is to have the water take the longest possible route across the fill so air has the most time possible to do it’s part of the evaporative process that the tower is designed to perform.

The fills listed above present different advantages and disadvantages and there really is no right choice. The main factor in deciding which one to choose is the process they will be deployed to be a part of. This is a very brief description and there is definitely plenty more to learn. All Kote Lining inc is happy to answer any questions you may have and to assist you with any of your cooling tower needs.

How Do Cooling Towers Work?

Cooling towers have a very important commonality with the human body, sweating. At least in principle. We sweat when our body needs to cool itself down by emitting water over the skin and allowing the evaporation to cause a cooling effect which lowers the core temperature of the body. That effect isn’t exclusive to the human body, spreading water over any surface and allowing it to evaporate will leave the area or item much cooler than it was prior.

The environment you are in dictates how well this process works to cool via moisture. Air has a saturation threshold and one it’s reached it’s limit it cannot hold any more moisture. In areas with extremely humid conditions this process doesn’t work very well because the sweat and moisture remain on the skin instead of evaporating and can actually cause an increase in heat. Sweating in Arizona is much different than sweating in Georgia because the air in Arizona is very dry and has plenty of room for saturation whereas Georgia is very, very humid and the air becomes fully saturated very quickly even though it is much hotter temperature-wise in Arizona’s desert. This means that towers will work differently and utilize different measures to achieve optimal efficiency. There are variations to almost every component of cooling towers on top of the various styles that the towers themselves are designed within in order to accommodate differing needs and climates. Knowing which type of tower works best in your region is paramount to getting the most out of your cooling tower investment. The type of maintenance as well as the schedule you keep in regard to maintenance will differ by region as well.

Cooling Towers work in much the same way although the amount of water involved that needs to be evaporated is much greater than what the human body produces. This means that extra components will be needed in order for the process to be carried out efficiently. Fans are used to cycle saturated air out of the tower so unsaturated air can be brought in to promote further evaporation. Water is constantly circulated via various devices in order to replace evaporated water and keep the thermodynamic process going. Heat sources are also involved to ensure the water is always being heated to levels it can vaporize and evaporate. Cooling towers and their maintenance are very complex and their components can vary in type and number, but at the heart of the whole operation, the fundamentals are as simple as sweat.

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Concrete and Foundation Repair

Foundation Repair

Our years of experience have led to us becoming the premier provider of foundation repairs in the Valley of the Sun. We can mend your existing foundation and bring it to a ‘like new’ state ensuring exponentially longer life and peace of mind for you, the home owner. Foundation settling is one of the most potentially devastating things that can happen to a foundation and, by extension, the entire structure. If settling is allowed to progress unchecked, it can lead to the overall failure of the structure.

Stained Concrete

Upgrade the interior of your office or facility with beautifully stained concrete. Add color, designs and personality to your flooring with the vast selection of available finishes and colors that are available to coat your concrete floor. All Kote can provide you with a number of gorgeous coatings that will take the aesthetic appeal of your spaces to the next level.

Grinding / Leveling

One of the ways you can ensure that your desired coating, new overlay, or needed repair adheres to the surface of your floor is profiling your floor with grinding. This technique is also great for removing coatings that may be in need of replacement or are no longer wanted. Profiling your concrete floors is recommended for both applying and removing coatings from an epoxy floor.

Polished Concrete

Polished Concrete is the result of a multi-stage process that includes using bonded abrasives along with grinding, honing polishing the surface of your concrete floor. The process is customized to achieve the desired level of gloss that the floor will display. This process also yields the most durable finish and will be as low maintenance as a concrete floor can get.

Concrete Polishing Contractor Phoenix Arizona

We offer some of the most efficient concrete floor polishes available and can equip you with a top rate, low maintenance floor.

Polished concrete floors are becoming more and more common and are often included in the construction plans for new buildings. The reason for its popularity is the combination of clean and dynamic appearance along with low maintenance requirements to keep your floor clean and functional. Another reason for its popularity is its versatility and ability to enhance so many varied environments. Public spaces, museums, government facilities, air plane hangars, auto dealerships, repair shops, in home, and garages are among the many places that can benefit from the presence of a polished concrete floor. If you run a display based business, having a elegantly polished concrete floor will add a degree of appeal to each and every one of your displays. In places like schools, polished floors help with the effort to keep the facility clean and sanitary which is vital as schools are a major focal point of public health issues. Another benefit these floors bring to schools is the fact that they are low maintenance. Schools are struggling for funding and resources across the country and saving money on maintenance costs will save precious time and money. Last but not least, polished concrete is environmentally friendly in comparison to other flooring types.

Concrete Grinding Contractor Phoenix Arizona

All Kote Lining Inc are experts at concrete grinding services provider in the Phoenix, AZ area. Interiors, exteriors, driveways, patios, porches, decks, foyers, and entry ways are all areas that may need concrete grinding in order to achieve the flooring you desire for your home or facility.  Whether you are looking to level the surface of your floor or looking to apply a new coating, our concrete grinding services are exactly what you need.

We grind driveways, patios, sidewalks, and all types of miscellaneous concrete slabs. We grind down trip hazards, and prep floors for new acrylic and epoxy coating overlays. Our grinding services are performed quickly and dust free.

Floor Grinding, Leveling

After the initial grinding of your concrete the next step is to apply whatever coating or repair you are in the market for. The benefits to grinding a floor before applying a new coating are a higher, shinier level of gloss finish, easy to clean, low maintenance and enhanced appearance. Concrete grinding is extremely beneficial for any concrete flooring in any facility.

All Kote Lining Inc is your go to company for any of your concrete flooring needs in the Phoenix, AZ area. Our floor grinding and coating services are second to none and we guarantee that you will be satisfied with the results of our work. Polished concrete is extremely beneficial to install in your home or business and you can reap all the benefits that come along with polished concrete flooring. Streamline your cleaning and maintenance process while enjoying the enhanced look that our floor coatings provide. All Kote Lining Inc has all of your flooring needs covered from top to bottom. (Really, no pun intended)

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Legionnaires Disease 101

If you are the owner or a perspective owner of cooling towers, one risk that you should be fully aware of is the potential for the development of Legionnaire’s disease in the pools of your towers. With the water disaster in Flint, MI (which is absolutely tragic and inexcusable) awareness of Legionnaires disease is on the climb because so many are currently being affected by it. While the development of Legionnaires disease is easily avoidable, understanding the disease is still important.

Bacteria:

Legionella is the bacteria that involved with outbreaks of Legionellosis, which can develop into Pontiac Fever or Legionnaires disease. While Pontiac Fever tends to pass through your system on its own, Legionnaires disease is a form of pneumonia that requires a hospital stay to eradicate. The mortality range of Legionnaires disease is 5%-30% which is alarming enough to take every measure to avoid its development.

Spreading Legionnaires:

The most common way that Legionnaires Disease is transmitted through water that has been aerosolized, which is why cooling tower owners need to be educated and aware of this disease. A less common way that it can be transmitted is via drinking water. While it is possible to become fatally ill, most people who actually come into contact with the disease do not fall ill and the disease cannot be passed from one person to another.

Legionella occurs naturally in fresh water, but it isn’t pervasive enough to cause illness. It’s when Legionella starts to prop up in artificially heated and contained bodies of water. These environments accelerate the growth of Legionella and are almost ideal for it to develop enough to become problematic for humans.

Performing regular maintenance on your cooling tower is the easiest and most effective way to avoid experiencing any problems related to Legionella, especially Legionnaires Disease.