Italian chillers in Swindon hospital project

UK: Cool-Therm has supplied two low temperature Tonon chillers for a major replacement project at Swindon Hospital.

The project, carried out jointly with Carillion, harnessed the outstanding low temperature performance characteristics of the Italian-made multi-Scroll-based Tonon Galaxy industrial chillers, which operate on a reduced charge of R410A refrigerant.

The units, which can operate down to -8ºC, provide chilled water to the hospital’s catering department. The two Tonon machines each deliver 65kW at -7ºC, and replace ageing chillers rated at 50kW at -2ºC.

Alongside the chiller replacement, Cool-Therm installed bespoke low temperature fan coils in the cold rooms to take advantage of the lower water temperatures and maintain cold rooms at a lower temperature.

The cooling system is designed with a N+1 complete backup system. The chillers were replaced over two weekends, with commissioning taking place Christmas week, without the site losing chilled water production.

Each of the Tonon chillers is equipped with three high efficiency Sanyo scrolls, replacing the Bristol hermetic reciprocating compressors on the previous chillers.

“It allowed us to increase cooling capacity by around 30% without increasing energy consumption,” commented Cool-Therm director Rob Young. “The system also benefits from a greater capacity turn-down, with much smoother temperature control then possible with the original chillers.”

The Tonon machines are said to be extremely quiet and ideal for use in a hospital environment. Each chiller includes high pressure primary pumps, buffer tank and pressurisation equipment within a compact footprint of 3m x 1.2m.