Towering project proves Carrier’s flexibility
22nd October 2024
UK: A recent London landmark project has proven Aristotle’s claim that the (w)hole is greater than the sum of Carrier’s AquaSnap chiller parts.
The chiller replacement project, carried out at the ArcelorMittal Orbit in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, required a stripped-down Carrier AquaSnap chiller to be passed through a one-metre-square hatch and reassembled at the top of the 114.5m tower.
Designed by sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor and engineer Cecil Balmond, the ArcelorMittal Orbit is one of the most striking and enduring visual legacies of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is the UK’s tallest sculpture, offering a 360º view of London from its two observation platforms.
The project involved replacing an inefficient chiller that had come to the end of its life with a Carrier AquaSnap 30RB 160R air-cooled liquid chiller, with scroll compressor, plus an added de-superheater heat recovery option.
The 30RB chiller also has refrigerant leak detector, compressor soft starter, super enviro-shield anti-corrosion protection and water exchanger frost protection.
Carrier was commissioned by ParkServe, on behalf of London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), to undertake the project, and enlisted the support of local contractor L&B Technical Services to complete the challenging installation.
Given the height and location of the ArcelorMittal Orbit’s roof plant area, securing a crane permit was costly and complicated. However, the only access to the roof plant room was through a 1m x 1m hatch.
To overcome this challenge, Carrier’s service technicians recommended and performed a strip down and rebuild of the 30RB unit. The chiller was dismantled off-site, packed into a kit-of-parts and then transported to the roof plant area through the narrow access hatch.
The unit was then meticulously reassembled on-site. As well as eliminating the need for a crane, this method also ensured that the chiller was installed without compromising the warranty.
“This was a great project to work on. Squeezing a chiller through a 1m x 1m hatch isn’t something we do all that often,” explained L&B contracts manager Rob Moffat.
“The crane option was quoted for but, the cost for a Carrier strip and rebuild service was a fraction of the price.”
