since we were replacing the air cooled chiller with a water
cooled chiller, we wanted a cooling tower that aligned
with our philosophy of protecting patient safety,” noted
Hill, who advocated for the anti-microbial technology and
found support for it among his hospital’s leadership. “We
want to maintain one of the lowest infection rates among
hospitals in the country.”
Arkansas Surgical Hospital already boasts a very low
infection rate of under 0.3%, compared to a national
average of 3% among U.S. hospitals.
Energy Savings and Longevity
By proactively making the switch to an advanced antimicrobial
tower cooler, paired with a very high efficiency
HVAC chiller, the hospital is also significantly reducing
energy costs, which was also a prime consideration.
“Our previous air-cooled HVAC system required a lot
of electricity,” added Hill. “With the water-based cooling
tower and very efficient chiller, however, we expect
to save tens of thousands of dollars annually in energy
costs.”
Durability and longevity of the cooling tower were
additional issues that Hill considered. Metal-clad cooling
towers are vulnerable to corrosion from salt air, industrial
gases and even the chemicals used to treat the
recirculating water.
The best water treatments for Legionella prevention
are oxidizing biocides that react aggressively toward
metal surfaces, effectively attacking metal-clad cooling
towers and shortening service life.
As a result, metal cooling towers require increasing
patching, maintenance, costly downtime and eventual
replacement.
According to Hill, he considered a metal cooling tower,
but ultimately decided it would be too difficult to maintain.
“Maintaining a metal cooling tower is more work than
we wanted and the units have a shorter life cycle because
metal will rust and require mending and repair,”
said Hill.
In choosing Delta’s cooling tower, which features a
fill, drift eliminator and shell all constructed of corrosion
proof anti-microbial plastic, Arkansas Surgical
Hospital now has a cooling tower that is impervious to
the corrosive effects of ambient air and water treatment
chemicals, as well as oxidizing biocides, all of which can
plague metal-clad cooling towers.
In addition, since the engineered molded plastic
cooling towers are one-piece, there are no problems
with seams, welds and patches that wear prematurely.
Therefore, the plastic models offer extended longevity
and require far less downtime for cleaning, repair or
replacement.
“In terms of lifecycle, the Delta Cooling Tower has a
20 year warranty on construction,” concluded Hill. ICM
ICM/November/December 2017 17