26 PROJECT
process . So , effectively water cooling the gas turbines and harvesting that heat energy to indirectly heat up the domestic water tanks is precisely what happened . The system is fully automated and will select which of the two tanks needs more heating than the other and proportionally modulate the heating supply to the tank that needs it most to regenerate the two tanks most effectively and as quickly as possible . Only when both tank systems are up to temperature will the system start to dump heat to the atmosphere .
System design and specification were done in conjunction with the mechanical engineer .
• Generators went in by specialist
• Hot water tanks and heat pumps went in
• Tanks were assembled on site
• Booster pumps and circulators went in as did interconnecting piping , with insulation
• Then came the power distribution and signal cabling with control points then being installed
There was no room for any of the contactors to deviate from their allocated routing of pipe and cable or to reposition their equipment anywhere .
This portion of the contract was done mid to end of the last quarter of the year . That ’ s in the middle of the silly season for the building industry so materials were becoming scarce and certain items with expensive freighting had to be expedited while all other contracts on the books are in the same close out phases for the year it was . Extremely challenging to coordinate the labour , materials , and other elements .
Rinnai gas water heaters .
The challenge was in designing the control logic and coordinating that with the gas generators which have their own logic . The two systems needed to talk to each other and work together . This type of plant / technology has only been done with one other similar installation in the country . The quality of the installation ( commissioning and controls ) must be top notch to ensure the system works optimally . The entire financial model ( initial capital expenditure and payback ) for the installation of the gas generators is dependent on the energy savings obtained by the heat recovery process .
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline February 2025 Volume 30 I Number 12