News
CHALLENGING OLD BELIEFS
THROUGH TESTING , TRAINING AND RESULTS
By Benjamin Brits
Many of the “ old methods ” of getting things done were based on the status quo of past eras , however today we cannot rely on antiquated ways when all businesses are pressed by technology , environmental and economic factors .
One of these beliefs is around the avaialibility and access to resources such as electricity and water that did , in fact , historically come at a cheap rate per unit . With rising costs , these two critical inputs for any facility or building have rocketed over the years to now present significant values on any expense statement .
Through compliance to new regulations or through self-driven greening methodologies , more savings – not only financially , but towards the greater environment are being sought out . This means more businesses are looking at maintenance regimes to keep their plant and equipment in better shape and to attain the maximum lifespan .
Maintenance , particularly on mechanical devices , also has a direct impact onto electricity consumption through efficiency . In the HVAC & R sectors , so too does water - when one considers cleaning of a facility as well as plant and equipment – which still is today a widely used “ norm ” for technicians or maintenance teams .
Herein lies the problem . The general mindset continues to be that either “ water is cheap ” or those responsible for maintenance acknowledge that “ water is not part of their budget items so its not our problem ” – where those costs land up as other fees in the financials .
So , when the maintenance manager employs the services of a company to come and clean their air handling unit , they may not feel the burden in their budget allocation for the water used , but the financial manager will get a loaded water and sewage bill each time which could run into the thousands of rands on each instance . Essentially the client is still paying for the water and the sewage costs that everyone always forgets to factor in ( everyone pays for water supply and what goes down the drain at a lower proportion ).
At the time of publishing , O3 Chemicals had launched their new campaign to eliminate water from the coil-cleaning process – one that is known to use significant amounts of water and in a low-water country like South Africa , this is ( should be ) of particular concern to authorities and owners alike . The cuttingedge methodology and system of O3 Chemicals can be reviewed in detail in prior issues of RACA Journal and online . This system not only aims to eliminate wasteful use of potable water and grime , the result is greater energy efficiency in HVACR components .
“ Wter doesn ’ t clean . If it did , we wouldn ’ t use soap in our bath or shower - would we ? What we are doing in our new campaign is challenging the long-held belief that firstly , water will remove mould and bacteria that is at home in the dirt / grime build up typically found in several HVACR components . Secondly , we are challenging the common statement that it is cheaper to clean units such as a coil using water applied with a hosepipe ”, says Michael Blow , chief executive officer of O3 Chemicals .
The team at O3 have gone through an extensive exercise to compare various scenarios in cleaning using water versus chemicals applied with an oil-free compressor . The results , as seen in the accompanying table , show the startling result that traditional water cleaning methods are pretty much double the
Link to video of air handling unit cleaning .
O3 Chemicals
Cleaning comparison : Chemicals and compressor versus water hose pipe .
Link to video of split unit cleaning .
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RACA Journal I January 2023 www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za