New Air Handling Units for extreme temperatures in Valparaiso
Servoclima was involved in the manufacturing, setting up, and delivery of two Air Handling Units (AHUs) for extreme temperatures at the Accommodation Block at Los Bronces in Valparaiso (Chile).
The AHUs for this project were installed in the building’s bathrooms. The building is 4 storeys tall with more than 100 modular units totalling more than 4,4000m2.
This order featured certain difficulties which Servoclima had to overcome with regards to the altitude at which the accommodation block is located, the limited space allocated for the AHUs, transport and location issues, and the extreme temperatures involved.
Made to measure AHUs for limited installation space
Our distributor in Chile informed us that the space available to us to place the AHUs was extremely limited, and the measurements of where we would be placing the units were specified down to the last centimetre.
At Servoclima we work mainly on projects needing custom AHUs, so we were able to adapt to the needs of the client and modify the two units to fit perfectly.
AHUs at altitude
Los Bronces is an open-pit copper and molybdenum mine nestled 65km from Santiago de Chile at an altitude of 3,500 metres above sea level.
The first challenge we faced at Servoclima was the altitude Los Bronces mine is located at, in a mountainous region close to Cerro El Plomo in the Andes.
The altitude entailed both access and transport challenges due to the size of the AHUs and the difficulties in transporting them.
For this project, Servoclima supplied two ready-to-use Plug & Play units, featuring electronic control and fully cabled external parts, which we configured to be compatible with the Chilean power supply.
Given the difficult access to the mine for the lorries transporting the AHUs, we had to use a rack railway to get to the mining camp.
AHUs for -25 ºC temperatures
Another problem in the area where we installed the AHUs was the extreme temperatures experienced in Los Bronces over a large part of the year.
To overcome this, we used a heat exchanger and an electrical heater.
The airflow of up to -25 ºC entering the bathrooms from outside is heated as it passes through the Heat Recovery, but does not mix with the exhaust air.
The first electrical heater activates when the external temperature drops to below -10 ºC to prevent the heat exchanger freezing whilst the second one heats the air which has passed through the exchanger to keep the inside temperature of the building at the required Set Point.
To prevent freezing, Servoclima installed temperature probes in the air intakes (exhaust, external, and supply) to control the activation/deactivation of the electrical heater when predetermined temperatures are reached to ensure the proper functioning of the units
Lastly, for control purposes, Servoclima programmed custom-designed software to manage the air treatment process of the AHUs designed specifically for this project.
If you would like more information on this please contact us, we would be delighted to answer any queries you may have.
If you would like more information on this please contact us, we would be delighted to answer any queries you may have.