Abstract |
The SEQL Project (Sustainable Environment for Quality of Life), is an integrated environmental improvement project in a 15-county North Carolina/South Carolina region surrounding Charlotte, NC. One aspect of this project is to explore using energy efficiency to benefit air quality. The SEQL desired to evaluate a new coating, Adsil, which previous studies have shown that, when applied to evaporators, condensers and fans of an air conditioner (A/C) unit, can bring the efficiency of that unit virtually back to that of a new unit, as well as prevent age-related efficiency loss due to the deterioration of heat transfer surfaces, saving both electrical power and early replacement costs. The ability to model expected energy savings with widespread use of Adsil in various types of locations (in relation to corrosive and fouling influences) would be beneficial and transferable to other communities nationwide. Energy savings reduce costs, limit the need for new generating capacity, and could under certain circumstances benefit air quality. However, quantifiable air quality benefits would depend on the amount of energy savings and the extent to which, and where, fossil fuel-fired power plants reduced emissions as a result of those energy savings. In order to further evaluate this opportunity, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), working with SEQL, competitively selected an engineering firm, MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. (MACTEC) to conduct a pilot program. This pilot was required to evaluate the possible energy-related benefits of coating A/C units in the SEQL area with Adsil and to provide a method to predict the energy savings from similar applications on a widespread basis elsewhere. The total tonnage of air conditioning units included in this study is approximately 2,500 tons. There were three primary objectives for this project: 1. Provide the EPA with a spreadsheet-based calculation methodology to accurately predict the degradation in
energy efficiency ratio (EER) for air-cooled heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment coils; 2. Document the EER improvement for air-cooled HVAC equipment cleaned and coated with Adsil cleansers and coatings; and 3. Provide a tool for estimating the energy savings for an HVAC unit cleaned and coated using this protocol. MACTEC evaluated the impact of Adsil application to 45 HVAC units in the SEQL area and to three units outside the SEQL area. The results of this evaluation show that the Adsil treatment can be expected to improve the efficiency of existing HVAC units by approximately 12% based on the ton-weighted average method used in this project. The data was statistically evaluated and determined to be significant at the 99% confidence level.
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Notes |
Project officer: Melissa McCullough. "November 2004." "Prepared for Melissa McCullough, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards." "EPA-453/R-05-003." "The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), working with SEQL, competitively selected an engineering firm, MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. (MACTEC) to conduct a pilot program"--p. v |