Spring Cooling Tower Startup - All Kote Lining, Inc.

Are you searching for “Spring Cooling Tower Startup“? If so you are probably getting ready to get your cooling tower going again as the year heats up. With Arizona temperatures that get back into the 80’s in February cooling tower startup happens earlier than other cooler parts of the country. A lot of HVAC systems are shut down for the colder winter months. In the Phoenix valley they are occasionally drained to prevent freezing, but they spend less time down for the winter as opposed to areas that are further north. Winter shut downs provide conditions that are optimal for the development of bacteria. The steps for spring cooling tower startup should be followed and are outlined in this article.

Cooling Tower Startup Steps

Bringing the system back online after the period of down time requires following some basic steps. These steps help ensure the best mechanical performance for the hotter months and help ensure the best practices are being followed to avoid the development of Legionella. The recommendations in this article are general for all cooling towers, individual installations and manufacturers might have additional steps to follow. These specific requirements should be followed in addition to general start up steps.

Cleaning The System

All of the wet areas of the cooling tower must be carefully visually inspected. These areas include the wet decks, spray nozzles, water basins, fill materials, water sumps, etc. All deposits, debris, or deposits should be physically cleaned out by trained personnel. This can be onsite maintenance workers, or more commonly contracted out to a cooling tower maintenance company. All work done by any workers should be recorded to list out a comprehensive start up cleaning of the system. This is also a good time to conduct an inspection of any permanent filter housings. They should be cleaned thoroughly or media should be replaced if cleaning is not effective.

Fill The Cooling Tower

Open up the valves and put the water back into the cooling system. Next you need to initiate your circulation pumps. Check the system to make sure that water is going through all of the heat exchangers and piping in the system to avoid malfunction. If there are filtration units for the cooling tower water make sure they are online now as well. After the initial circulation you should check the wet decks and spray nozzles for debris that might have kicked loose. Make sure to remove anything you can see and continue to check during the start up period.

Water Quality Control

Water treatment specialists can help you make sure that you cooling tower water program is set up right for your system, your area, and each season. All of the water treatment equipment should be inspected and in clued meters, automated pumps, valves and sensors. They should be inspected, cleaned, and calibrated correctly for maximum efficiency. Sanitation of the cooling tower should be conducted with oxidizing biocides along with bio-dispersants. Your building should have a water management plan, and it will outline any specific requirements for your water management approach. Only when the water in your cooling tower has been sanitized and confirmed should you start up your cooling tower fans. This procedure should be recorded for future reference.

Begin Operation

With these steps complete the cooling tower can be placed in normal operation mode. Buildings using multiple cooling towers, heat exchangers, and chillers should have a rotating usage plan. This will help ensure that the biocides used to keep the systems clean are regularly circulated when not all units are being used or are online. The specific frequency for each system should be outlined in the water management plan for each building. These steps of rotation help the system avoid bacterial growth, fouling, or deposits. Even use and distribution of biocides will help ensure that the cooling tower system along with chillers and heat exchange equipment all get even use and none stay stagnant too long.

Water Testing & Validation

Knowing you did the right steps is not enough to ensure that you are controlling the conditions in your cooling tower. Samples should be taken throughout the seasons of use to verify they are effective. This will help avoid the development of Legionella and energy robbing scaling, deposits, and other types of problems with your system. All results of water testing should be recorded in a log book. Certain areas have requirements for buildings with cooling towers and will outline how often the water testing must be conducted.

Cooling Tower Maintenance & Restoration

All Kote Lining is the Phoenix Valley cooling tower experts. We specialize in helping you restore, refurbish, maintain, and repair the cooling tower equipment you already have. This keeps your operating costs down as quality maintenance and repair is much more cost effective than total replacement of your cooling tower or HVAC systems. Give us a call at 480-966-4446 and find out how we can make keeping your customers cool more effective and affordable.