Product category:
Potable water, test and treatment
News Release from: American Air and Water | Subject: Dr Kowalski article
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 21 December 2005
Energy savings and ROI for UV
installations
Dr Kowalski of Penn State University presents a strong article showing that capital expenditure on UV can be cost justified by the savings it provides, typically giving a payback period of 2-4 years
Dr Kowalski of Penn State University has developed a strong report which shows that UV can be cost justified as a capital expenditure by the savings it provides UV installations provide savings in energy and maintenance costs as well as enormous benefits of a healthier indoor environment
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 4 May 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Air disinfection UV systems with long life lamps
American Air and Water announces that ACP UV air cleaners have been replaced by the improved DC (Duct Cleaners) in-duct UV air disinfection systems
UV air cleaner Federal Supply Schedule Contract
American Air and Water successfully met all the General Services Administration (GSA) requirements for being a government supplier and will supply the American-Lights UV Air Cleaner
His report reviews the history and current literature on ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) cooling coil disinfection and summarises the available information on laboratory and field testing of UV installations.
Information on the energy savings and payback period of cooling coil irradiation are provided along with examples of the computation of typical payback periods.
The report shows that irradiating cooling coils with UV will virtually prolong the life of the HVAC system.
Further reading
New Reservoir safety role for Environment Agency
In a change resulting from the Water Act 2003, the responsibility for over 2000 reservoirs has now passed from the control of 140 local authorities to the Environment Agency
Outsourcing developments in European water
Outsourcing of asset management in European water and wastewater utilities market: significant growth potential exists, with multiple challenges
Market study of Asian water investment
Increasing water problems in Asia have led to high growth rates of the markets and government investments: expected market growth to USD31.9 billion in 2003 and USD41.7 billion in 2004 says HKC report
The study includes results from existing laboratory and field tests on UV equipment as well as analysis of UV effectiveness for cooling coil disinfection.
It provides formulae for calculating return on investment (ROI) and the savings in energy and dollars from improving the efficiency and extending the life of coils.
It can reasonably be expected that typical UV installations will produce payback periods of 2-4 years.
That is, the cleaning action of UV on fouled coils is so effective and the reduced maintenance costs and the savings in energy are so significant that the retrofit of a UV cooling coil system typically pays for itself in about 2-4 years.
The report shows an example where the payback period is achieved in only 8 months.
The energy savings result from two effects - the reduced pressure loss through the coils and the increased heat transfer in the coils when the fouling film is removed.
Both of these can be significant, as can the reduction or elimination of maintenance for the cooling coils.
Since the coils will be maintained in a clean condition, there is virtually no requirement for periodic cleaning.
The economic savings that can result from the installation of a UV cooling coil disinfection system can be estimated by comparing the operating costs after installation with the operating costs before installation, minus the cost of installing and operating the UV system.
Ideally, operating data would be drawn from field test results.
This necessitates installing of a UV test system.
Little published data is available for installed systems but there are testimonials suggesting that UV disinfection systems are fully capable of restoring a fouled cooling coil to approximately the original design operating conditions.
The cost savings will then depend on how much coil fouling has occurred and how far the system capacity has been diminished in comparison with the original design conditions.
The elimination of microbiological fouling of the cooling coils can be demonstrated through surface sampling before and after installation of the UV system.
An alternative indicator of the effectiveness of UV germicidal irradiation could be coil performance, since the elimination of surface contamination should theoretically restore cooling coil performance to original design values.
For the complete UV Report and detailed information on UV air and surface disinfection please visit the American Air and Water website.
• American Air and Water: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Processingtalk email newsletter
• Processingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
