Star helps Glasgow students stay cool.
Students using the library at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow are keeping their cool thanks to an air conditioning system from Star Refrigeration.
The University of Strathclyde was looking to replace an aging refrigeration plant in the Curran Building. The six-storey facility is home to the Andersonian Library, which houses university archives and main collections including books, journals and electronic resources.
Star had previously supplied an Indigochiller refrigeration plant for cooling in another building on the Glasgow campus. The university was impressed with the build quality and performance of Star’s Indigochiller, which is designed for reliable and highly efficient operation.
The university’s library had an existing air conditioning plant operating on R22, a refrigerant currently being phased out due to its ozone depletion potential. Engineered to have minimal effect on the global environment, Star’s Indigochiller has a robust design that aims to eliminate refrigerant leakage and offer over 20 years service.
Star designed, manufactured and installed two Indigochillers on the roof of the Curran Building, each with a 750kW cooling capacity. The chillers cool water from 12°C to 6°C, which is then pumped to air handling units throughout the six-storey building for comfort cooling. The building also houses training facilities for the University of Strathclyde’s National Centre for Prosthetics and Orthotics.
Andy McWatt from the University of Strathclyde’s Estates Management department says: “In recent years the failure of standard package chillers from other manufacturers had proved both disruptive and expensive for the university. We considered various products featuring the state-of-the-art Turbocor compressor. We found Star’s Indigochiller had the operating efficiency and build quality we were looking for.”
Star Refrigeration’s Sales and Marketing Director Rob Lamb adds: “Indigochiller stands out from the rest of the market thanks to a range of unique design features and leak-tight components. It is manufactured to ensure maximum efficiency, longterm reliability and low life-cycle costs. These were key considerations for the University of Strathclyde when selecting a chiller.”
The low charge, high performance Indigochiller features the revolutionary Turbocor compressor, which is low maintenance by design to ensure lifelong trouble-free running. The oil-free compressor operates on electromagnetic bearings and uses the synthetic refrigerant R134a. The system offers reliable performance and requires minimal installation, servicing and maintenance.
Indigochiller is manufactured from the highest quality components selected to minimise the risk of refrigerant leakage, reduce maintenance costs and enhance operating life. Standard features include ‘leak-free’ bellows seal valves, sealed expansion valves and welded steel pipework. The air-cooled Indigochiller has epoxy coated condenser fins as standard to reduce the risk of corrosion damage.
With growing demand to cut refrigerant leakage to meet F-Gas regulations, Star developed its Indigochiller for medium to large scale air conditioning and process cooling. Highly energy efficient, it uses only 60% of the energy required by a standard chiller operating on typical load and ambient profiles. This offers end users a significant saving in energy and running costs.
Available as an air-cooled or water-cooled unit, Indigochiller has capacity options ranging from 250kW to 1,650kW. A robust PLC computerised control system allows the user to monitor refrigerant charge, running conditions and optimise efficiency.
When it comes to designing energy efficient cooling and heating systems, Star is a natural innovator. Star works with strategic partners across the globe to deliver low carbon, cost saving solutions.
