Overview
P2S served as prime consultant for the chiller plant with chilled water storage and heating hot water central plant for Citrus College in Glendora, California. The central plant was constructed within a new building and houses the cooling and heating equipment, electrical and control systems. An adjacent open yard houses the cooling tower, make-up water and filtration systems. Chilled and heating hot water is provided to the campus through an underground and aboveground distribution system.
Challenge
The central plant at Citrus College, which provided cooling and heating for the school, was nearing its service life. The College wanted a new central plant that would meet both its existing and future cooling and heating requirements. To reduce peak electrical requirements on campus, the College wanted to include a chilled water thermal energy storage (TES) tank in the design.
P2S collaborated with Citrus College to identify and develop a suitable location for a new centralized cooling and heating plant. Citrus College relied on P2S to design a building that was similar to other buildings on campus and that would minimize sound dissipation from the new mechanical equipment. Plus, Citrus College wanted to ensure minimal visual impact of the large water storage tank to preserve the campus aesthetics.
Action
Key features of the plant design and construction included:
Architectural feature
- Split-faced block wall type building to match existing campus buildings. Separate spaces for cooling and heating equipment.
Mechanical system
- The cooling equipment consisted of two, 600-ton chillers, primary and secondary pumping systems with 7,200-ton, 50 feet wide by 45 feet tall TES tank.
- The open yard adjacent to the chiller room houses two cooling tower cells, make-up water and filtration systems.
- The heating equipment consisted of six, 1,800-mBH input, high efficiency hot water boilers and primary variable flow pumping system.
Electrical system
- Power source for the central plant was from the campus main substation via underground electrical distribution system
- The new electrical room houses the 4160-volt substation, which provides power to all mechanical equipment
Results
The central plant and TES tank project was constructed on time and within budget. The plant has been in operation for a few years and campus maintenance staff is pleased that the mechanical performs well and to specifications.
