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Ambient air – a free sustainable resource using Trane Rental Dry Air Coolers

For many years, companies have relied on Trane Dry Coolers to provide cost-effective cooling solutions. These coolers offer a significant advantage during colder months when they can handle a substantial portion of the cooling load, reducing reliance on chillers and resulting in energy savings.

For at least six months a year - and often more, average ambient air temperatures in northern Europe are low enough to make free cooling possible. By utilizing external temperatures lower than the process temperature, Trane Dry Coolers can reduce energy consumption and costs by up to 80%. Additionally, these coolers frequently boast a significantly higher COP/EER compared to chillers, helping companies pursue ambitious environmental goals while integrating a Dry Cooler can extend the lifespan of chillers by reducing the load on mechanical parts.

Heat rejection can also pose a critical challenge for many businesses, especially when extreme inlet temperatures are generated during manufacturing. Trane Rental Dry Coolers excel not only in dissipating heat associated with various processes but also in significantly reducing costs.

Heat rejection: leveraging ambient air as a free resource
An increasing number of businesses are capitalizing on Trane Rental Dry Coolers to facilitate heat rejection by utilizing ambient air as the cooling medium. Ambient air is a free resource so why not take advantage of it?

The hot process fluid or refrigerant flows through tubes or finned coils within the Trane Dry Cooler. Large fans draw the ambient air across the coils or tubes, creating airflow that facilitates heat exchange. The hot fluid transfers its heat to the cooler ambient air, which causes the fluid to cool down. The ambient air, now heated by the heat transfer process, is discharged into the surrounding environment. This allows the Dry Cooler to reject the heat from the process fluid or refrigerant. By utilizing the principles of heat transfer and air circulation, Dry Air Coolers effectively remove heat from the system, allowing for efficient heat rejection and cooling without the need for water-based cooling methods. This option is especially beneficial in scenarios where water is scarce - or expensive, making the use of Dry Coolers a far more sustainable choice.

While the concept of using Dry Coolers for free cooling and heat rejection has been around for some time, many businesses are not aware that they can get dry coolers for rental. Trane Rental is assisting businesses across multiple sectors, particularly those generating high temperatures during the manufacturing process, in harnessing ambient air for both free cooling and heat rejection.

Cooling plastics in Romania
In Romania, a mass producer of plastic decorative ornaments faced a challenge with their existing cooling system during the injection moulding manufacturing process. The company needed a heat rejection solution to ensure adequate cooling capacity. The company already had free cooling but this was not always enough, especially in the summer when ambient temperatures are high. The injection moulding process requires cooling the molten material to temperatures between 32°C to 35°C so it can harden. The customer's injection moulding machines have a built-in, water-cooled heat exchanger which is hydraulically connected to the centralized cooling system and heat rejection is provided through this centralised system.

To address the issue, Trane Rental recommended the use of a dry cooler, capable of delivering 500 kW of cooling capacity under standard conditions. To guarantee the required cooling effect during summer peaks, a Trane Rental Adiabatic cooling system was also implemented. The Trane Rental system now augments the customer's existing free cooling system to provide increased cooling capacity, serving half of the production machines at the site.

Using Dry Coolers for heat rejection at a Czech hospital
In the Czech Republic, a large hospital - sited close to both a river and city centre - was seeking an urgent solution to its handling of toxic waste material. The hospital generates huge amounts of waste and relies on a large on-site incinerator to burn as much of it as possible. In winter, there are no issues and limitless amounts of waste can be burned and disposed of; the heat generated by the incinerator is redistributed and used to heat the whole facility in place of gas burners. However, in Summer, there is nowhere for the heat to go and, with an ever-increasing amount of material to deal with, the incinerator has reached its strict heat output limits.

Trane Rental determined that a heat rejection solution using Dry Coolers would provide sufficient extra cooling capacity in the system to keep the incinerator well below its heat output limits. Trane Rental is set to install three DRY250 units capable of cooling the water in the system down from 90°C to 60°C. Operating over the summer, the three dry coolers combined will have a total cooling capacity of 2.1MW. This is sufficient to ensure the incinerator doesn't overheat and will enable the hospital to dispose of waste safely and efficiently year-round without interruption.

Upgrades at a UK exascale computing site
In the UK, an international data center - known for its world-class, exascale High Performance Computing capability - urgently needed to upgrade the free cooling and heat rejection capacity at its giant supercomputing site. The facility has strict environmental goals and must meet stringent Power Usage Effectiveness targets in order to be able to bid on new computing projects.

Trane Rental worked closely with the facility to identify its worst-performing units and devise a solution. As a result, Trane Rental is installing replacement Dry Air Coolers with a total cooling capacity of 2MW. Two of the rental units are dedicated to free cooling and two will be used for heat rejection. Trane Rental will also be providing a control panel to tie the rental units in with the site Building Management System.

Trane Rental Dry Coolers: effective and reliable cooling solutions
Trane Rental's extensive fleet of Dry Coolers is delivering effective cooling solutions, including free cooling and heat rejection, to dozens of businesses across Europe. Trane Rental offices partner with companies to determine requirements and devise optimal solutions, whether for short-term, seasonal rentals or longer-term projects.

With the ability to harness free ambient air, businesses can significantly reduce costs, energy consumption, and the load on chillers. During milder weather, Dry Coolers handle a significant portion of the cooling load, while in summer months, they enhance cooling capacity through effective heat rejection.

By combining the strengths of both Dry Coolers and its large range of Chillers, Trane Rental is empowering businesses to achieve a vital balance between energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and cooling performance, with effective and reliable cooling solutions.

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