There are so many different kinds of industrial cooling towers out there so how could you ever know which one is best for your industry?
We wanted to better understand the incredible range and variety of industrial cooling towers by discussing this with Flowmatrix and how they are leading the space with their incredible knowledge. We sat down with the owners of Flowmatrix, a 100% Australian-owned and operated company specialising in the inspection, repair, maintenance, and installation of cooling towers for commercial and industrial premises throughout Australia.
Darren Driscoll, Jason Christensen, and Landon Morley together have over 65 years of invaluable experience in this very niche space.
Our primary discussion was about Industrial cooling towers that are normally used for companies that can specialise in a range of things like Petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturing plants, primary metals processing plants, glass manufacturing plants, plastic manufacturing plants, gas production plants, dairy product factories, food and beverage plants, and textile manufacturing plants, which are among the primary industries that use cooling towers.
Industrial cooling towers remove heat from a variety of industrial processes by recirculating water. In contrast to commercial cooling towers, Industrial cooling towers are extremely performance-oriented as industries and businesses require them to produce various materials, products, items, quickly, efficiently and safety
Repair and rebuild industrial job, Victoria
Installations/manufacture of industrial cooling towers
It is extremely important to mention that Flowmatrix can install new cooling towers or work on replacing parts for all types of cooling towers. Furthermore, Flowmatrix is not limited to working on a single type of tower. With over 65 years of experience in the industry, they have parts and data sheets for nearly every type of cooling tower in Australia, allowing them to support parts and repairs for each of them across the country.
Darren spoke about how Flowmatrix can repair and rebuild industrial cooling towers made of steel, fibreglass, timber, crossflow, counterflow and much more!
Parts for industrial cooling towers
Flowmatrix supplies a massive range of parts that are guaranteed to fit any cooling tower.
Here is a list of what they can supply for industrial cooling towers:
- Fill pack for any shape, Square, rectangular, or round
- Steel supports, fibreglass components and treated timber
- Fan drives: Forced draft or induced draft. Electric motor, fan, shafts bearings, pulleys, belts
- Drift eliminators to suit fibreglass steel, or timber cooling towers
- Splash louvers for steel, fibreglass, timber cooling towers
For industrial cooling towers, Flowmatrix suggests using Brentwood parts due to their superior reliability and high-quality engineering. The Brentwood parts that Flowmatrix supplied are Compliant with Australian Standard AS 4180.1—2008. Material exceeds Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) Standard 136. It is Brentwood Industries USA quality so you know it will perform to the design requirements of your cooling tower, and it will last a long time as the plastic material is top-end quality.
If you want to know more about Brentwood check out another blog here: https://flowmatrix.com.au/cooling-tower-parts-and-components-for-all-makes-and-models/
Mechanical drive replacement and repair job, Victoria
Importance of industrial cooling tower maintenance
While industrial cooling towers are powerful machines, they must be thoroughly inspected to ensure that they are operating at peak efficiency. Flowmatrix specialists can assist you in maintaining, servicing, and repairing your industrial cooling.
Keeping cooling towers’ vital components in good working order is crucial. The dirtier or damaged your tower is, the longer and harder it must work to achieve the same results. This problem stresses your entire system, forcing it to operate at higher condensing pressures to meet the load.
It also slows down the speed and output of the industrial process
Finally, the life of your tower is reduced while maintenance requirements increase, causing you to spend A LOT more money.
Coolclean is a company that specialises in the cleaning of cooling towers. As of 2019, it is now a legal requirement to clean the interior surfaces of all cooling towers in Victoria, to maintain a safe environment for you and your cooling tower.
Unsure if your cooling tower is up to proper standard? Don’t take the risk. Book in to get a quote from Coolclean today.
Flowmatrix specialists
Flowmatrix specialises in producing high-quality, long-lasting results, which is critical if you want to achieve the best cooling results, correct heat rejection, save time and money, and, of course, keep food production lines cool and process cooling lines operating properly in factories.
Darren discussed Flowmatrix’s process of coming out to your cooling tower to access and diagnose it, which is an extremely detailed cooling tower analysis that can include sketches and photos. They take pride in their expertise, which is why they like to personalise each and every inspection to ensure your cooling tower is up to standard.
What this can include:
- Whether or not the part you’re looking for will actually work.
- What is the best replacement part for a specific type of cooling tower?
- How to recommend a high-performance component or parts
- What the government or Australian standards are, and that their parts are always certified, approved, and up to date. AS/NZS 3666 is an important cooling tower standard.
- The most effective options and solutions
. FlowMatrix supplies and installs Safe access platforms and ladders to get to all the critical components and the fan drives
- How to encourage people to think about modular parts and components like fill pack drift eliminators and air intake splash louvres.
- If the mechanical drive components, such as the motor, fan, shaft, bearings, pullies, belts, gearbox, and taper locks, are in good working order and do not fail in service.
With so many options available for industrial cooling towers, FlowMatrix has the experience and engineering data to understand the best outcomes that do save companies time and money.
Do you want a performance analysis done on your cooling tower to recommend the highest performance new parts? Not a problem as FlowMatrix will provide data, output, kw rating, and drift loss data.
Darren mentioned a story about a client of Flowmatrix “we have had this client for a few years that own around 15 cooling towers for his industrial space and every year he will call us out for an inspection to assess the best way to maintain all cooling towers to not only make sure their performance is always optimized but he will be saving himself money long term”
Industrial cooling tower safety risks
Industrial cooling towers are typically larger than commercial cooling towers and are normally located on ground level and not on top of buildings, industrial cooling towers typically present to be more dangerous for whoever needs to maintain or service the cooling tower which is why it is important that Flowmatrix’s cooling tower specialists have all the proper training from confined space entry, writing permits, writing emergency rescue plans and performing the work safety. The access hatches are too small FlowMatrix can retrofit larger hatches or panels to make them safer
Flowmatrix’s highly trained technicians are experts at carrying out mechanical inspections, repairs, and interpreting risk management planning audits to ensure the smooth operation of all brands of cooling towers. The technicians have also completed the HACCP training courses.
HACCP certification is an international standard defining the requirements for effective control of food safety. If you can work safely in the food industry these processes are also relevant for the other industries
https://www.sgs.com.au/en-gb/agriculture-food/commodities/audit-certification-and-verification/certification/haccp-certification
FlowMatrix also has a certification to work on sites such as CM3.
Many industrial cooling towers can be found in some of the harshest environments, creating an extremely dangerous environment for anyone who needs to inspect the tower.
Furthermore, cooling towers frequently house critical components that require routine inspection maintenance and repair, such as water distribution systems, drift eliminators, fill packs, coils, and fan drives, all of which require entry into the cooling tower to reach. Maintenance providers and inspectors cannot perform their duties safely if they are exposed to unacceptable safety hazards such as confined spaces, slips and falls, electricity, chemicals, and even potentially harmful bacteria and chemicals.
https://www.safework.sa.gov.au/workplaces/work-sites-and-facilities/cooling-towers
It is important to note that the safety of the guys who enter the cooling towers to tend to any repairs, is properly accounted for. Additionally, PPE gear is always required as well as additional equipment like oxygen masks in some cases while dealing with the possible Bacteria is always prioritised.
Flowmatrix are always pleased to offer advice to industrial cooling tower owners and operators as they believe it is curial to have a safe, high performance and reliable cooling tower
Contact Flowmatrix for an inspection, report or quotation of your cooling tower today!
