Innovating Cost-Effective Solutions to Vexed Issues
About the Client
The Brigade Group is a leading property developer in India. Their projects extend across Tier-1 and Tier 2 cities, including Apartments, Villas, Techparks, Commercial complexes, and Malls. One such property is the iconic Orion Mall in west Bangalore, a popular shopping and entertainment destination for all age-groups of people.
MAVK Engineering Solutions has been maintaining the HVAC infrastructure at the Mall since 2014. In this long journey, several interesting operational challenges have surfaced time and again.
Business Challenge
The Food Court in Orion West Mall is cooled by two Air-Handling Units (AHUs) 1 and 2. Oil fumes picked up from the various kitchens in the food court entered these AHU coils. Neither of these AHUs had an Oil Filter at the point where the return air enters the AHU. As a result, the oil in these fumes had been depositing in the AHU Coil of AHU Number 2 from day one of the Mall’s operations. This reduced cooling in the Food Court gradually over time.
Since Jan 2019, the drop in cooling became more evident. MAVK, which maintains the AHUs, had been undertaking chemical cleaning of the coil every two months. In spite of these cleanings, there was no drastic improvement in the cooling. On closer examination, it was found that the central portion of the coil was blocked by thick and hardened grease deposits. Using mechanical force or stronger chemicals to break up this blockage could have damaged the coil.
How We Helped
The ideal solution to the issue would have been a complete replacement of the coil. However, the management at Orion Mall suggested that MAVK comes up with a more cost-effective solution.
MAVK’s senior technical team proposed removing the coil from the AHU and cutting out the central portion which was blocked by hardened grease. The next step suggested was to dip the portion in a chemical solution repeatedly, followed by a water wash. The cut section was to be welded back in place after the entire process. CFM values before and after the project were to be checked to evaluate success of the project. The proposal was approved by Orion’s management.
The project was undertaken between 3rd and 7th March 2020. It involved five distinct steps spread across five days.
- Day 1: Checking CFM, removing the existing coil, cutting central section of coil
- Day 2: Preparing a sheet metal tub
- Day 3: Dipping the coil in a chemical solution in the tub
- Day 4: Water wash of coil, removing the coil from the tub and leaving to dry
- Day 5: Installing the cleaned coil and checking CFM
An external vendor was engaged for the project and was assisted by some of MAVK personnel. The project was supervised by Senior Managers at MAVK.
Results and Highlights
This project was a huge success. The CFM values before and after the project were 17622 and 25688. This was a 45.773% improvement in CFM. There was better cooling in the Food Court after the process, as acknowledged by the management of Orion Mall.
Further, to prevent such oil deposits from recurring in the future, MAVK suggested that Orion Mall install metallic-type Oil Filter(s) at the spot where the return air enters the AHU. The suggestion was appreciated and implemented by the Management of Orion Mall.