Lights on, cameras rolling – at its Los Angeles campus, media company NBCU­ni­versal produces tele­vi­sion formats ranging from news to enter­tain­ment shows every day. Behind the capti­vating scenes is a central cooling tower system that ensures pleasant temper­a­tures in office build­ings and several tele­vi­sion and sound studios. Proper cooling is partic­u­larly impor­tant here, as such produc­tion envi­ron­ments heat up due to the waste heat from the tech­nology. But then the motors in the cooling tower system keep failing. To avoid produc­tion stop­pages, NBCU­ni­versal turns to the full-service air condi­tioning provider Air Condi­tioning Solu­tions Inc. (ACS), which has already modern­ized the venti­lation in several build­ings on its campus. ACS takes a close look at the affected system—and quickly finds the problem: the fans in three cooling towers need to be replaced.

Inter­mis­sion in the cooling tower system

A chilled water system is used to keep the studios at NBCU­ni­versal nice and cool. In this system, cooling water absorbs waste heat from the studios and office build­ings via a condenser. The heated water is then pumped to the cooling towers. Here it is sprayed while fans blow air through the tower. Some of the water evap­o­rates, dissi­pating heat and cooling the remaining water. The cool water is then returned to the cycle.

However, cooling towers come with a typical problem. Chino Romo, Account Manager at ACS, explains: “Like most cooling towers, those at NBCU­ni­versal have only one fan to remove the used, warm air. If this fails, the entire cooling capacity of the tower suddenly drops.” This risk is high because the installed belt-driven AC fans are outdated and consid­ered partic­u­larly prone to failure.

A well-coor­di­nated team

ACS turned to ebm-papst to equip the cooling towers with new fans. Chino Romo says, “We have been working with ebm-papst on our retro­fits since 2019. The big advan­tage of our part­ner­ship is that we can discuss the indi­vidual appli­ca­tions directly. This ensures we get the right product for every project.” In the case of NBCU­ni­versal, these are axial fans from the AxiBlade product range: “They provide enough volume flow to dissi­pate suffi­cient warm air. The AxiBlade is also ideal for the demanding instal­la­tion condi­tions in cooling towers.”

„Together with ebm-papst, we discuss indi­vidual appli­ca­tions and receive the right product for each project..“

Chino Romo, Account Manager bei Air Condi­tioning Solu­tions

Since the heated water is sprayed in the cooling towers, the fans must with­stand constant splashing water. In addi­tion, chem­i­cals such as cleaning agents, biocides, and rust inhibitors are used in indus­trial cooling. The AxiBlade meets these require­ments with an IP55-certi­fied housing, corro­sion-resis­tant mate­rial, and ebm-papst envi­ron­mental protec­tion class H2+C. This means that the product remains perma­nently resis­tant even under such conditions—because it has been tested by ebm-papst over a long period of time under real envi­ron­mental condi­tions. 

To ensure the long-term oper­a­tion of the cold-water system, ACS replaces one old AC fan per cooling tower with six new AxiBlade fans arranged as a FanGrid. Romo explains: “If one of the fans fails, the others simply take over its perfor­mance. This means that there are defi­nitely no more fail­ures, and produc­tion runs smoothly.”

Six AxiBlade fans in each FanGrid ensure optimum oper­a­tional reli­a­bility. (Image | ACS)

The AxiBlade fans trans­port the heated air away from the cooling towers. (Image | ACS)

To be continued

NBCU­ni­versal is already some­thing of an old hand in the indoor climate busi­ness. Over the years, the company has part­nered with ACS and ebm-papst on multiple modern­iza­tion projects across its campus. At another NBCU­ni­versal loca­tion, they installed 240 new ebm-papst fans during a retrofit of a forty-story office building, thereby ensuring the supply of fresh air. And the next project is already in the plan­ning stages: Three addi­tional cooling towers are to be retro­fitted, so that the studios there can also broad­cast without restric­tions and with pleasant indoor air.

Wind and weath­er­proof

The envi­ron­mental classes were devel­oped by ebm-papst and describe how resis­tant fans and motors are to mois­ture, direct water expo­sure, and other corro­sive envi­ron­mental condi­tions. Unlike IP protec­tion classes, the envi­ron­mental classes take real-world oper­ating condi­tions into account. In exten­sive long-term and endurance tests, temper­a­ture changes, humidity, sprin­kling, and chem­ical influ­ences are tested in combi­na­tion to ensure the reli­a­bility of the prod­ucts over their entire service life.

Discover our testing center and gain detailed insights into the testing proce­dures:

Exclu­sive insights into all test fields

Learn more about how ebm-papst puts fans to the test in the indi­vidual test fields. Each article with exciting insights, videos and pictures!