ASHRAE Journal - December 2019 - 104

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South Dakota State University's New Chiller
Plant Increases Cooling Capacity while Minimizing
Environmental Impact
Background
South Dakota State University (SDSU)
in Brookings, SD, is home to roughly
12,500 students. The university has grown
significantly in the past decade-adding
one million square feet of educational
space. According to SDSU Senior Mechanical Engineer, Zachary Rykhus, this
expansion is continuing, and two College
of Agriculture, Food and Environmental
Sciences research buildings are currently
under construction.
Planning
The existing chiller plant would not
fulfill the 4,000 tons of cooling required
by the planned expansions of the Ag
College, which meant a new plant must
be constructed. The lead engineering
company for the chiller plant, Farris
Engineering, Inc., designed it to fit
within the two-phase, multi-year construction schedule.
According to Greg Kronaizl, executive
vice president at Farris, with such a high

cooling demand, minimizing wastewater
was critical. He added that the school
was also concerned with sustainability,
seeking a net zero discharge. Farris began searching for cooling towers that
would meet the building's demands yet
minimize any environmental impact.
The solution? EVAPCO's AT model of
counterflow cooling towers.
Additionally, the design specified use of
EVAPCO's Pulse~Pure non-chemical
water treatment system since Brookings'
source water is generally hard, with high
alkalinity. Using pulsed-electrical fields,
the system not only combats scale
and corrosion, but microbiological
activity as well.
"Avoiding chemical use was equally important as conserving water and we've
used Pulse~Pure successfully on projects
in the past," Kronaizl stated.
Construction
In May 2015, phase one began when
Midwestern Mechanical Inc. installed

three, two-cell EVAPCO AT counterflow
cooling towers made of 304/304L stainless steel. The units provide 2,250 tons of
combined cooling capacity. Six, 750-ton
Trane electric-driven centrifugal water
chillers are installed in the chiller plant
building below the towers. The facility
also includes a free-cooling heat exchanger for winter cooling operation
equivalent to approximately 1,000 tons.
In phase two, three more identical cooling
towers were installed over the summer of
2019, bringing the total cooling capacity
of the chiller plant to 4,500 tons.
Results
Installation of the new chiller plant proceeded as scheduled, and all components
of the system met the university's expectations. South Dakota State University's
new expansion is proof that adding
infrastructure does not need to increase
environmental impact.

Keep your cool
on every challenge.
Don't stress over water and energy requirements. With EVAPCO's full spectrum of cooling system
solutions, you can meet the demands on any project, every time. And every solution comes with
our 100% thermal performance guarantee, so you can operate your systems with total peace of mind.
We are EVAPCO: the team you can count on for life.
See our eco-Air water-saving dry and adiabatic
solutions at evapco.com.
Since 1976 | An Employee-Owned Company | Commercial HVAC | Process Cooling | Industrial Process | Power
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ASHRAE Journal - December 2019

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