A 2,500-ton Ohio University resident had a major breakdown early Sunday morning and is currently lying on the floor “in pieces.”
But why electricity was cut short and forced the university’s McQuay Dual Compressor Chiller to fail is still not determined.
Several campus buildings connected to the water plant were shut down because of dangers in high temperatures after an electrical shortage in the chiller.
The Human Resources Training Center, Stocker Center, Irvine Hall, Boyd Hall and The Convo remain closed Tuesday.
“One of the concerns was that there was no fresh air getting into the buildings,” said Mike Gebeke, OU executive director of facilities management.
This is not the first time the water chiller broke.
“(The chiller) is about 10 years old,” Gebeke said. “However, this would be the first time that two sides of the chiller broke at the same time. It has to be completely reconstructed.”
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid 90s throughout this week, according to the National Weather Service.
Gebeke said that as of now there is no estimate on how much the repairs are going to cost. However, he noted that it would be “expensive.” There is no exact date on which the chiller will be fixed.
Originally installed in 1994, the university chose the McQuay chiller over other brands because of its “superior” life cycle costs, according to Stoermer-Anderson Inc., a full-scale sales representative for industrial and power equipment manufacturers situated in Cincinnati, Ohio, which worked with OU to install its chilled water plant.
hy135010@ohiou.edu
