A perfect storm of events descended upon Merck’s (then Schering-Plough) research facility in 2008 that has since lead to $150,000 in annual energy savings in chilled-water production. A corporate initiative to reduce energy consumption in its facilities led Merck to set new energy expectation standards; Merck’s S-6 research facility in Summit, NJ, was one of several projects identified as having great potential for energy and cost savings. A crucial facility, the S-6A chiller plant is a 7,800-ton plant that serves two buildings, a 500,000-square foot (sq ft) product development research facility and a new 300,000 sq-ft clinical manufacturing facility. It is therefore vital that both buildings have a reliable source of chilled water year round.
Continual expansion on the campus had compromised the efficiency and operability of the central chilled-water system. In addition to high chilled-water system pressure and low differential temperature, the plant also experienced periodic reverse bypass flow. Karl Varnai (Summit engineering manager) and Tom Pagliuco (corporate energy director) recognized these as typical signs of inefficiency and energy waste; they also recognized the difficulty in resolving them in such a complex system with a diversity of chiller types, complicated piping, and multiple systems.
As a result, the two attended the New Jersey Pharma Food Energy Users Group (NJPFEUG) to investigate optimization solutions. Pagliuco, responsible for energy initiatives and for introducing ideas to Merck managers, went looking for new technology that could be piloted at the S-6 plant and expanded to other Merck facilities if successful; Varnai was seeking a solution to the energy management issues at his S-6 plant. tekWorx’ presentation on how variable flow chilled-water systems save energy left Pagliuco thinking, “I need this.”