One PHE model cools an entire man-made island

Zero tolerance for interruptions

The Pearl Qatar project is developed by the United Development Company (UDC) with the country’s leading district cooling supplier Qatar Cool providing the infrastructure for cooling services. The area comprises a residential community, five-star hotels, marinas, a yacht club, schools, restaurants and lifestyle amenities.

Since reliability and performance are paramount when it comes to district cooling in the Middle East, the decision to use Alfa Laval equipment was natural. The project was carried out in 2008 and 2009, and equipment performance has been spotless ever since.

A trusted cooling solution

According to Mr Issa Quandeel, Project Manager at Qatar Cool, trust was a major decision parameter when Alfa Laval was selected:

Alfa Laval offers high quality products at competitive prices, competent management and strong after sales One gasketed plate heat exchanger model cools an entire man-made island The Pearl Qatar residential project, Doha, Qatar support. We plan for a long-term relationship with Alfa Laval – provided that the same level of professionalism and service is maintained.

We expect ourselves working with Alfa Laval as long as Qatar Cool performs installations. So far – during six years of close cooperation – no single failure or underperformance of their equipment has been observed. Over a course of six years, this is obviously not something you can attribute merely to good luck.

Reliable plate heat exchange is a must

For the Qatar Pearl project, the heat exchanger selected was T20B from Alfa Laval. Handling the whole range of cooling loads with one model of heat exchanger means facilitated spare part supply and uniform procedures for operation and maintenance.

Another basic requirement was a close temperature approach. With the T20B, a temperature approach condition of 1.1°C is met.

This means that the difference in in temperature between the water entering the heat exchangers from the underground district network and leaving it on the customer side is 1.1°C. In this specific case, the network supplies 4.4°C and the customer gets 5.5°C.

Energy-saving cooling performance

Substations located inside the buildings have efficient control functions allowing residents to use the cooling energy according to the actual need. This – along with the efficiency of the plate heat exchangers – means substantial energy savings in comparison with traditional cooling systems. Customers are also offered significant reduction of noise and vibration in their premises.

Facts and figures

The products delivered were 122 units of T20BGF - a gasketed plate heat exchanger from Alfa Laval with stainless Steel 316 plates of 0.5 mm thickness.

• 17.2 bar design pressure.
• Delta T 8.9 deg. C, 1.11 deg. C LMTD
• Insulation casing and drain tray