Rapid response keeps heat production at capacity for campus, UK HealthCare

When a critical piece of equipment suddenly failed inside the University of Kentucky’s Central Utility Plant (CUP), the Utilities and Energy Management (UEM) team quickly activated contingency plans to ensure uninterrupted service of heat and hot water to campus. The deaerator tank, vital for removing dissolved gases from boiler feedwater in the university’s steam heating system, failed due to a spray nozzle malfunction.  

With replacement parts unavailable until next year, UEM and Procurement Services worked quickly to find a solution that will keep the heat on as the temperature drops.  

“Our peak heating time is mid-November to mid-April. We can utilize our other two heating plants to compensate when one goes down, but that is not ideal for an extended period,” said Graham Gray, executive director of Utilities and Energy Management in Facilities Management. “When we learned the part we needed won’t be available until mid-February at the earliest, we knew we had to come up with a solution and move fast.” 

In came Robbie Frazier, category specialist with Procurement Services. Frazier worked with Jacob Hoard, utilities systems supervisor at CUP, to see if they could find a temporary solution.  

“There were only four deaerator tanks available to rent in the U.S. when we started looking for a solution,” Frazier said. “Only one of those was close to our location and we were able to secure it with time to get it up and running before temperatures really drop.” 

Campus-wide demand in the winter months can approach 400,000 lbs of water to steam per hour; the Central Utility Plant provides around 35% of the total campus demand. Before the rental deaerator tank was installed, the plant was producing around 38,000 lbs per hour utilizing a smaller back-up tank during the early summer.  

“All the moving parts working together to secure the rental deaerator tank for the CUP plant show what teamwork and preparation can achieve,” Hoard said. “It’s a reminder that perseverance and coordination make it possible to overcome obstacles and continue providing reliable steam not only to campus, but also to the hospitals.” 

The rental deaerator tank sits on a full-size trailer outside of the Central Utility Plant. Temporary installation included piping through the back wall, wiring and connecting compressed air . The Utilities and Energy Management team expects to use the temporary tank throughout the winter. 

“It worked out that we discovered the tank failure with enough time to react,” Gray said. “The collaboration, creative thinking and quick action of the UEM team and Robbie in purchasing made sure the equipment failure did not affect our capability to provide steam to campus." 

Hoard agrees — the quick thinking and action of the team was paramount to not just finding but implementing a solution. 

“A huge shout out to the team at CUP for their hard work and ability to adapt to every challenge along the way,” he said. “Your dedication and problem solving made this possible.”