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20th CES Airmen beat the heat

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Kyle Moore
  • 20th Civil Engineer Squadron
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  With summer temperatures rising to triple-digits for several weeks, the Airmen of the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning shop stand ready to respond.

Due to a recent repair project that included the roof of the 20th Component Maintenance Squadron building, all insulation had been removed, which allowed cold air to escape and additional radiant heat to enter the facility.

These conditions left the building's HVAC system unable to provide adequate cooling capability for the facility, leaving Airmen to bear temperatures of 105 degrees while working inside.

On June 16, 20th CES customer service received notification from 20th CMS that the system could not keep up with the cooling demand.

The HVAC Airmen quickly went into action on the installation of a 20-ton portable direct-expansion HVAC system to temporarily provide additional cooling capability to the building.

To support the temporary HVAC system, the facility needed additional power supplied.

The conventional solution for power is to run cable to connect commercial power to the HVAC system. This option would have required the material control personnel to purchase the additional cable so the Airmen could complete the approximately six hour installment.

Expediting the repair process and minimizing the purchase of cable, the Airmen decided to use a 60 kilowatt generator to power the temporary HVAC system.

The new repair process required coordination between the HVAC and the power production shops to ensure a fast response. In addition, the power production personnel had to constantly monitor and service the generator to ensure the HVAC system continued to work properly.

"The coordination between shops ensured resounding success," said Joseph Sublette, 20the CES engineering flight chief.

Only four hours after notification, the temporary HVAC system went online and the building temperature was lowered by 15 to 20 degrees.

The coordination and creative thinking of the 20th CES personnel allowed for the quick development of a solution to provide a comfortable work environment to maintenance personnel during the hot summer day.