Projects

Shah Smith & Associates was the prime A/E consultant for the new Texas A&M Galveston Central Plant. The new plant was designed and build to work in conjunction with the central plant. The new plant has 13,000 square feet of interior-conditioned space plus an additional 13,000 square feet of exterior equipment space. The building was designed to be 1 foot above the storm surge levels experience by the island. Materials used in the project were specified specifically for the use in coastal environments.

The plant was designed to house six water cooled centrifugal chillers with their associated field erected concrete cooling towers. The total planned chilled water capacity for the plant is 4,000 tons. Four chillers were installed with this phase of the project and provisions were made to add 2 additional cooling tower cells and chillers to existing building shell. The plant was designed as variable primary flow system. Provisions and design was incorporated to add a chilled water thermal storage tank to the north side of the plant. The chilled water and condenser water systems are designed to work on a common pipe header. Allowing any chiller, pumps, and cooling tower to be used independent of associated equipment in the plant.

The plant will also provide heating hot water for the campus. The heating hot water system was designed for a future heating capacity of 11.2MBH of natural gas fired boilers. The boilers were designed with a primary/secondary loop pumping arrangement. 

The building automation controls are designed to work in conjunction with the conjunction with the existing chilled water plant but also has the capability of acting as a stand alone plant. The two central plants are controlled by different controls systems/manufacturers. Extensive testing and commissioning was conducted to assure ease of operation and dependability on this arrangement.

The new central plant is electrically served by two 12kv circuits from the electrical utility provider. The plant was designed to distribute power to the campus off of the main electrical room. Power service to the plant equipment is routed in the crawlspace. The plant is equipped with an 1,000 kW natural gas generator. The generator is capable of supporting one boiler and one chiller/cooling tower during a power outage. This will allow the campus to operate critical support areas in an event of a campus wide power outage. Additionally, the new cup is served by a separate power utility circuit from the rest of the campus and original cup. Design for a local generation station provided. It would allow the campus to add power generation equipment to support the campus.