Kamstrup?s largest project in the Middle East with thermal disconnection and retrofitting ? Discovery Gardens ? is a perfect example where district cooling meets sub-metering needs
In an incident at the residential community, the customer wanted to bill the tenants based on their actual cooling consumption instead of traditional rented area basis. They were looking for a solution that can help reduce the operational cost and provide better customer service to their tenants and therefore selected a smart metering solution from Kamstrup.
Discovery Gardens is located between Sheikh Zayed Road and Emirates Road in Jebel Ali in UAE. Covering an area of over 26 million sqft, the project was completed in 2008 by master developer Nakheel. The community features spacious multi-sized apartment blocks surrounded by lush foliage, manicured lawns and desert blooms. The 41 buildings in Discovery Gardens are clustered based on six ?garden living? themes. Emirates District Cooling LLC (Emicool) is the cooling service provider for the entire property and is the direct customer for Kamstrup.
Finding the most effective solution
One of the major challenges was providing fair meter reading and billing as per cooling energy consumption for over 2,500 connections, as there are many apartments that are unoccupied or remain vacant for a large part of the year. Moreover, operations and maintenance, and field service for such a large property was a tedious task if everything was supposed to be done manually. Therefore, in March 2019, Emicool chose Kamstrup?s smart metering solution that creates value throughout the cooling supply chain. The ultrasonic smart meters provide accurate meter data for billing and the automatic meter reading system has enabled operational efficiency as there is no need to go to each meter to take readings manually. Thereby the daily operations and maintenance costs are reduced. The thermal disconnect feature in the meters helps control the inlet flow to empty buildings without physical access, thereby minimising waste of valuable cooling to empty buildings or apartments.
Solution that meets all needs
The compact and flexible BTU meter ? MULTICAL 403 ? delivers a compact and rational design in addition to an exceptionally high level of measuring accuracy and reliability. Both the calculator and flow sensor are equipped with condensation protection of the meter electronics, which makes the product very well suited for condensation environments. Coupled with the thermal disconnect feature, that enables remote cut-off of the flow for e.g. energy saving, maintenance or as a result of leakage detection, makes it even more valuable solution for the project. Instead of having to access the installation physically, the intelligent thermal disconnect feature allows you to remotely control the valve and thereby cut-off flow, when required.
Automatic meter reading
The meters are embedded with the wired M-bus communication module that makes remote reading of all the meters quick and easy. Initially, they started meter reading with USB meter reader, which is compact and fits comfortably in a pocket even with the power pack, making it easy to transport when taking meter readings. Within seconds, consumption readings are received and this data is easily transferred to a PC. But due to the limitation of number of meters being read with the device, they have now switched to Kamstrup?s READy Manager. The READy system can easily be adjusted to meet different needs and it can be expanded as your needs change. You get fast and easy access to consumption data and the system gives you access to tools for analyzing and optimizing your distribution network.
With an effective solution for remote meter reading of intelligent BTU meters, one gets fast and easy access to consumption data. The customer is very satisfied with the system performance and the local sales and support provided by Kamstrup. Everything can be done remotely, thereby reducing overall operations cost. The tenants are happy with the swift service provided by the operator and the transparency in meter reading and billing. Kamstrup?s smart metering solution has provided a highly satisfactory experience for the cooling energy and service provider, Emicool as well as the property owner, Nakheel properties.
