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Bowman Turns Up The Heat at Artesian Pool In OZ

Product News Monday, July 23, 2012: Bowman E J (Birmingham) Ltd

Titanium heat exchangers from EJ Bowman are being used to heat the famous outdoor pool complex at the Moree Hot Artesian Spa in the Australian Outback. The Bowman units were selected because they met the demands of this unique artesian water supply, together with the variety of pool sizes, the heating methods and the massive fluctuation in outside air temperatures.

The Moree Hot Artesian Spa has been in existence since 1895, and uses water from the Great Artesian Basin, one of the largest artesian basins in the world. The original spa has been expanded over the years and the current development by Australian firm, Swimplex Aquatics incorporates a total revamp of the facility with a new 50m FINA pool, a program pool, an interactive children’s play pool, three artesian wellness pools and a water slide.

Eleven 5114-5T Bowman heat exchangers are being used to heat the FINA Olympic pool during the cooler months, while the program pool is heated by a further five Bowman units.The artesian bore directly feeds the three wellness pools and maintains them at 39°C. The pool temperature is regulated using motorised valves to control the inlet flow. Residual artesian water also feeds two banks of Bowman heat exchangers to heat the freshwater pools which are supplied from the treated municipal supply.

The Program and children's pools are on one filtration circuit which gets preferential heat from the residual artesian water. The set point for this plant is 31°C. Any useful heat remaining is then passed through the second bank of eleven heat exchangers which serve the 50 metre FINA pool. The upper set point for this plant is 28°C. Thermostats control heating boost pumps for both plants.

Swimplex selected Bowman titanium heat exchangers because of their resistance to the corrosive bore water and the ease of plumbing on the pool water side. Swimplex director, Geoff Leaver, added: "By manifolding banks of exchangers we will be able to take one off-line at a time for cleaning without unduly effecting total output. Because of the low primary heat differential we selected exchangers designed for solar heating as opposed to output from boilers."

The facility remains open 12 months of the year, even though ambient air temperatures in the middle of winter can occasionally drop below freezing point and reach40ºC in summer. Since installation, the Bowman units have proved to be highly efficient and reliable in operation, which was a major factor, given nature of the heated supply water.

From small domestic, to the largest commercial pools, plus hot tubs and specialist spa therapy pools, Bowman offers the widest range of shell and tube heat exchangers on the market, with versions available for solar and geo-thermal heat sources as well asconventional boiler heated pools.

Following the successful introduction of Bowman’s titanium swimming pool heat exchanger range, a new model known as the 5115 series has been launched which can transfer up to 300kW of thermal energy.

The Bowman range includes heat exchangers with titanium, stainless steel or cupro-nickel tube stacks to suit different applications. The titanium heat exchangers, for example provide a highly durable, long life solution for specialised installations, where a higher levels of corrosion resistance is required for applications including salt water and certain types of therapy pools. All Bowman units feature quickly removable end covers and tube stacks enabling much faster access for cleaning and maintenance.