Our Technology

BAC products make use of the desirable properties of water, one of nature's most abundant cooling media, to provide cooling solutions for air conditioning, industrial processes, power generation and refrigeration. In most areas of the world, water is abundant and inexpensive, and its "latent heat", or ability to reject or absorb large quantities of heat through evaporation (latent heat of vaporization) or freezing (latent heat of fusion) make it ideal for these applications:

Evaporative Cooling:
BAC's cooling towers, closed-circuit cooling towers and evaporative condensers make use of evaporative cooling. That is what makes you feel cool when you climb out of a swimming pool or the ocean on a breezy day. Evaporation from the water on your skin pulls heat from your body and makes you feel colder than the surrounding air. The same thing is true in one of our evaporative cooling products. The evaporative cooling principle makes it possible to cool or condense to a lower temperature than simple dry-air cooling, so you save on space, equipment cost, and energy consumption. No wonder evaporative cooling is the first choice at most central chiller plants and industrial cooling installations around the world!

Ice Thermal Storage:
Ice thermal storage uses the latent heat of fusion of water to "store" thermal energy as ice. The advantage of this "thermal storage" is the fact that electrical energy can be used during off-peak periods to provide cooling during peak periods. In other words, the operator of an ice thermal storage system can run chillers to generate cooling effect during periods when energy is inexpensive (usually at night), and use the ice to provide cooling for the building system during the peak periods (usually during the day). This is called "demand-shifting," and in many cases utilities will provide economic incentives for owners to install ice thermal storage systems to shift the electrical demand from peak periods to off-peak periods.

In addition to savings from incentives and off-peak energy consumption, other significant first cost advantages are realized from thermal storage using ice. Cooling with ice allows systems to operate with 36°F cooling water and a cooling range up to 20°F, so piping and pump sizes can be reduced compared with conventional systems. Designing around low temperature air distribution means that ductwork sizes can also be reduced.

Research and Development at BAC:
Research and development for BAC's evaporative cooling and thermal storage products are conducted at BAC's 40,000 square foot test facility in Jessup, MD, one of the most advanced in the industry. Here, BAC engineers and technicians can simulate the broad range of environmental and system operating conditions encountered by our products in actual use. After new concepts are screened by computer modeling, tests are conducted on equipment ranging in size from small prototype modules up through full-scale field-erected cooling towers.

In addition to thermal testing in controlled-environment test chambers, a wide range of material and component development activities are conducted, including fan development, static and dynamic stress evaluations, accelerated aging and corrosion testing, hydraulic tests and wind tunnel tests. Dozens of patents and a complete line of evaporative cooling and thermal storage products have resulted from this state-of-the-art facility.

Since its founding in 1938, Baltimore Aircoil Company has specialized in the design and manufacture of evaporative cooling and heat transfer equipment, and has become a world leader in this field. BAC's continuing program of research and development has produced many innovations which have evolved to become the standards of the industry.