Kuul Vitality Maintenance

Kuul Vitality™ evaporative media (a type of rigid evaporative media) is designed to achieve optimal cooling in agricultural environments, including poultry house, greenhouse, dairy farm, and swine industry applications. At industry-standard air velocity, Kuul Vitality meets efficiency standards and exceeds pressure drop requirements. Not only does Kuul evaporative cooler pads last longer, but it helps keep the whole cooling system running longer by adding less stress to moving components.

The natural process of evaporation involves the active use of water recirculation. In an agricultural setting, fixed systems hold pieces of evaporative media along the outer walls of production buildings such as poultry and swine houses and greenhouses. Cool air is generated when water is pumped to the top of the Kuul Vitality evaporative media and distributed evenly across the surface. Gravity pulls the water down and it flows through the evaporative media. The evaporative media absorbs the water and, in turn, facilitates water molecule evaporation into the air. One interesting fact: more water than required for the evaporation (or cooling) process is pumped to the top of the media for even distribution. The evaporative media is designed so the extra water “washes” or cleans the outer surface of the evaporative media. Any remaining water is then returned to the reservoir to be recirculated.

With an understanding of how Kuul Vitality evaporative media works, it’s important to also understand how to maximize the efficiency and longevity of the media. In order to keep Kuul Vitality evaporative media in tip-top shape, proper maintenance activities are necessary during use. Proactive maintenance is key not only to achieve optimal cooling but also to eliminate any concern for harboring potentially harmful bacteria in the evaporative media.

Good water quality is a necessity for achieving efficient cooling with evaporative media in agricultural environments. The definition of good quality water is having a neutral pH (neither acidic nor basic) and less than 100 ppm of dissolved salts (e.g., calcium, sodium, potassium, etc.). Therefore, we recommend that operators regularly check water quality and analyze for high pH and scaling properties. High pH requires a dosing system for neutralization.

Maintaining high cooling efficiency makes checking water quality a necessity:

Automatic dosing systems are utilized to protect the evaporative media from scale deposit which includes heavy concentrations of diluted salts, high pH, and algae. Regular maintenance of Kuul Vitality evaporative media includes a shock-dose with household bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite – NaClO) for algae and/or household white vinegar (Acetic Acid – CH3COOH) for lime descaling, if necessary. For bacterial growth control, a solution of household bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite) should be used to ensure the water remains clean and living organisms are unable to grow.

Additionally, a bleed-off or sump/reservoir dumping system is necessary to help control salt concentration and prevent scaling. Filtration points and flushing systems are built into most operators’ cooling systems and may be automated. Via the maintenance cycle, this allows any dirty sump water to be discharged. This process also ensures that excess, soiled water is regularly dumped.

These dosing and filtration methods help to ensure the cleanliness of the overall system. For an easy, at-a-glance overview, here are the top tips to maximize the life of Kuul Vitality evaporative media:

• Maintain water distribution for proper washing of the media.
• Frequently check the system for damaged or clogged pieces of media. A soft-bristled brush can be used to remove heavy debris.

• Spiderwebs or web buildup can be removed from dry media with a soft, dry brush. Trying to remove webs on wet media or with a wet brush can push the webs further into the media, leading to clogged flutes.

• As noted above, use disinfectants at low and safe concentrations per guidelines (chlorine at 1-2 ppm can be beneficial as a disinfectant).
• Ensure water supply has a pH of less than 8 and greater than 6. Water supply should be free of excessive dissolved solids and nutrients.
• Avoid using reverse osmosis or deionized water.
• Control sump water concentration with continuous bleed off (3-4% per day) or sump dumping.
• Keep on/off wetting cycles to a minimum; however, media should be allowed to dry completely once every 24 hours.
• Keep the media and sump shaded from direct sunlight.

To learn more, visit the Kuul Effect website to download an informative PDF.