NIBR is the flagship pharmaceutical research and development facility for the Novartis Corporation.
A facility extension was newly constructed in 2016 and one of the many utility systems is a Bulk Liquid CO2 system to provide gaseous Nitrogen to the two main campus buildings.
The original CO2 system was not set up to deliver CO2 on demand to the laboratories at the required density for the instrumentation and despite months of commissioning, no progress was being made.
NIBR contracted TCI to investigate the root causes of the problems that the system had and to develop a remediation plan. Subsequently DC Beane was contracted to construct the modifications with TCI completing the detailed design for the project and the commissioning for the upgraded facility.
The work included:
- Relocation of all thermal relief vent lines to external vent points as they were previously installed in the HVAC return air ductwork
- Relocation of the Liquid CO2 pumping station and installation of vacuum jacketed pipework to solve NPSGH problems with the pumps
- Design and installation to three density control cabinets to ensure that the Liquid CO2 would be delivered on demand to the user points with a density of 915 kg/m3 +/- 1%
