UK Cuts Energy Use by 20% Per Square Foot with Help from Helios Tube Cleaning Technology
The University of Kentucky recently released an update on the Helios TCS installation on two of its campus chillers. This marks another bold step in UK’s long-standing commitment to energy efficiency. As of April 2025, UK has achieved a 20% reduction in energy use per square foot since 2016—and the trend continues upward with the recent installation of the Helios Automatic Tube Cleaning System from Innovas Technologies.
To enhance the performance and resilience of its district cooling system, UK Facilities Management recently equipped two chillers at the Central Utility Plant with the Helios TCS technology. The system continuously cleans chiller condenser tubes using small rubber balls injected into the water flow every 20 minutes, scrubbing away scale and debris without interrupting operations.
This marks a significant improvement over traditional cleaning methods, which require chillers to be offline for up to 40 hours while technicians manually brush over 1,000 tubes per unit. By eliminating this labor-intensive process, UK is saving time, energy, and resources.
“Having a system that can keep the tubes clean year-round helps us fix the long-standing challenge of losing efficiency through the year as contaminants build up in the tubes,” said Carter Whitton, utilities systems manager at UK. “Achieving those improvements will be a tremendous energy saver and have a substantial sustainability impact.”
Early results point to significant operational savings, with projections of tens of thousands of dollars in annual electricity cost reductions. If performance continues as expected, the university plans to deploy Helios across its entire fleet of chillers.
