Home on ZIC Tech — Industrial Diagnostics

Fouled Cooling Coils Across a University Campus

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The problem

A 34-AHU university campus was experiencing inconsistent cooling complaints. Some buildings couldn’t maintain setpoint during peak afternoons. The facilities team had been chasing complaints reactively, replacing coils only after total failure.

What we did

We deployed edge devices on the campus BACnet network and connected to all 34 AHUs. Over a 3-month pilot:

Built the plant model. Ingested the campus P&IDs, Metasys point export (2,400+ points), and equipment schedules. Our tooling produced a typed asset graph with every AHU, its zones, its coils, and their connections.

Why BAS Tag Names Don't Scale as an Ontology

Tue, 20 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The problem with tag-based semantics

Every building automation system encodes equipment relationships in point names. A Metasys system might call a supply air temperature sensor NAE-01/AHU-1.SA-T. A Tridium system might call the equivalent point HVAC/Floor3/AHU1/SupplyAirTemp. A Siemens system might call it B3_L3_AH01_SAT.

Each name is perfectly legible to the engineer who set it up. Each name is completely different. And each name embeds structural assumptions (which NAE, which floor, which AHU) in a flat string that no software can reliably parse without per-site custom rules.

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Independent diagnostics for industrial systems

ZIC Tech is a solo consultancy focused on one thing: making buildings and equipment work better by reading the data they’re already producing.

Most industrial facilities are drowning in sensor data and starving for insight. BAS systems generate millions of data points per day, but the tools to turn that data into actionable diagnostics are either expensive enterprise platforms or one-off engineering spreadsheets. We fill the gap.

Contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Book a discovery call

30 minutes. No pitch deck, no sales follow-up. We talk about your facility, your data, and whether sensor-grounded diagnostics would actually help.

Book a time →

If you prefer email: contact@zic-tech.com

What happens on the call

You describe the facility and the problem (or the goal).
We discuss what data sources exist (BAS, point lists, P&IDs).
We tell you honestly whether our approach fits — and if it doesn’t, we’ll say so.
If it fits, we scope a pilot with a fixed price and clear deliverables.

No follow-up emails. No “let me loop in my manager.” One engineer talking to another.

Equipment Monitoring

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What we do

We instrument critical equipment with continuous data collection and physics-informed anomaly detection. When something changes — a bearing starts degrading, a power converter shifts operating regime, a pump curve drifts — we catch it early and quantify the trajectory.

Applicable equipment

Rotating machinery. Pumps, fans, compressors. Vibration analysis (rainflow counting, spectral decomposition), motor current signature analysis, and operating point tracking.
Power electronics. IGBT modules, inverters, power converters. Thermal cycling damage accumulation, junction temperature estimation, degradation trending.
Heat exchangers. Fouling detection via heat transfer coefficient tracking. UA-value trending against clean baselines.

How it works

The same sensor-grounded approach as our HVAC diagnostics, adapted for non-HVAC assets:

FAQ

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

HVAC Diagnostics

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What we do

We connect directly to your BACnet or Modbus controls, pull live and historical data, and run physics-based diagnostics that catch faults as they develop — not months later during a scheduled audit.

Typical findings

Fouled coils. Heat balance residuals detect coil degradation weeks before occupant complaints. We quantify the energy penalty so you can justify the cleaning.
Stuck or hunting valves. Control valve position vs. coil delta-T reveals valves that aren’t doing what the BAS thinks they’re doing.
Simultaneous heating and cooling. Zone-level energy analysis catches the most expensive HVAC waste pattern, even when the BAS reports no alarms.
Economizer failures. Mixed-air temperature models detect damper failures, broken linkages, and incorrect changeover points.
Sensor drift. Cross-validating redundant sensors and checking them against physics bounds identifies drift before it corrupts control loops.

How it works

Connect. We deploy a small edge device on your OT network. It speaks BACnet/IP, Modbus TCP, or OPC UA. No cloud dependency — data stays on your network until you decide otherwise.
Model. We build a graph of your actual plant from your P&IDs, point lists, and as-built drawings. Not a generic template — your specific AHUs, zones, and piping.
Validate. Physics-based soft sensors (heat balance, mass balance, steady-state detection) run continuously against incoming data. When reality diverges from expectation, we investigate.
Report. You get quantified findings with avoided-cost estimates. Actionable, not academic.

Engagement model

Pilot (1–3 months): 1–3 AHUs, prove the method on your systems, deliver a findings report.
Campus-wide (6–12 months): Full plant coverage, continuous monitoring, quarterly reviews.
Retainer: Ongoing diagnostic coverage with monthly reporting.

Pricing

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

What you pay, what you get

No “contact us for a quote.” Fixed price, clear deliverables, clear timeline.

Diagnostic Pilot — $3,000–5,000

Duration: 4–8 weeks Scope: 1–3 air handling units or equivalent equipment

We’re building our portfolio. You get full-scope diagnostics at a fraction of the typical market rate. In exchange, we publish an anonymized case study of the engagement. Your company name, location, and identifying details stay confidential — the diagnostic methodology and findings are what we write about.