An early morning sunrise appears above a remote community in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada.

Frozen North: Mesabi Radiators Keep Industrial-Grade Gen Sets North of the Arctic Circle Operating at the Perfect Temperature

Think north. Think way, way, way up north. Think communities and oil and gas operations operating on the coast of Alaska and Canada – on the shores of the Arctic Ocean – where it’s not uncommon for temperatures to dip down to minus 60 degrees on cold winter nights.

It’s here, in this challenging yet incredibly beautiful part of the world that Mesabi radiators help Native-American and Indigenous Canadian communities such as First Nations, Inuit and Metis thrive all year long.

In these communities, electricity provides the power necessary to keep the lights on when the only light in the sky for several months out of every year are the Northern Lights. Electrical power also provides the means to operate equipment, such as well pumps, as well as heaters to keep homes and buildings warm and toasty inside.

According to the Alaska Center for Power and Energy, about 200 communities in Alaska are not connected to the power grid and rely on diesel generators to power their micro-grids. In Canada, the government’s agency, Canada Energy Regulator, says that more than 280 remote, off-grid communities – affecting more than 200,000 people – rely on diesel generators.

An early morning sunrise appears above a remote community in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada.
An early morning sunrise appears above a remote community in Pangnirtung, Nunavut, Canada.

Because of the remoteness of these communities, shipping coal in to fuel a power plant is out of the question. And while alternatives are being explored, such as solar energy and wind power, for most of these communities diesel-powered, industrial-sized generator sets are relied upon.

The challenge in using diesel-gen sets is making them operate as efficiently as possible to get every cent out of the fuel. So, when a radiator is underperforming on one of these gen sets, they’re not only costing a community valuable money, they’re putting a community at risk – especially in the middle of the winter when cold temperatures and wind can turn deadly.

The problem is, diesel fuel is not only expensive, its expensive to transport.

Both the gen sets and diesel fuel need to be hauled in on 18-wheel trucks and trailers during the coldest part of the winter when these trucks are able to transport fuel and other goods along the infamous ice roads that cross lakes, rivers and frozen permafrost. During the summer months, fuel can be brought in by plane.

The number of generator sets will vary by community, typically based on the number of households in that community and other activities, such as the need for electricity for community buildings or businesses. Generators are rated based in megawatts, as in the amount of electrical output that a generator set is capable of producing.

So, for example, noted Tim Denehy, sales manager with L&M Radiator, a community might have two to eight generators that each have a large 16-cylinder engine. Unlike your car engine, which you may only operate a couple hours per day, these generator sets are running 24/7 hours per day, 365 days a year. And that’s why these small communities need at least two or more to ensure that they have a steady, reliable source of power all year long, even on the coldest days of the year.

The far north community of Qikiqtarjuaq, Broughton Island, Nunavut, Canada.
The far north community of Qikiqtarjuaq, Broughton Island, Nunavut, Canada.

Because of the extreme temperature range throughout the year, from minus 60 Fahrenheit to 47 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of summer (that’s considered “hot”), your average radiator won’t cut it in these conditions.

“A conventional radiator is typically welded or bonded together,” said Denehy, “The extreme cold puts a lot of stress on those joints. The metal material is literally flexing and contracting. Over time, that causes cracking and leaking, and then one day, radiator failure.”

But not with Mesabi radiators. That’s because Mesabi radiators by L&M Radiator feature a unique design that many have tried to imitate but none have successfully matched. Designed with a patented rubber seal, placed at both ends of a radiator tube, Mesabi radiators resist the effects of the cold and wind.

Another key factor is the use of materials. Many conventional radiators used on gen sets rely on aluminum tubes. Bad idea.

“In some of these communities, they will keep a gen set on standby so they can do maintenance on the other gen set,” said Denehy. “Unfortunately, when you do that, the tubes can corrode from the inside out. In other words, they can literally rot, and then they’ll leak. Because aluminum is a less expensive material, many gen sets are made in the factory with aluminum tubes in their radiators.”

“More often than not, Mesabi radiators are brought in when the conventional radiators fail,” Denehy added. “For those cold extremes, we strongly recommend the use of copper tubes – for remote communities in the interior (including remote mines and oil/gas drilling operations) and brass for those communities on or near the ocean (because of the salt in the air).”

So how long will a Mesabi radiator last in the extreme cold of northern Alaska or northern Northwest Territories, Nunavut or Labrador?

In a number of documented cases, the same Mesabi radiator is used on a rebuilt or completely new generator. In other words, the Mesabi radiator has outlasted one or more generators.

“The average generator has a life of between 10 to 15 years in those conditions,” noted Denehy.

“With proper care and maintenance, we have Mesabi radiators that have been in operation for 30 to 40 years,” said Denehy.

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