ARX: Replace Compressed Air Vortex Tubes with Chilled Water Cooling Units

ARC: 2.7143.3 Electrical Energy Annual Savings CO2 Resource Dollars (tonnes) 975,467 1,017 $46,822 Project Cost Capital $9,000 Other $9,000 Total $18,000 Simple Payback 5 months

Analysis After the bottles are heated and blown to shape, they need to be cooled quickly so they retain their shape. Currently, six production lines use vortex tubes for this purpose. Vortex tubes effectively cool the bottles, but are relatively energy inefficient. They separate compressed air into hot and cold streams. The hot steam is dumped to the plant, and the cool air is used for cooling the bottles. A schematic of a vortex tube is shown below. Compressed air enters through the top port, hot air is rejected through the right port and cool air is supplied through the left port.

Source: http://www.exair.com/vortextube/vt_page.htm In the following analysis, we estimate that the power required to generate cooling with vortex tubes is about 29 kW/ton. The power required to generate chilled water in the plant, including chilled water pumps, cooling tower pumps and cooling tower fans is about 1 kW/ton. Thus, cooling with vortex tubes requires about 29 times more electrical power than cooling using the chilled water. Recommendation We recommend that you consider replacing the vortex tubes with small cooling units that blow air over chilled water coils. Estimated Savings Based on the Moss Equation (Ingersoll-Rand Condensed Air Power Data, 1998), the volumetric flow rate of compressed air though holes can be calculated as:
(scfm) = 8.8356 x D2 (in) x P (psia) V

where P (psia) = P (psig) + 14.7 psi. According to the management, plant operating pressure is about 130 psig. The compressed air line into each vortex tube is 3/8. Therefore, the airflow through each vortex tube would be about:
V
1/8

= 8.8356 x [3/8]2 x [130 psig + 14.7 psi] = 180 scfm/vortex

This result compares well with published performance data for vortex tubes. For example, the performance specifications for EXAIR vortex tubes shown below, report that model 3299 uses 150 scfm of compressed air at 100 psig to produce 10,200 Btu/hr of cooling. The 180 scfm estimated above is consistent with this rating since the plant compressed air is at 130 psig.

Source: http://www.exair.com/vortextube/vt_page.htm Centrifugal air compressors produce about 5 scfm/hp Based on the performance data shown above, the electrical power per ton of cooling from a vortex tube is about: [150 scfm / 5 scfm/hp x 0.75 kW/hp / 90%] / [10,200 Btu/hr / 12,000 Btu/ton-hr] = 29 kW/ton The power required to generate chilled water in the plant, including chilled water pumps, cooling tower pumps and cooling tower fans is about 1 kW/ton. Thus, cooling with the vortex tubes uses about 29 times more electrical power than cooling using the chilled water system. Thus, we recommend that you replace the vortex tubes with small cooling units that blow air over chilled water coils. Management indicated that 4 out of the 6 production lines with vortex tubes are on at any given time. If so, the total airflow through all the vortex tubes would be about: 4 vortex x 180 scfm/vortex = 720 scfm Air compressor motors are typically 90% efficient, and we estimate that the centrifugal compressor that supplies the compressed air to these lines produces about 5 scfm per rated horsepower. Thus, the electrical power savings would be about:

(720 scfm) / (5 scfm/hp) x (0.75 kW/hp) / 90% = 120 kW The plant operates for about 8,568 hours per year. The total energy and costs savings from eliminating compressed air use on these production lines would be: 120 kW x 8,568 hr/yr = 1,028,160 kWh/yr Based on EXAIR performance specifications for model 3299, and considering that the each vortex tube uses 180 scfm, the total cooling generated by the vortex tubes is about: 4 tubes x 10,200 Btu/hr-tube x 180 scfm / 150 scfm / 12,000 Btu/ton-hr = 4.1 tons Assuming that the fans for the small cooling units would consume 0.5 kW per ton of cooling, the electricity required to provide cooling using the plants chilled water system and small cooling units would be about: 4.1 tons x (1 kW/ton + 0.5 kW/ton) x 8,568 hours/year = 52,693 kWh/yr Thus, the electricity savings would be about: 1,028,160 kWh/yr - 52,693 kWh/yr = 975,467 kWh/yr 975,467 kWh/yr x $0.048 /kWh = $46,822 /yr Annual CO2 emissions by the utility company would be reduced by about: 975,467 kWh /year x 2.3 lb CO2 /kWh / 2,205 lb/tonne 1,017 tonnes-CO2 Estimated Implementation Cost If a small chilled water cooling system could be designed and installed for $3,000 each, the total implementation cost would be about: 6 units x $3,000 /unit = $18,000. We estimate that about 50% of the cost would be for materials and 50% for labor. Estimated Simple Payback ($18,000 / $46,822 /year) x 12 months/year = 5 months