ENERGY INSIGHTS

OPTIMISING HYDRONIC SYSTEMS FOR ENERGY SAVINGS

Tom Pak

May 9th 2012

ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

World's energy consumption 40% of the world's energy consumption is used in buildings*

50% of this is in HVAC systems alone*

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(*) Sources: European Commission EPBD (point 6, pp1) & US Department of Energys Buildings Energy Data Book
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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Energy savings on HVAC in buildings

Building structure
(insulation, double glazing, )

HVAC installation
Use of new technologies System approach of hydronic design Shorter pay-back times

Human factor
Avoid interferences with the HVAC system Educate tenants and maintenance team Never-ending task

Best way to save energy Larger energy savings Long pay-back times

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Building modifications require adaptation or modernization of the HVAC installation to take into account new heat gains/losses
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When modifying a HVAC installation one must take into account the capabilities of people using the installation
ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Energy savings via hydronic optimization

Optimising a building's HVAC system can reduce its energy consumption by 30% :
By avoiding the deterioration of production unit efficiencies, By optimizing the energy efficiency of the hydronic distribution, By guaranteeing a stable and accurate room temperature.
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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

IMPROVING PRODUCTION UNIT EFFICIENCIES

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Chillers
Coefficient of Performance (COP) is used to indicate chiller efficiency:
Condenser

COP =

Pevaporator Pcompressor

2.5K 4K6

Tr

Ts
Evaporator Chilled water

Heat transfer (and thus COP) is good when Log Mean Temperature Difference between water and refrigerant is kept high
Evaporator refrigerant temperature remains constant Supply water temperature Ts is usually kept constant Thus return water temperature Tr must be kept "high" to keep LMTD high

Tr

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Ts
Refrigerant saturated suction temp.

Keeping a high Tr (thus a high T = Ts-Tr) provides higher COP at partial load
ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

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Effect of a decrease of the return water temp. on COP Example : Chiller: 200 tons (703 kW) Water condenser temperatures: 29,5/35C Supply temperature of chilled water Ts : 7C
COP
5,2 5 4,8 4,6 4,4 4,2
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4,6 4,4

4,2 4 10,5

11

11,5

12

12,5

13

Return temp. chilled water Tr [ C]

15%

A reduction of return temperature of chilled water can lead to a 15% drop of the COP
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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Variable flow proportional control

2-way circuit (variable flow)
qp H C STAD

The T through a terminal unit increases when the flow reduces. Thus the return water temperature increases when the flow reduces. Cooling All benefits for chiller COP.

Return temp. Tr

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26,0 24,0 22,0 20,0 18,0 16,0 14,0 12,0 10,0 8,0 6,0 0% 20% 40%

Variable flow circuit

Temperature regime: Ts/Tr/Ti = 7/12/24C

60%

80%

100%

Flow through terminal unit

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Constant flow system proportional control

3-way diverting circuit (constant flow)
qp H STAD-B qb C qs

The T through a terminal unit increases when the flow reduces. But the flow through the terminal unit is reduced by bypassing an increasing fraction of the primary flow (at temperature Ts). Thus the return water temperature decreases when the flow reduces !!!

STAD-P

Constant flow

Variable flow
26,0 24,0 22,0 20,0 18,0 16,0 14,0 12,0 10,0 8,0 6,0 0% 20% 40%

Return temp. Tr

Cooling
Variable flow circuit Constant flow circuit
60% 80% 100%

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Temperature regime: Ts/Tr/Ti = 7/12/24C

Flow through terminal unit

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Variable flow system with 2-way on-off control

When some CV are closed:
there is less total flow and Dp in piping and thus more available Dp everywhere in the system open valves receive a flow that is higher than design flow

At partial load in the system, if a valve is open: q >= qdesign

> qd
open open shut

0 qd
open

> qd

0 qd
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> qd
open

>qd

open shut

open

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

On-off control Flow increase at partial load

Manually balanced variable flow on-off control system 100 identical units; Pump head 150 kPa; Terminal unit 20 kPa; On-off CV 5 kPa
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Total system flow

Temperature regime: Ts/Tr/Ti = 7/12/24C

System load

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At 50% load, the total flow in system reaches 73% of the total design flow. This is a 46% increase w.r.t. the required flow (50%) at 50% load. Seasonal flow increase lead to an estimated increased pumping energy consumption equal to +3% of total plant energy consumption
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3%

ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

On-off control Emission at partial load

120%

At flow that is near design flow, emitted power does not increase much with the flow Control signal switches on/off when room temperature deviates much beyond the thermostat differential
Room t

Emission

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% 140% 160%

Flow

At partial load in the system, if a valve is open:

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Design set-point 24 C

(Troom - Tset-point) >=< Time

q qdesign

P Pdesign

q T P= k

T Tdesign

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Return water temp. degradation

Manually balanced variable flow on-off control system 100 identical units; Pump head 150 kPa; Terminal unit 20 kPa; On-off CV 5 kPa
Return temp. Tr
14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Temperature regime: Ts/Tr/Ti = 7/12/24C

System load

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Below 50% of the load, which represents typically 70% of the cooling season, the return water temperature is degraded by 1.5 to 2C. This will result approximately in a 3 to 4% increase in seasonal chiller energy consumption
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3%

ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Return water temp. proportional vs on-off control

Cooling Temperature regime: Ts/Tr/Ti = 7/12/24C
Proportional control
26,0 24,0 22,0 20,0 18,0 16,0 14,0 12,0 10,0 8,0 6,0 0% 20% 40%
26,0 24,0 22,0 20,0 18,0 16,0 14,0 12,0 10,0 8,0 6,0 0%

On-off control
Return temp. Tr

Return temp. Tr

2-way proportional 3-way proportional

60% 80% 100%

2-way on-off, MBV 3-way on-off, MBV

20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Flow through terminal unit

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System load

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Case Study - Local University campus buildings

Renovation of 2 University buildings with a total of 9840 m2 Installed cooling capacity: Building 1 : 1452 tons refrig. Building 2 : 1730 tons refrig. Work performed during summer 2010 Results compared for Oct.-Nov. 2009 vs 2010 DP controllers paired with manual balancing valves installed

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Local University campus building 1 chiller saving

Chiller Power Input vs. Cooling Load
Power input [kW]

Variable secondary flow with differential pressure bypass

2009 2010

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Dp controllers at on-off control FCU groups and PAU/AHUs and re-balanced Annualized 22% chiller energy saving

Cooling load [kW]

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22%
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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Local University campus building 2 chiller saving

Chiller Power Input vs. Cooling Load
Power input [kW]

Variable flow primarysecondary system

2009

2010

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Addition of Dp controllers at FCU groups zones and pressure independent control valves for PAU/AHU and re-balanced Annualized 16.5% chiller energy saving

Cooling load [kW]

16%

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Case study - business hotel at Sheung Wan

> First LEED and BEAM Plus Platinum certifications of new-built hotel > 38 floors, 274 rooms > Chiller capacity 667 kW x 2 nos > Variable primary flow design > Hydronic balancing design
> Chiller plant balancing > Dp control at each floor and modulating terminals > Balancing and control valve at FCUs
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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Hydronic balancing in variable primary flow

4 Balancing & control valve for proportional balancing

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3 DP stabilization against large Dp fluctuations in part load 1 Balanced chiller plant 2 Proper fail-safe bypass valve sizing and characteristic
ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Computerized hydronic system design

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TA Select 4 hydronic system calculation

ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Computerized hydronic system design

> Pipe sizing per BEC recommendations > Balancing valve sizing and pre-settings for easy and efficient commissioning > Minimum control valve authority checks (suggest > 0.25) to ensure indoor comfort with stable temperature control > Correct Index circuit identification to help determining optimal VFD sensor location and set-point > Pump head optimization:
> Initial : 350 kPa > Select 4 : 236 kPa (-33%) > Final set : 250 kPa (-29%)

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Computerized hydronic system design

> Bypass valve sizing calculation

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Tips for reliable and energy efficient VPF system

> Make use of computerized software for hydraulic design calculations > Chiller plant must be balanced to avoid uneven distribution of flow > Proper bypass valve sizing and select with good rangeabilty, linear characteristic (or equal percentage characterisitic at 0.25 authority) valve > Use of high precision flow meter and local controller to monitor total return flow as fail-safe measure against chiller minimum flow > Use of DP controllers
> to stablize Dp fluctuations to avoid overflow and low dT problems > to maintain good control valve authority necessary for stable temperature control > as flow/DP/DT/energy measuring station for energy audit purpose > Make system sustainable and adaptive to future changes
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> Locate VSP sensor at index circuit and adjust set-point to the DP of the most demanding stablized circuit potentially up to 40% pump energy saving > Make use of computerized balancing method and instrument to produce balancing report without manual record of measurements and verfications

ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Conclusion
Important energy savings can be achieved by taking care of:
Maintaining cold/warm return water temperature to condensing boilers/chillers (~15%), Having an adequate pressurisation avoiding scaling/fouling in boilers/evaporators (~5-10%).

Minimising pumping costs requires having (up to 40% on 7-17% in cooling):

A good pressure maintenance to avoid corrosion leading to aging and fouling, An optimized hydronic distribution design (Dp control), A systematic methodology of balancing and commissioning.

Stable and accurate room t control gives (~5-20%) energy savings by:
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Avoiding oversizing in on-off systems, Using state-of-the-art thermostatic radiator valves, Sizing of modulating control valves for good minimum authority.

The approach "He who can do more can do less" is to be avoided

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE

Copyright TA Hydronics SA. All rights reserved.

garry.chui@tahydronics.com tom.pak@tahydronics.com

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ENGINEERING ADVANTAGE