Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems: Commercial HVAC Energy Saving

By Nate Jabs

Introduction
According to William Goetzler, a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air onditioning !ngineers "Goetzler#, $ariable refrigerant flo% "&R'# systems, %hich %ere introduced more than () years ago, ha$e become *o*ular in many countries, yet they are relati$ely un+no%n in the ,nited States "Goetzler#- &R' systems are a great %ay for large commercial buildings to sa$e u* to .)/ less energy than con$entional heating, $entilation, and air conditioning "H&A # systems, de*ending on the climates the systems are located in- 0he &R' system offers commercial buildings ductless heating and air conditioning that can *ermit a large number of indoor units to o*erate off one outdoor unit- 0his is beneficial, because most large commercial buildings ha$e multi*le tenants or rooms that re1uire different climate control needs- In this re*ort I %ill discuss current H&A technologies that are being used in commercial buildings, ho% $ariable refrigerant flo% systems %or+, and the benefits of $ariable refrigerant flo% systems-

urrent H&A 0echnologies

0here are three main H&A technologies that most ,nited States commercial buildings use to *ro$ide multi*le tenants %ith the o*tion of controlling their o%n tem*eratures in their s*ace- 0he first H&A technology is a constant2$olume " &# $ariable2 tem*erature system- In & $ariable2tem*erature systems, there is one central air2handling unit "AH,# that deli$ers a constant $olume of air to the s*ace through air ducts- 0he air tem*erature is $aried by controlling the ca*acity of the central cooling coil "&A& Systems#- 0he do%nfall of this system is that it can res*ond to the demands of only one thermostat, and if a building has many s*aces %ith di$erse cooling needs, each must be deli$ered by its o%n system- A $ariation of the & single zone system is the & terminal reheat system- 0he & terminal reheat system is ca*able of *roducing su**ly tem*eratures for $arious s*ace cooling loads- 0his is done by either reheating or mi3ing the cool *rimary air to *roduce su**ly tem*eratures needed to balance the $arious

(VAV Systems)

s*ace cooling loads- In order to do this, the terminal reheat systems must ha$e heating coils at each s*ace to tem*er the air to satisfy the s*ace load- But, this method is not $ery energy efficient and there is nearly a constant refrigeration load "&A& Systems#A $ariation and more energy efficient method of the & system is a $ariable2air2$olume "&A&# system- A &A& system one AH, su**lies *rimary air to the s*ace through air ducts at a constant tem*erature, but it also $aries the airflo% to maintain the re1uired s*ace at all load conditions- 0his is done by the use of a &A& terminal unit that is controlled by multi*le thermostats by each indi$idually controlled s*ace as seen in 'igure 4- 0he &A& system *ro$ides energy sa$ings because the air $olume reduction creates an o**ortunity to reduce fan energy re1uired to mo$e the air, %hile also reducing refrigeration energy "&A& Systems#(VAV Systems)

Ho% &ariable Refrigerant 'lo% Systems Wor+

According to Ammi Amarnath from the !lectric 5o%er Research Institute and 6orton Blatt, an ASHRA! fello%, &R' technology uses smart integrated controls, &S7s, refrigerant *i*ing, and heat reco$ery to *ro$ide *roducts %ith attributes that include energy efficiency, fle3ible o*eration, ease of installation, and zone control "Amarnath and Blatt#- ,nli+e the common systems & and &A& systems *re$iously mentioned, the &R' systems are enhanced ductless multi2s*lit systems- 7uctless multi2s*lit systems %or+ by circulating refrigerant to indoor units rather than circulating air li+e ducted systems- 0he heat is transferred by the refrigerant to the indoor units, %hich are either e$a*orators or condensers- When the indoor units are being used to cool they act as e$a*orators, and %hen they are heating they act as condensers "Amarnath and Blatt#Although these multi2s*lit systems are ad$ertised as ductless systems, there are still needs for $entilation ducts- &entilation ducts are much smaller than su**ly and return air ducts, and can be ran in the same s*ace the refrigerant *i*ing0he &R' systems are +no%n to be enhanced ductless multi2s*lit systems, allo%ing more indoor units to be connected to each outdoor unit and *ro$iding simultaneous heating and cooling and heat reco$ery "Amarnath and Blatt#- Simultaneous heating and cooling allo%s for each of the indi$idual units to either be heating or cooling at the same time by using heat reco$ery- 0he heat reco$ery also reduces energy use during the heating season,nli+e traditional multi2s*lit system, &R' systems use one set of *i*ing for each outdoor unit and su**lied to all of the indoor units- 0his reduces the amount of *i*ing needed for the system, %hile also allo%ing for more indoor units to o*erate off of one outdoor unit-

"Amarnath and Blatt# 0he term &R' refers to the ability of the system to control the amount of refrigerant flo%ing to each of the e$a*orators, allo%ing for many e$a*orators of different ca*acities "Amarnath and Blatt#- 0he flo% of the refrigerant to the e$a*orators is controlled by $ariable fre1uency dri$es "&'7#, %hich is a +ey ad$antage to &R' systems- A t%o2*i*e or a three2*i*e system can be used for the &R' systems- 0%o2*i*e systems consist of a cooling *i*e and a heating *i*e and are used %hen all zones in the facilities %ill re1uire heating or all zones %ill re1uire cooling at the same time- A three2*i*e system, %hich adds a return *i*e, %or+s best %hen some s*aces need to be cooled and some need to be heated during the same time "Amarnath and Blatt#- In order for &R' systems to *ro$ide heat reco$ery, heat e3changers are used to e3tract the su*erheat from the units in the cooling mode and route it into refrigerant entering a heated zone "Amarnath and Blatt#-

Benefits of &ariable Refrigerant 'lo% Systems

0here are many benefits to $ariable refrigerant flo% systems, including8 energy efficiency, fle3ible o*eration, ease of installation, and zone control- ,nli+e ducted systems, %hich are $ery bul+y and re1uire a lot of hea$y lifting, &R' systems are much easier to install- &R' systems are light%eight and modular, allo%ing for each module to

be trans*orted easily and can fit in ele$ators- 0he light%eight of the system may reduce re1uirements for structural reinforcement on roofs, and since on $entilation duct%or+ is needed building heights and costs %ill be reduced "Goetzler#- 0hese units come in modular designs, allo%ing u* to () indoor units to be su**lied by a single condensing unit- 0his modularity ma+es it easy to ada*t the H&A systems to e3*ansion or reconfiguration of the s*ace, %hich may re1uire addition ca*acity or different terminal units- With the &R' system being able to control many different zones, e$erybody %ill be comfortable in the en$ironment that they set each indi$idual indoor to0he energy efficiency of the &R' system deri$es from se$eral factors- According to Goetzler, 90he &R' essentially eliminates duct losses, %hich are often estimated to be bet%een 4)/ to ()/ of total airflo% in a ducted system- &R' systems ty*ically include t%o to three com*ressors, one of %hich is $ariable s*eed, in each condensing unit, enabling %ide ca*acity modulation- 0his a**roach yields high *art2load efficiency, %hich translates into high seasonal energy efficiency, because H&A systems ty*ically s*end most of their o*erating hours in the range of .)/ to :)/ of ma3imum ca*acity-; 0here ha$e been multi*le com*arisons bet%een &R' systems and ty*ical H&A systems used, sho%ing that the &R' system is more energy efficient- A roofto* &A& and a &R' system %ere both installed on different sides of the same building, %ith the &R' system<s energy consum*tion being a**ro3imately =:/ "Goetzler#- &R' system<s can sa$e u* to =)/ to .)/ of the energy used by a chiller2based system for a ())2ton cooling system, and can e$en sa$e u* to >)/ during %inter in Brazil "Amarnath and Blatt#- 0hese sa$ings do de*end a lot on the climate that the &R' systems are installed in- Sa$ings are estimated u* to 4?/ in the ,nited States "Amarnath and Blatt#- 0he energy sa$ing in the ,S may not be as high as other *laces around the %orld, but %ith more buildings installing &R' systems and the technology ad$ancing e$ery day, the &R' efficiency %ill begin to sho% high efficiency results $ery soon in the ,nited States-

onclusion
&ariable refrigerant flo% systems ha$e been %idely used around the %orld for commercial buildings, but they are $ery uncommon in the ,nited States- &R' systems is a ductless system that *ro$ides heat transfer by circulating refrigerants to multi*le indoor units- 0his technology allo%s each indi$idual indoor unit to be controlled using its o%n thermostat, enabling the comfort for many different s*aces in commercial buildings- &R' systems- 0he &R' systems *ro$ide many benefits, including8 energy efficiency, fle3ible

o*eration, ease of installation, and zone control- 0he energy efficiency for &R' systems has been recorded as high as >)/ less energy consum*tion than con$entional H&A systems- 7ue to the climate in the ,nites States, &R' systems are estimated to reduce energy consum*tion by 4?/- With the *o*ularity of the systems gro%ing, the energy efficiency of &R' systems in the ,nited States %ill begin to rise-

References
Amarnath A, and 6orton Blatt- 9&ariable Refriferant 'lo%8 Where, Why, and Ho%-; Amarnath and Blatt (?-( "()):#8 ?.2>)- Academic Search Complete- Web- ( 7ec()4=Goetzler, William- @&ariable Refrigerant 'lo% Systems-@ Goetzler .A-. "())B#8 (.2=4- Academic Search Complete- Web- () No$- ()4=9&A& Systems8 A 0rane Air onditioning linic-; NJA0 - American Standards Inc. "())4#- Web- ( 7ec- ()4=-