Designing an Air

Conditioning system
for optimum operation
Prepared by
Franklin Silva
Introduction
The Chilled water system is the single largest
consumer of Electrical Energy in a facility.
The load includes Chillers, Cooling Towers,
Pumps & Air Handling units.
The Electricity consumption varies with the
combination of equipment and its operating
levels
Selection of optimal mix of equipment to match
the load to most efficient operating point is the
objective to conserve energy.
Design
A very accurate heat load is a must.
Choose the best available equipment to match the base
load.
Pressure drops across the evaporator and chilled water
coils should be the lowest possible.
Install accurate temperature controls with capability of
changing the water flow through coils and the air flow.
Recycle condensate by using it for the make up of the
cooling towers
Design Should be based on
operating cost
82.6%
17.4%
Electricity
Plant Room Equipment
Rather than the initial
capital Investment.
Capital investment is
only 17% of the 10 year
life cycle cost.
Heat Load Calculation
Calculate Heat Load
Typical load
Profile
0.00
50.00
100.00
150.00
200.00
250.00
300.00
350.00
400.00
450.00
500.00
8am
9am
10am
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm
6pm
7pm
Calculate the Heat Load
Accurately
Shown is a typical Load Profile of
a factory in Sri Lanka
From this we can determine the
Max / Minimum load so that a
chiller with the most efficient
operating conditions can be
selected.
Determine Max / Min
Chilled water systems
runs at.
6 Hours a day at 400 to
460 Tons
3 Hours at 380 to 390
Tons
2 Hours at 260 Tons
1 Hour at 230 Tons
0.00
50.00
100.00
150.00
200.00
250.00
300.00
350.00
400.00
450.00
500.00
8am
9am
10am
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm
6pm
7pm
Matching a Chiller to the
System
From the Heat Load calculation a chiller / s is
required to run 6 hours at 460 Tons and the other
6 hours at less than 390 Tons.
Our objective is to have Chiller running at its most
optimum under all varying conditions.
For Reliability it is prudent to have two chillers
running in parallel
They should meet the criteria of running at
optimum at all load conditions.
Selecting a Chiller
System Runs most of the time i.e. 6 hours a
day at 460 Tons
Then at 3 Hours at 380 to 390 Tons
Therefore the system should be in excess of
460 Tons
Since that the system requires 460 Tons the
chiller should operate at the best efficiency at
460 Tons
Consider Flexibility &
Reliability
Shown are the
Chiller data any
Manufacturer should
provide for evaluation
High lighted are the data
that should be
Considered for selection.
Start with capacity
required at Optimum
Conditions.
Capacity required is 460
Tons
Chiller Data
Evap Cond
Refrigerant 134a Fluid Water Water
Rated Capacity 260 Tons By weight % 0 0
Input power in KW 145 Tubes 261 260
Voltage 400/3/50 Passes 2 2
Orifice VARV Valve:2 Fouling 0.0001 0.00025
RLA 244 Ent Temp F 54 85
Min CIR 305 Fluid Leavig F 44 94.3
Inrush 920 Fluid flow gpm 624 780
SSS size 14LAK-50 Fluid Press drop 12.3 16.8
Full Load KW/Ton 0.558
Chiller Part Load Data
Load % Cap in Tr Power %
Input
Power in
KW
Chilled
water in
F
Chilled
water
out F
Cond
water in
F
Cond
water
out F
Eff in
KW/Ton
100 260 100 145 54 44 85 94.3 0.558
90 234 82.8 120 53 44 81 89.28 0.513
80 208 69.7 101 52 44 77 84.31 0.486
70 182 59.3 86 51 44 73 79.37 0.473
60 156 51 74 50 44 69 74.46 0.474
50 130 44.1 64 49 44 65 69.56 0.492
40 104 40 58 48 44 65 68.71 0.558
30 78 35.2 51 47 44 65 67.85 0.654
29.8 77.4 35.2 51 46.98 44 65 67.83 0.659
Usually chillers run best at 70% load
In this case also chiller is at the best
efficiency of 0.473 at 70%
Further analyzing the heat load, we find that
the 460 Tons is only for a very short time.
Chillers will run at 400 Tons most of the time.
Therefore considering the cost of the chillers
it is prudent to match to 400 tons and not 460
which is the peak.
Capacity at optimum
400 Tons is the highest average capacity
required.
From the chiller data it is amply evident that
the chiller operates at its best when it is 70%
to 80%.
Therefore chiller capacity required is 400
70 x 100 = 571 or 400 80 x 100 = 500
The chiller can be either 500 Tons or 571
Tons
Selection of the Chiller
Chiller Selection Part II
If a 571 Chiller is selected it will run at 70%
which has an efficiency of 0.473 KW/Ton where
as a 500 Ton is selected it will run at 80% which
has an efficiency of 0.486
500 Ton chiller is cheaper than the 571 Ton
chiller further efficiency difference is only 0.013
KW
A 10 year life cycle costing of the two chillers
will show that it is beneficial to use a 500 Ton
chiller
Final Selection
Considering all what was discussed and reliability it is
best to have 2 x 250 Ton Chillers.
The closest to our requirement from this manufacturer is
260 Tons which in total 2 x 260 = 520 Tons.
We now have the flexibility of running at lowest load at
an efficiency of 0.474 KW/Ton which basically is the best
from the equipment selected
Select the lowest pressure drop through the Evaporator
and Condenser. This will save energy from the pumps.
Other equipment
Having selected the chillers we need to have
the other components also to run efficiently
for the whole system to be efficient. Such as
1. Cooling Towers
2. Water pumps
3. Air Handling units
4. Controls
Cooling Towers
Decrease in condenser
temperature will reduce
the differential
pressure of the
compressor which in
turn reduces the work
done making the
compressor more
efficient
Further savings
Increasing Chilled water
temperature will also
save energy
Increasing chilled water
temperature is
increasing evaporating
temperature
It is reducing the work
done by the compressor
Same chiller simulated
to operate at higher
temps at 46F & 48F
leaving chilled water.
Chiller Part Load Data at 44F Leaving
Load % Cap in Tr Power %
Input
Power in
KW
Chilled
water in
F
Chilled
water
out F
Cond
water in
F
Cond
water
out F
Eff in
KW/Ton
100 260 100 145 54 44 85 94.3 0.558
90 234 82.8 120 53 44 81 89.28 0.513
80 208 69.7 101 52 44 77 84.31 0.486
70 182 59.3 86 51 44 73 79.37 0.473
60 156 51 74 50 44 69 74.46 0.474
50 130 44.1 64 49 44 65 69.56 0.492
40 104 40 58 48 44 65 68.71 0.558
30 78 35.2 51 47 44 65 67.85 0.654
29.8 77.4 35.2 51 46.98 44 65 67.83 0.659
Chiller Part Load Data at 46F Leaving
Load % Cap in Tr Power %
Input
Power in
KW
Chilled
water in
F
Chilled
water
out F
Cond
water in
F
Cond
water
out F
Eff in
KW/Ton
Chiller
Load %
Efficiency
at 44F in
KW/Ton
Efficiency
at 46F in
KW/Ton
Efficiency
at 48F in
KW/Ton 100 260 100 139 55.99 46 85 94.3 0.5345
100 0.558 0.5345 0.508 90 234 83.5 116 54.99 46 81 89.28 0.496
90 0.513 0.496 0.479 80 208 70.5 98 53.99 46 77 84.31 0.486
80 0.486 0.486 0.462 70 182 60.4 84 52.99 46 73 79.35 0.462
70 0.473 0.462 0.456 60 156 52.5 73 51.99 46 69 74.46 0.468
60 0.474 0.468 0.474 50 130 46.8 65 50.99 46 65 69.57 0.567
50 0.492 0.567 0.508 40 104 42.4 59 49.99 46 65 68.72 0.567
40 0.558 0.567 0.596 30.9 80.4 39.6 55 49.09 46 65 67.95 0.684
Chiller Part Load Data at 48F Leaving
Load % Cap in Tr Power %
Input
Power in
KW
Chilled
water in
F
Chilled
water
out F
Cond
water in
F
Cond
water
out F
Eff in
KW/Ton
100 260 100 132 57.99 48 85 94.2 0.508
90 234 84.8 112 56.99 48 81 89.21 0.479
80 208 72.7 96 55.99 48 77 84.26 0.462
70 182 62.9 83 54.99 48 73 79.35 0.456
60 156 56.1 74 53.99 48 69 74.46 0.474
50 130 50 66 52.99 48 65 69.58 0.508
40 104 47 62 52 48 65 68.75 0.596
32.2 83.6 44.7 59 51.21 48 65 68.09 0.706
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Efficiency at 44F in KW/Ton Efficiency at 46F in KW/Ton
Efficiency at 48F in KW/Ton
Basic Facts about Chillers
Chillers consumes the most amount of
energy in any system.
It is in the range of 50% to 60% of the total
energy of the building.
Therefore any saving that can be achieved is
substantial in the overall energy cost.
Lowering the condenser water temp or
increasing the chilled water temp will save
energy. Of course there are limitations.
Selection Criteria of Cooling
Towers
To take advantage of lowering of the condensing
temperature cooling towers should be sized at
least 25% to 30% higher than the chiller heat
rejection.
Cooling tower fans should not be controlled by
VSDs
Reason is that the cooling tower fan motor is
relatively smaller than the compressor motor.
Reduction in condenser water will save energy
from the compressor motor which is far greater
Lowering Condenser
Temperature
Lowering of condenser water can be achieved by over
sizing of cooling towers.
Over sizing cooling towers will also reduce the drift and
evaporation losses.
There is a limit that cooling towers can be oversized.
Condenser return will not go down below the ambient
dew point.
Therefore dew point must be considered when selecting
Cooling tower is the fastest de rating component in the
system.
Why should we Increase
Chilled water Temperature
All Calculations are based on 44F/54F
It does not mean that the chillers should be
run at that temperature all the time.
Chilled water can be increased at low load
situations.
Generally peak time in Sri Lanka is about 6
hours a day.
Rest of the time chillers run at part load.
So the savings can be substantial
How
Slightly oversize AHUs at design stage using
higher chilled water temperature of say 48F
Use BMS to override chilled water control of
the chiller at low load conditions
Performance of the Cooling
Tower
Cooling towers should conform to the following
Evaporation loss should be less than 0.83% of
the circulation
Drift loss should be less than 0.005% of the
circulation.
Noise level should be less than 70 db
Basically sizing of cooling towers is a
compromise between the initial cost of the
cooling towers and running cost of chillers and
cooling towers
Pumps
Size the pumps to take care of the design flow requirements against
friction losses.
Use safety factors for losses across valves and fittings as we are
uncertain and estimated values are used.
Avoid over pumping by trimming the impellors after installation to
bring the flow rates to design.
Over pumping increases the resistance artificially resulting in
inefficient operation
Select pumps at highest efficiency possible at design conditions
It is always better to have few high capacity pumps than many
smaller capacity pumps.
Bigger pumps tends to be more efficient than smaller capacity ones
Variable Flow
Variable flow can be easily achieved in 2 pipe
systems
Variable speed drives should be used in 2
pipe systems to reduce the flow rate by
reducing the pump speed to match the
reduced flow require due to closure of
modulating valves
A decoupler shall be used where single set of
pumps are used in a 2 pipe system.
Variable Air Flow
Incorporating VSD to fans will save energy
VSD can be controlled by static pressure only in
the case of VAVs
In constant flow system static pressure control
does not serve any purpose.
In such cases two thermostat should be used.
One for the supply air to control the chilled water
flow through and other preferably a multi sensor
thermostat to control the room temperature by
adjusting the VSD
Selection of Air Handling Units
If manufacturers selection program is available
run several times to make sure that the optimum
unit is selected.
Select the lowest water pressure drop through
the cooling coil.
Select AHUs at 48F chilled water inlet.
Try to limit one AHU per zone
Include mixing box so that fresh air and return
air can be modulated to reduce CO2 level
Air Handling Unit
Fan
Vibration Isolators
Cooling coil
Filters
Air Distribution
Power absorbed by the fan depends on the air flow it
needs to deliver against system pressure.
Reduce the back pressure as much as possible.
Connection to the AHU is as important as the duct.
Remember to strictly follow the recommended
connecting methods to the AHUs.
Controls
Controls must be accurate.
A BMS may be installed to control zones as
well as to predict future requirement after
analyzing Climatological Historical data.
Incorporate demand limiting to help maintain
maximum power demand below a set target
LEED requires multi sensor thermostats.
What Chiller to use
Always analyze part load
Use the best part load chiller to match your heat
load.
A Centrifugal chiller is used generally in
situations where the load is steady as they are
more efficient at almost full load conditions.
A Screw chiller is use under varying conditions
as the have a almost linear part load efficiency
Take Note
Never select equipment just because a
manufacturer recommends it.
Recommend what is best suited for your
project.
Use Air cool chillers unless there is scarcity
of water for make up of cooling towers.
Use Absorption chillers only where waste
heat is available or cheap heating is available
as they are less efficient.
Night Precooling
Night precooling is circulation of cool air
during night time hours.
The structure will serve as a heat sink
Will reduce pull down cooling load
Will reduce contamination
Only energy cost is the power requirement for
the ventilation fans which is minute compared
with the energy consumed by the Air
Conditioning system
Green / Sustainable Design
Minimize natural resource consumption
through efficient utilization.
Minimize emission that negatively impact our
environment.
Minimize solid waste and liquid effluents.
Minimal negative impact on site ecosystem
Maximum quality of indoor environment.
Conclusion
Energy Savings is a On Going Committed
Process
Energy Saving needs dedicated people to
actively monitor the performance and keep
the system fine tuned.
Energy saving should be recognized by the
management and suitably rewarded if not fine
tuning will be very short term.