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Critique of the Design and Operation of Sustainable Air-

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 55

Critique of the Design and Operation of

Sustainable Air-cooled Chillers in
Commercial Buildings
F.W. Yu, K.T. Chan, R.K.Y. Sit, and J. Yang

ABSTRACT

Where water shortage is concerned, air-cooled chillers are typically

installed to provide cooling energy in commercial buildings with signif-
icant electricity consumption. This study investigates performance data
and technical specifications on a wide range of air-cooled chiller prod-
ucts. The coefficient of performance (COP) of the chillers at full load
operation ranges from 2.4 to 3.7, with 2.9, 3.1 and 3.3 in the 25th, 50th and
75th percentiles, respectively. A survey on national standards and guide-
lines for the energy performance of air-cooled chillers shows that the
minimum required COPs lie between 2.4-3.1 at full load operation. This
suggests that over 50% of the existing products can meet the require-
ment and more stringent control should be in place to boost the use of
high efficiency chillers. Control algorithms should be further exploited
to judge if the chillers operate with desirable performance under part
load conditions. Advanced controls are seldom applied to optimize their
performance at part load operation.

INTRODUCTION

The operation of heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrig-

eration (HVAC&R) systems is one of the critical factors affecting the en-
ergy performance of buildings [1-4]. Chillers within HVAC&R systems
are widely used to deliver cooling energy (in the form of chilled water)
to medium- and large-scale commercial buildings. Water-cooled chill-
ers have higher energy performance compared with air-cooled chillers.
Yet air-cooled chillers still need to be designed and operated for regions
with potential water shortage problems. Furthermore, the design and
56 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

operation of air-cooled chillers could be simpler as there is no evapo-

rative cooling tower and condenser water pump [5]. The operation of
air-cooled chillers could consume over 40% of the total electricity by
commercial buildings in sub-tropical regions [6]. To enhance the sustain-
ability of commercial buildings with air-cooled chillers, it is desirable to
identify their energy performance and examine how their highest per-
formance can be achieved through advanced and optimal controls [4].
Chan et al. [7] reviewed the problem of excessive redundant capac-
ity in multiple chiller systems and proposed a just-in-demand principle
to design a chiller system with improved performance through risk-
based preventive maintenance. Some capacity control techniques and
advanced controls were discussed for air-cooled screw chillers. On the
other hand, thermal energy storage has long been developed with chiller
systems to get benefits of shifting peak cooling loads and enhancing sys-
tem performance during off-peak periods [8-10]. It is favorable to ap-
ply thermal energy storage when an electricity tariff scheme poses high
charges on the peak demand and on-peak periods.
To successfully implement these design and operation strategies, it is
important to identify the performance of air-cooled chillers when running
under actual operating conditions. Such identification would help evalu-
ate their life cycle energy performance. Yet there is no large-scale survey
on the energy performance of air-cooled chillers under different operat-
ing conditions. It remains to be ascertained how the nominal performance
data should be used to evaluate the actual energy performance of chiller
systems in operation. This critique is associated with a series of research
work on simulation and analysis of air-cooled chiller systems [11-26].
This study will demonstrate performance data of a wide range of
air-cooled chiller products. The specification of chiller energy perfor-
mance under standard rating conditions and assumed actual working
conditions will be explained. The correlation between performance pa-
rameters of the surveyed chillers will be discussed. An analysis will be
carried out to examine how well the current products comply with the
minimum energy performance requirements by standards and guide-
lines. Operational practices and constraints of the current products
will be described. Discussion will be given on the implementation of
advanced and optimal controls to existing air-cooled chillers. Recom-
mendations will be made on how to rate and assess their energy perfor-
mance under actual operating conditions and how to widen application
of advanced and optimal controls.
 57

SURVEY ON CURRENT AIR-COOLED CHILLER PRODUCTS

A survey was conducted on chiller catalogues and specifications

from six major manufacturers—Carrier, Daikin, Hitachi, McQuay, Trane
and York—where their products are used nationwide. As Table 1 illus-
trates, the survey covered air-cooled chillers with three common com-
pressor types (scroll, screw and centrifugal) and three common refrig-
erant types (134a, 410a and 407c). There were 315 products surveyed in
total. Screw chillers are the mainstream products, accounting for 74.3%;
23.2% are scroll chillers; and the remaining 2.5% are centrifugal chill-
ers. This follows somewhat the market trend on the dominance of air-
cooled screw chillers reported in reference [5]. Regarding the refrigerant
type, 60.3% of the surveyed chillers used R134a, followed by 22.2% us-
ing R407c and 17.5% using R410a. The major use of R134a for air-cooled
chillers is associated with its developed application as a replacement of
R12. An attempt was made to gather comprehensive performance data
on various combinations of compressor and refrigerant types from each
of the manufacturers. Yet it is impossible to find a given capacity with all
types from all the manufacturers, as their production line may vary from
time to time for their research and development needs. Moreover, differ-
ent manufacturers may develop their flagship products for the market.
No direct comparison was therefore made between the performances of
the chiller products from different manufacturers. The range of rated full
load capacities of all the products is 13.1-1945.0 kW. The rated full load
condition refers to a temperature of chilled water supplied at 7oC and a
temperature of air entering the condenser at 35oC. It is widely used to
specify a full load (or nominal) COP based on standard rating conditions
in the AHRI Standard 550/590 by Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrig-
eration Institute (AHRI) [27]. Under the full load condition, the range of
coefficient of performances (COPs) for each model is shown in Table 1.
A COP is defined as the cooling capacity output in kW over the power
input in kW and a higher COP means higher energy performance. The
power input included the compressor power, the power of condenser
fans, and control devices.
The actual performance of chillers would differ greatly from the
full load COP as they operate under part load conditions with diverse
ambient temperatures for most of the time. Among the models surveyed,
Hitachi provided part load performance data for screw chillers with the
model series of RCUE, as shown in Table 2. For each ambient tempera-
58 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

Table 1. Extent of air-cooled chiller products reviewed.

ture, the cooling capacity, the power input and the COP are presented
in percentages of their full load values in the rated full load condition.
Interpolation may be used to predict the COP within a certain interval
of percentage full load. Based on these data, the actual part load perfor-
mance of chillers can be verified.
Using a comprehensive set of data shown in Table 2 poses com-
plexity in ascertaining which chiller is more energy efficient than the
others at part load operation. Alternatively, an integrated part load val-

Table 2. Extract of part load performance data of screw chillers with model
series of RCUE from Hitachi
 59

ue (IPLV) has been developed to assess the part load performance of

chillers. The AHRI standard 550/590 [27] specifies part load rating con-
ditions with a positive linear relationship between the percentage loads
(25-100% full load) and condenser fluid temperatures (12.8-35oC for air
and 18.3-29.4oC for water). The IPLV formula given in Eq. (1) is an ag-
gregate COP for the part load operation of chillers at four specific per-
centage loads. The weightings for COPs at different percentage loads are
based on common building operation and climate conditions for 29 cities
in the United States. On the other hand, chiller manufacturers participat-
ing in the Eurovent Certification Programme [28] specify an integrated
energy efficiency index called European Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ra-
tio, ESEER, which is analogue to IPLV. The coefficients in ESEER are dif-
ferent from the IPLV ones as ESEER represents the universe of buildings
and climates in the European Union.

IPLV = 0.01 COP100% + 0.42 COP75% + 0.45 COP50% + 0.12 COP25% [27] (1)

ESEER = 0.03 COP100% + 0.33 COP75% + 0.41 COP50% + 0.23 COP25% [28] (2)

Although the IPLV and ESEER facilitate comparison between part

load performances of different chiller products, it cannot reflect the ac-
tual part load operation of chiller systems with different designs and
climatic conditions. While open access performance data are found to
be insufficient, manufacturers have sophisticated models and detailed
performance data to predict the actual performance of a chiller system
with specific design.

STATISTICAL RESULTS OF CHILLER PERFORMANCE DATA

A total of 315 sets of performance data was gathered from the sur-
veyed chillers. Each set of performance data refers to a given chiller ca-
pacity at a chilled-water supply temperature of 7oC and a condenser air
entering temperature of 35oC, along with the following 14 items: power
input (including compressor, fan and control power), COP, IPLV (if avail-
able), refrigerant type, compressor type, number of compressors, num-
ber of refrigeration circuits, rated power of each condenser fan, number
of fans, total fan power, total airflow rate, brand and model number.
60 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

Full load COP and IPLV

Figure 1 shows percentile graphs of the full load COP and IPLV
for scroll chillers, screw chillers, centrifugal chillers and all the chillers.
Based on the rightmost graphs, screw chillers tend to have a higher full
load COP and IPLV among the products surveyed because they domi-
nate the current market and they are mainline products by all the man-
ufacturers. For all the sampled chillers in the percentile graph, the full
load COPs are 2.9 at the 25th percentile, 3.1 at the 50th percentile and 3.3
at the 75th percentile. These results could form a reference to develop
minimum required full load COP in standards and guidelines for chiller
systems. A lenient requirement may call for a full load COP at the lower
percentile while a strict requirement may consider a full load COP at the
higher percentile. Based on the COPs at different percentiles, an efficien-
cy classification scheme can be formed to label chillers with different

Figure 1. Percentile graphs for full load COP and IPLV of sampled chillers
 61

efficiency classes. This helps system designers to select more energy effi-
cient chillers and phase out sub-standard products.
The IPLV data for centrifugal chillers were absent because they
were not available from the chiller catalogues. Compared to the full load
COP plots, the rightward shift of the IPLV plots suggests that the aggre-
gate COP at part load operation is even higher than the corresponding
full load COP. This is not the case based on some field investigations that
the seasonal COP of chillers under year-round operation is always lower
than the full load COP because of the reduced compressor efficiency at
part load conditions with high condensing pressure [15,16]. The IPLV
calculated with higher COPs at part load, indeed, is based on two un-
realistic assumptions: the condensing pressure drops with the entering
condenser air temperature and the entering condenser air temperature
reduces linearly with the chiller load.
It is worth examining how the surveyed chillers comply with rel-
evant standards and guidelines. Tian et al. [33] carried out a survey on
water-cooled chillers and their efficiency status with reference to China’s
national standard GB19577-2004 [34]. This study considers a list of na-
tional standards and guidelines governing the energy performance of
commercial buildings and their chiller systems, as shown in Table 3. This
list could cover nationwide chiller systems, and the requirements of min-
imum required full load COP and IPLV are summarized in Tables 4 and
5. The range of minimum required full load COPs is 2.4-3.06. Standards
with regular updates tend to have a tighter requirement. The lower limit
of 2.4 is too lenient, as almost all the surveyed chillers can comply with
this. Around half of the surveyed chillers can meet the upper limit of
3.06. It is possible to increase the minimum required full load COP to 3.3
(at the 75th percentile) which corresponds to the top 25% of the surveyed
chillers, in order to strengthen control over the energy efficiency of chill-
ers. This control does not place constraints on the selection of chiller
capacity from different manufacturers. The minimum required IPLV
ranges from 3.7 to 4.1. Based on the percentile graph in Figure 1, only up
to 30% of the surveyed chillers fail to meet the minimum required IPLVs.
The upper limit of 4.1 could be considered for the minimum IPLV along
with a minimum full load COP of 3.3 to allow flexibility to select the top
25% of the surveyed chillers to meet the requirement. It is not preferable
to set both the minimum full load COP and IPLV at the 75th percentile;
this would limit the selection of chillers, as only 2.9% of the surveyed
chillers can meet both the criteria.
 62

Table 3. List of standards and guidelines for commercial buildings and their chiller systems.
Energy Engineering
Vol. 112, No. 3
2015
 63

Table 4. Minimum full load COP for air-cooled chillers by different standards
and guidelines.

Table 5. Minimum IPLVs for air-cooled chillers by different standards and

guidelines.

Correlation Analysis between Performance Parameters

It is worth examining how the condenser parameters influence the
full load COP and IPLV. As the total heat rejection airflow increases with
the full load capacity to maintain a heat rejection rate, it is normalized
by the full load capacity in the correlation analysis. Figure 2 shows that
the total airflow per cooling capacity is designed at 0.04-0.21 L/s⋅kW.
This wide range suggests that the temperature variation at the condens-
er is quite different from one model to another. No obvious correlation is
observed between the full load COP (or IPLV) and the total airflow per
cooling capacity.
Based on the surveyed chillers, the total condenser fan power ac-
counts for 3.1-18.0% of the total compressor power and is a component
of power input in evaluating the full load COP and IPLV. A correlation
study was made between the total fan power, the full load COP and
IPLV. Figure 3 shows that the full load COP and IPLV could vary a lot at
a given total fan power per cooling capacity.
Figure 2. 64
Correlation
between the
full load COP
or IPLV and
total airflow
per cooling
Energy Engineering

capacity

Figure 3.
Correlation
between the
full load COP
or IPLV and
total fan pow-
er per cooling
capacity
Vol. 112, No. 3
2015
 65

DISCUSSION OF DIFFERENT INFLUENCING PARAMETERS

Existing Control Algorithms on Condensing Temperature

The controllability of condensing temperature dictates the trade-off
between compressor power and condenser fan power and, in turn, in-
fluences the way to maximize chiller COP in any given operating condi-
tion. Air-cooled chillers are typically designed with a certain number of
constant-speed condenser fans for heat rejection. Based on experimental
tests of an existing air-cooled chiller in references [21,24], certain fixed
setpoints for the condensing temperature are used to stage condenser
fans for all operating conditions. Specifically, one more group of fans
will be staged when the monitored condensing temperature exceeds its
setpoint of, say, 45oC. This setpoint is related to a design outdoor tem-
perature of 35oC and the condenser capacity designed with a 10oC dif-
ference between the condensing temperature and outdoor temperature
at the full load condition. Under head pressure control, the condensing
temperature is not controlled perfectly at its setpoint, but it hovers above
the outdoor temperature by various degrees. The condenser fan power
is kept low, but with high compressor power for most of the operating
time. Optimal control of condensing temperature cannot be achieved
at part load operation. The condensing temperature could hover above
45oC in varying degrees in response to the decreased outdoor tempera-
ture and chiller part load ratio (PLR). Simulation results of the changing
condensing temperature of an air-cooled chiller under head pressure
control are given in Figure 4 [16].

Figure 4. Change of condensing temperature for an air-cooled chiller [16]

66 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

A rather low setpoint of about 21oC for condensing temperature

is considered in some existing chillers to allow all the condenser fans to
be staged continuously and hence to allow the condensing temperature
to hover more closely above the outdoor temperature. This helps lower
the compressor power but with maximum fan power for most of the
operating time; yet, this control is not optimized for maximum COP. The
lowering of condensing temperature in this case is constrained mainly
by the required pressure differential across the expansion valve. If a ther-
mostatic expansion valve (TEV) is used, a high differential between the
condensing pressure and evaporating pressure is required for the valve
to throttle sufficient refrigerant flow to satisfy the loads. The potential to
reduce the condensing temperature is low at high chiller loads. Figure 5
[25] shows the dependence of the differential pressure on the chiller load
when all the condenser fans were staged for an existing air-cooled chiller
using TEV.

Existing Refrigerant Flow Control by Expansion Valves

The use of TEVs for refrigerant flow control places a constraint on
optimizing the trade-off between the compressor power and fan power
because of keeping a high differential between the evaporating and con-
densing pressure. Alternatively, electronic expansion valves (EEVs) can
provide accurate refrigerant flow control to meet precisely the changing
chiller load when the condensing temperature varies with the outdoor

Figure 5. Variation of differential pressure with chiller part load ratio [25]
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 69

temperature from time to time [42-45]. Each EEV includes a PID control-
ler to control the degree of superheat. If the degree of superheat exceeds
its setpoint because of the increasing chiller load, the valve begins to
open wider to call for more refrigerant to be fed into the evaporator,
thereby restoring the degree of superheat to its setpoint. Refrigerant flow
is independent of the pressure differential across the valve. Regarding
this, the chiller can operate at reduced condensing pressure (down to
around 100 kPa pressure differential) by allowing more condenser fans
to be staged at a lower outdoor temperature.

Capacity Control by Compressors at Part Load Operation

Scroll, screw and centrifugal compressors are commonly used for
air-cooled chillers. These compressors have different ways to perform
capacity control while maintaining a constant temperature of supply
chilled water at its setpoint. To enhance the COP, the setpoint can be
adjusted based on the chilled water return temperature, chiller load or
outdoor temperature. Yet to ensure latent cooling capacity of airside
equipment, the extent to vary the setpoint from a reference of 7oC is
very limited. A higher supply temperature of chilled water may be used
with chilled beams or radiant cooling. The efficiency of a compressor
depends on motor efficiency and the level of evaporating pressure and
condensing pressure while providing the required cooling capacity. The
variation of evaporating temperature is limited by a fixed setpoint in
the temperature of supply chilled water. Yet the condensing temperature
can vary widely at a given load condition, depending on the outdoor
temperature and condensing temperature control. At present, the oper-
ating ranges of condensing temperature and evaporating temperature
are generally absent from open access performance data. It is difficult to
analyse how the compressor power can decrease and the extent of such
decrease at each step of capacity control. This, in turn, poses difficul-
ty to verify the actual COP under part load operation. While frequen-
cy inverters are increasingly used in room air conditioners for capacity
control at part load operation, they are not common for chillers, based
on the multiple compressors and multiple refrigeration circuits for step
capacity control.

Operating Constraints on Components

The decrease of compressor power is governed by the extent to
which the condensing temperature can drop at a given evaporating
70 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

temperature. The lower limit of condensing temperature is dictated by

the differential pressure requirement of expansion valves, the heat re-
jection capacity of condensers, and the oil return requirement for com-
pressor lubrication. Using EEVs can release the differential pressure
requirement. Experimental tests on an air-cooled chiller confirmed that
lubricant could return properly to the compressors even when the con-
densing temperature dropped down to 20oC at low loads [6]. For chillers
operating at above half load, the lower limit of condensing temperature
depends mainly on heat rejection capacity, and the working range of
condensing temperature (Tcd) is governed by inequality (3), where the
log mean temperature difference LMTDcd correlates with heat rejection
(Qcd) and the overall heat transfer coefficient of the condenser (AUcd)
by Eq. (4). Tcdae is the temperature of air entering the condenser and
Tcdal is the temperature of air leaving the condenser. Different condenser
designs would give different AUcd, and different strategies for staging
condenser fans would affect AUcd at part load operation.

LMTDcd + Tcdae < Tcd < LMTDcd + Tcdal [21,24] (3)

Qcd = AUcd LMTDcd [21,24] (4)

where LMTDcd = (Tcdal - Tcdae)/ln[(Tcd - Tcdal)/(Tcd - Tcdae)]

Oversizing condensers is a method to boost heat rejection capac-

ity at full load and increase the degree of subcooling to enhance the
refrigeration effect. The enhancement of cooling capacity at part load
operation depends on the degree of superheat controlled with the ex-
pansion valve and the degree of subcooling available based on heat
rejection capacity. Desuperheaters may be integrated with condensers
to enhance heat rejection with a lower condensing temperature. Such
applications may need to be realized with manufacturers in a system
design stage.

Advanced and Optimal Controls for Air-cooled Chillers

Head pressure control has long been identified for a low COP at
part load operation. Floating head pressure control (FHPC) has been
launched for chillers in industrial applications to optimize the trade-off
between the compressor power and fan power for all operating con-
ditions [46]. Reindl [47] investigated FHPC for a refrigeration system
 71

serving the Madison ice arena. He identified 21% operating cost savings
from FHPC and highlighted the benefits associated with FHPC, such as
an increase of chiller capacity and the full use of excessive condenser
capacity when the ambient temperature was low. He also noted that
FHPC should be implemented with variable speed control to condenser
fans. FHPC has been realized in a supermarket where the refrigeration
system contains electronic expansion valves for the refrigerant flow con-
trol, combined with modulating control of the condensing pressure on
both compressor packs, when the outdoor temperatures are well below
the design level of 35oC [48]. Scott [49] explained how the compressor
efficiency can be improved with floating condensing pressure and sug-
gested that the condensing temperature setpoint be varied linearly with
the ambient temperature. Other benefits resulting from FHPC included
better temperature control for the freezers, less wear and tear on the me-
chanical parts of the compressors, and less deterioration of the lubrica-
tion oil.
While FHPC can be a standard feature for new industrial refriger-
ation systems and can be retrofitted in existing systems, such control is
seldom found in existing air-cooled chiller products. The idea of FHPC
has been practiced for some existing water-cooled chillers in which the
condenser water temperature was reset based on the wet bulb tempera-
ture of outdoor air [50]. It is expected that there is no technical difficul-
ty implementing FHPC in air-cooled chillers, but none of the existing
air-cooled chillers practice this control by adding a controller capable of
automatically adjusting the setpoint of condensing temperature in re-
sponse to variations in the outdoor temperature and chiller load. There
is little proof of the capability of adjusting the condensing temperature
setpoint via the existing chiller microprocessor. Using variable speed
fans is not common but a complement to better control the condensing
temperature at any given setpoint.
Detailed simulation analyses on air-cooled chillers in references
[6,11-26] confirmed that the settings for condensing temperature for
maximum chiller COP can be made quite straightforward, as stated be-
low:

• For air-cooled chillers with constant speed fans, the adjustment of

the condensing temperature setpoint (Tcdsp) depends solely on the
temperature of air entering the condenser (Tcdae), i.e. Tcdsp = Tcdae +
C, where C is a constant of 3-10oC. This reset requires the monitor-
72 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

ing of dry bulb outdoor temperature (i.e. Tcdae) which is generally

available by a chiller microprocessor.

• For air-cooled chillers with variable speed fans, the adjustment of

Tcdsp depends on the dry bulb outdoor temperature and chiller part
load ratio (PLR), i.e. Tcdsp = Tcdae + (a1 + a2 PLR + a3 PLR2 + a4 Tcdae
+ a5 Tcdae2 + a6 PLR Tcdae), where a1 to a6 are constant coefficients to
be determined for individual chillers with their own condenser de-
sign and fan power rating. A chiller PLR is usually not monitored
directly by a chiller microprocessor because the signal of chilled
water flow rate is not received by the microprocessor. If a chiller
runs with its nominal flow rate for all operating conditions, the
part load ratio can be evaluated based on the difference between
the temperatures of supply and return chilled water which are
monitored variables.

Following the idea of FHPC, the COP of air-cooled chillers can be

further improved by lowering the temperature of air entering the con-
denser. Evaporative cooling is commonly considered to reduce the tem-
perature of outdoor air from its dry bulb to wet bulb state via an adiabat-
ic process [51-55]. Zhang et al. [55] implemented evaporative cooling by
using a pack of corrugated holed aluminum foils to trap a water film in
front of an air-cooled condenser. Such a cooler reduced the temperature
of the air stream from its dry bulb to near wet bulb but with more fan
power due to the additional airflow resistance by the cooler. The study
showed that the average cooling effectiveness of the cooler (ηdc) was
identified to be about 0.8. ηdc is defined as (t1 – t2)/(t1 – tw), where t1 and
t2 are temperatures of air at the inlet and outlet of the cooler, respectively,
and tw is the wet bulb temperature of air at the inlet—the theoretically
lowest t2. Given a ηdc of 0.8, the dry bulb outdoor temperature could de-
crease by 3-10oC under a warm-humid climate. Hajidavalloo and Eght-
edari [53] investigated the performance of an evaporative cooler with
a cellulous media pad installed in front of the condenser of a room air-
conditioner. The experimental results indicated that the cooler brought a
6.1-13.3% increase in the refrigeration effect and a 31.7-50.6% rise in the
COP over the ambient dry bulb temperatures ranging between 35-49oC.
The increase in COP is more apparent at higher ambient temperatures.
Alternatively, evaporative cooling can be achieved by spraying
mist directly in front of an air-cooled condenser. Figure 6 [26] shows that
 73

a mist pre-cooling system can be installed easily for an existing chiller,

with no modification. Such a mist pre-cooling system does not cause any
flow resistance to the air stream and therefore no additional fan power
will be incurred. Furthermore, the cooling effectiveness will approach to
one if a sufficient amount of mist droplets are fully vaporized in front of
the condenser coil. The mist generation incurs a pump power of about 23
kW per unit rate of mist generation in kg/s. Based on the warm, humid
climate, the mist generation rate required is around 0.0002 kg/s per unit
of cooling capacity in kW. If a chiller of 351.6 kW (100 tons of refrigera-
tion) is considered, the pump power for mist pre-cooling is around 1.6
kW which accounts for roughly 16% of the total fan power. Where water
conservation is concerned, using air-cooled chillers with mist-precooling
is more sustainable than water-cooled chillers, considering that water-
cooled chillers have a water make-up rate of 0.0016 kg/s per unit of cool-
ing capacity in kW. It is desirable to widen mist pre-cooling in a retrofit
application for existing installations and in an integrated design with
new installations, to further improve the COP of air-cooled chillers.

Figure 6. Mist system for the condenser of an existing air-cooled chiller [26]

There are many studies investigating various optimal controls for

a whole chiller system. For example, variable flow to chilled water for
pump energy savings was promoted by Bahnfleth and Peyer [56]. Chang
[57] and Lee et al. [58] applied an evolution strategy to evaluate an opti-
mum loading strategy for multiple chiller operation. To allow chillers to
operate at different part load ratios, each chiller should be coupled with
a variable speed chilled water pump. Sun et al. [59] proposed a fused
measurement of both building cooling loads and indirect cooling load
74 Energy Engineering Vol. 112, No. 3 2015

indicators to enhance the reliability of chiller sequencing control with

improved energy efficiency. Comprehensive monitoring devices with
complete data logging facilities are prerequisites for the successful mea-
surement. Song et al. [60] and Saidur et al. [61] addressed energy sav-
ing benefits of applying variable speed drives to chillers, chilled water
pumps, condenser water pumps and cooling tower fans. Yet the all-vari-
able speed design is seldom considered because system operators may
threaten to rely on highly automatic control for system optimization.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides insights into the energy performance of exist-

ing air-cooled chillers and opportunities for improvement by optimal
controls. A survey was conducted to examine performance data of 315
different air-cooled chiller products. Performance data are generally pro-
vided at full load condition, and part load performance data are limited
to integrated part load values (IPLVs). The chiller COP at full load op-
eration ranges from 2.4 to 3.7, with 2.9, 3.1 and 3.3 at the 25th, 50th and
75th percentiles, respectively. The minimum required full load COPs lie
between 2.4-3.1 based on national standards and guidelines for the ener-
gy performance of air-cooled chillers. This suggests that over 50% of the
existing products can meet the requirement and more stringent control
should be in place to boost the use of high efficiency chillers. Based on
the COPs at different percentiles, it is possible to formulate an efficien-
cy classification scheme to label chillers with different efficiency classes.
This helps system designers to select more energy efficient chillers and
phase out sub-standard products. Specifying the minimum required full
load COP and/or IPLV is not robust enough to enhance the actual chiller
energy performance. A series of performance curves shown in Figure 5
[16] are suggested to present actual COPs under various part load con-
ditions.
To assess precisely the part load performance of chillers, it is im-
portant to identify at any given operating condition the following key
variables: the percentage power of the compressors, evaporating tem-
perature, condensing temperature and the percentage power of con-
denser fans, the control algorithm of staging condenser fans and the
working range of pressure differentials for expansion valves. These data
need to be identified from sophisticated models of manufacturers. It is
 75

confirmed that electronic expansion valves and variable speed control

of condenser fans complement improvements in the chiller COP under
part load conditions. Floating head pressure control was discussed to be
a viable alternative to the conventional control to increase COP at part
load operation.
The significance of this study is to show criteria to gauge precisely
the part load performance of chillers in the design and operation stages
and to address more comprehensive data to verify optimal performance
in various operating conditions. More experimental and simulation
works are required to realize, develop and control algorithms to achieve
optimal energy performance.

Acknowledgements
The work described in this study was supported by a grant from
the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Re-
gion (Project A/C Code: B-Q31R) and a grant from the College of Pro-
fessional and Continuing Education, an affiliate of The Hong Kong Pol-
ytechnic University (Project A/C 4.8C.xx.EZ40).

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——————————————————————————————
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
F.W . Yu, Ph.D., is a lecturer at Hong Kong Community College, The
Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His major research interests include
HVAC&R system simulation and energy performance of buildings. He is
a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Hong Kong Institution of En-
gineers (HKIE) and Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
(CIBSE). His email is: ccyufw@hkcc-polyu.edu.hk.
K.T. Chan, Ph.D., is a professor and Associate Head of Department
of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic Universi-
ty. His research interest is on building energy and air conditioning sys-
tem efficiency. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Building
Services Engineers (CIBSE), a Chartered Engineer and a member of the
Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) and American Society of
Heating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). His email is: kwok-
 79

tai.chan@polyu.edu.hk.
R.K.Y. Sit, is an engineer at CSA(M&E) Ltd., Hong Kong. She has
solid experience in the design and operation of building services sys-
tems. Her expertise rests on building energy analysis with commercial
simulation software EnergyPlus. Her email is: sit_rachel@yahoo.com.hk.
J. Yang, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Fellow of Department of Building
Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His re-
search work involves improved performance of air-cooled chillers with
mist pre-cooling and development of optimal controls using artificial
neural network and genetic algorithms. His email is: jia.yang@connect.
polyu.hk.

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