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Engineers Newsletter
volume 47–3
impacts of
Chilled-Water System Design Decisions
2 Trane Engineers Newsletter volume 47-3 providing insights for today’s HVAC system designer
Table 1. Plant annualized kW/ton and percent savings compared to two-chiller base for three alternatives
Should we dynamically vary
Condenser
the condenser water flow? Chiller Cooling water flow
Condenser Tower Plant
Alternative water flow control annualized Savings
type tower fan rate
Yes, savings are available in existing type method* kW/ton
(gpm/ton)
systems designed between 2.5 to 3.2
gpm/ton (12 to 9.4ºF ΔT) condenser water Base VS VS 3 CF Opt 0.5462 NA
flow rate. Controls complexity should be
accounted for and the system needs to be Variable CW flow VS VS 3 VF Opt 0.5260 3.7%
properly commissioned.
Reduced design VS VS 2 CF Opt 0.5255 3.8%
No, in new systems designed for 1.8 to 2.2 CW flow
gpm/ton (16.6 to 13.6ºF ΔT) condenser
water flow rate since they already achieve Reduced design VS VS 2 VF Opt 0.5252 3.8%
CW flow and
almost all the savings and reduce system variable CW flow
complexity—a lot. Systems designed at
these flow rates do not require varying the *Near optimal control (Opt) is minimum the sum of chiller + cooling tower fan kW at each operating point during
condenser water flow rate. the year
Why? Varying condenser water flow rate Example. Let’s compare the condenser • Pumps are smaller with significantly
can be complicated. There are several limit water flow options. lower power
conditions and setpoints to manage:
It's imperative that the sum of chiller, • Chiller power rises marginally
• The flow rate has to stay above the
condenser water pump and cooling tower • Cooling towers become more effective
minimum flow rate as defined by the
fan power is considered. Less-than-optimal as heat exchangers, since warmer
highest of minimum tower flow,
results can happen if decisions are based water is sent to the cooling tower,
minimum chiller flow, or to produce the
on only one component. resulting in
static lift in the open portion of the
condenser water system. When any of The measure of efficiency is the annual – Reduced tower fan power
these are close to the system design kWh of chiller, cooling tower fans and
flow, variable flow should not be – Reduced tower cost
condenser water pumps divided by the
attempted. annual ton-hours of cooling. This results in – Possible reduction of tower size
• At each operating point during the year, annualized performance in terms of (which further reduces tower cost).
determine the optimal condenser kW/ton for those components.
water pump and cooling tower speed. Observations. In all cases the operating
Table 1 illustrates a comparison of four savings (Table 1) are very similar, so what
• Make sure not to reduce the alternative two-chiller systems: guidance can be provided?
condenser flow at conditions and
operating points that cause the chiller • Base design of 3 gpm/ton and constant • Many existing systems were designed
to surge. condenser water flow rate (CF) using historical practices and a
• Design of 3 gpm/ton and varying condenser flow rate of 3 gpm/ton. In
• Ensure the sequence is documented
condenser water flow rate (VF) existing systems, annualized plant
and properly commissioned. energy can be reduced by varying the
• Design of 2 gpm/ton with constant condenser flow rate. Be sure to
This complexity requires that the system condenser water flow rate
be commissioned, the controls remain properly commission the system and
• Design of 2 gpm/ton and varying ensure control is performed correctly
operational and future changes are
accommodated. Careful consideration condenser water flow rate long-term.
should be made for system changes such • For new systems or when all existing
as chiller, pump, and/or tower Assumptions. These alternatives assume chillers are being replaced, using low
replacements. the pipe size remains unchanged. And that design condenser flow rates and
near optimal tower control resets the constant flow reduces installed costs,
tower water setpoint to achieve the saves the same amount of energy (or
Table 2. Industry recommendations for
condenser water design flow rates minimum sum of the chiller plus cooling more) as if condenser flow rate is varied
tower fan kW at each operating point and and keeps system control both
Flow rate(s) during the year. Two gpm/ton is shown in simple and understandable.
Source ∆T (ºF) (gpm/ton) our example but projects have varying
Historical 9.4 3.0 optimal design flow rates.
practice
Today’s Industry recommendations Effect of flow rate on equipment. With
ASHRAE 12-18 2.3 - 1.7 reduced design condenser water flow rate
GreenGuide1 based on present industry
Kelly and Chan2 15 2.0 recommendations (Table 2):
Taylor3 15 1.9
providing insights for today’s HVAC system designer Trane Engineers Newsletter volume 47–3 3
Figure 3. Pressure drops in a VPF system
Does operating two pumps chiller flow rate and
at lower speed save more pressure drops identical
energy than operating one pump and fitting
pump? flow rate and
pressure drops change
Perhaps a little, but not nearly as much
as many people think. A B
system flow rate and pressure drops
identical
4 Trane Engineers Newsletter volume 47-3 providing insights for today’s HVAC system designer
Figure 4. Chiller lift
How much power can be
saved by piping chillers in a
kW a load x lift
"series counterflow" lift Pcnd – Pevp
arrangement compared to lift Tlvg cnd – Tlvg evp
98.9ºF
piping chillers in parallel? 98.9ºF – 37ºF
providing insights for today’s HVAC system designer Trane Engineers Newsletter volume 47–3 5
Now let's take the same design using Figure 6. Chiller lift reduction savings series-series-series (or series-series counterflow)
two Trane Duplex® chillers (Figure 6).
Each Duplex chiller is essentially a
condenser water
packaged series-counterflow chiller.
Installing two of these chillers in series
results in four levels of thermal staging.
The lift is reduced to an average of 50.1°F.
This staging results in over 19 percent
reduction in lift compared to the base
parallel configuration. Parallel lift = 61.9ºF
Series lift = 50.1ºF 48.9ºF
To summarize, chiller power is directly 50.0ºF 50.3ºF
proportional to compressor lift. A simple Lift reduction = 51.1ºF
(61.9 - 50.1) = 11.8ºF
way to reduce chiller power by almost 13
percent is to pipe the chillers in a series-
counterflow arrangement. Two Duplex
chillers in a series-counterflow
arrangement save over 19 percent chiller
power (Table 3).
Additional questions about series Figure 7. Series arrangement of evaporators and condensers
chillers.
evaporators condensers
What about redundancy? To allow either
chiller to operate alone if the other chiller circuit 1 circuit 2 circuit 1 circuit 2
is being serviced, manual bypass lines
and valves are encouraged. When more
circuit 1 circuit 2 circuit 1 circuit 2
than two chillers are installed, chillers can
be piped in upstream and downstream
"pods" with a manifold between them circuit 1 circuit 2 circuit 1 circuit 2
(Figure 7). This allows any upstream chiller
to operate with any downstream chiller
3 chiller modules 3 chiller modules
and provides the same redundancy as if
all chillers were piped in parallel. Trane
Applications Engineering can provide circuit 1 circuit 2 circuit 1 circuit 2
options for series-counter flow system
configurations and their operating
characteristics. circuit 1 circuit 2 circuit 1 circuit 2
6 Trane Engineers Newsletter volume 47-3 providing insights for today’s HVAC system designer
to these system pressure changes. Thus, flow measurement and valve
Should pressure- the "controllability" of a conventional characteristics.
independent control valves control valve is significantly affected by
variations in pressure. The mechanical variety basically
be used? combines two valve types into one:
What if there were a separate device that • First, a pressure regulating section.
Pressure-independent control valves absorbed the system pressure variations
(PICVs) have come down in price, are As system pressures change, the
so that the control valve always pressure regulating section
readily available and help maintain experienced its selected pressure
system ΔT, but are higher priced than automatically adjusts to keep a
differential? Or what if the valve control constant pressure across the control
pressure-dependent valves. Is the gains could be dynamically recalibrated to
additional cost worth it? section of the valve.
compensate for the changes in system
pressure? In other words, what if we • Next, the control section of the valve
Definition. Let’s begin by explaining could make the control valve pressure is modulated by the control system to
what a pressure-independent control independent? The valve would always adjust the flow through the valve as
valve is. Those who have sized a have its selected control authority, it space conditions change.
conventional control valve are probably would always pass only its design flow
familiar with the flow coefficient Mechanical pressure-independent valve
when wide open, and it would offer
calculation shown below. advantages include:
control stability.
• Compact size when compared to a
To select the appropriate valve, one must A pressure-independent control valve conventional control valve plus flow
first determine the required flow yields a number of advantages: limiting valve package, or to their
coefficient; given a flow rate through the electronic counterparts,
• Valve control becomes much more
valve and a desired pressure drop across
stable. To maintain space temperature, • Depending on the manufacturer,
the valve. The valve is selected to have an
the actuator no longer has to adjust for capability to be paired with any rotary
"authority" that will provide accurate and
varying system pressures. This will actuator,
stable control.
extend valve and actuator life. Also,
stability positively impacts system • Easy and straightforward to select,
efficiency and coil performance. • No additional controls or
• Accuracy improves because the valve programming required,
Where, is now controlling flow directly. • Near instantaneous response to
Cv = valve flow coefficient • Selection is easier. Simply choose a changes in system pressure which
Q = flow rate (gpm) valve that provides the needed flow provides optimal control stability.
SG = Fluid specific gravity (water = 1.0) rate (gpm)—a flow coefficient
On the other hand, an electronic
ΔP = Valve pressure drop (psi) calculation is no longer needed
pressure-independent valve doesn't
upfront.
Rearranging this equation, we see that actually maintain a constant differential
flow is dependent on the pressure • Installation is easier because pressure- pressure across the control valve surface.
differential for a given valve. independent valves automatically Instead, it achieves independent control
balance the system. No separate similar to a pressure-independent VAV air
balancing valves are required. valve: it includes a flow meter in series
with a standard control valve. The
Stability and accuracy are particularly electronics calculate the instantaneous
important. Anything that causes a valve to flow and pressure across the valve and
lose accurate and stable flow control, continuously recalibrates the control
Valve performance would be fine if the under any operating condition, can result coefficients to provide stable and
pressure differential across the valve was in lower than desired average waterside accurate control.
always at the selection condition. But ΔT. Due to a subsequent increase in
during operation, other parts of the required flow rate, lower ΔT results in an Likewise, the electronic variety has a
system are constantly changing. This increase in pump power and a decrease in number of advantages:
causes the pressure at the valve to chiller plant efficiency. Sometimes the
• Potential for lower hardware costs,
change also. With a fixed coefficient, the impacts are very significant.
• Provision for actual load
flow therefore has no option but to also
There are two different technologies used measurement,
vary.
to implement pressure-independent
• Programmable for alternative
Even if nothing has changed in a control; mechanical pressure regulation
operation methods. For example, the
particular space, the control valve must across the control valve and electronic
valve could be set up to limit delta T,
now modulate to adjust flow in response gain modulation for the control valve using
not flow.
Note: The 2016 ASHRAE Handbook - Systems and Equipment p.47 states
that, "...an authority between 0.25 and 0.5 usually provides the right balance
between controllability and energy performance."
differential pressure of valve
authority =
differential pressure of valve + differential pessure of branch
providing insights for today’s HVAC system designer Trane Engineers Newsletter volume 47–3 7
Both mechanical and electrionic pressure- Figure 8. Pressure-independent versus conventional valve operation in Atlanta
(3rd and 4th floor performance)
independent valves have communication
capability to enable data sharing and
trending.
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the material presented.
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