Chiller plant performance enhancements and variable condenser water flow http://www.coolenergytech.com/Enhancements.

htm#Variable Flow

Performance Enhancements for Chiller Plants

Condenser water temperature reset, cooling tower temperature relief, and
These proven control
Home variable condenser water flow provide excellent opportunities to save energy.
Methodologies that apply these performance enhancing strategies must do so strategies improve
Application efficiency, reduce
without causing excessive chiller starts or surging.
Control Diagram energy use and save on
Optimization In the past, many proposed application solutions were so compromised that electrical bills.
Choices they severely limited the achievable savings thereby making use of these
About methods some what problematic until now.
Contact Annual savings of $5,000 - $20,000 and more per chiller are possible with a
Site Map properly provided application control system. Our patented method
permits us to use
The Chiller Plant Optimizer uses a unique patented method to apply these artificial intelligent
and other strategies in a very cost effective manner to achieve savings up to
routines that enhance
25% and paybacks in less then 2 years.
energy saving benefits
Follow the links below for additional details concerning these proven by 400%.
strategies that improve the energy efficiency of a chiller plant.

1. Variable Condenser Water Flow

2. Condenser Water Temperature Reset Partnering
3. Cooling Tower Temperature Relief Opportunities or contact
4. Multiple Chiller Optimization Strategies Bill Henry
5. Chilled Water Reset as an Optimizing Strategy
6. Performance Monitoring for Chiller Plants

Variable Condenser Water Flow

The specific strategy of Variable Condenser Water Flow has been overlooked
by design engineers and experts in the field because they felt that the effort
to develop this strategy was not worth their time. If one focuses narrowly on
smaller condenser water pump and is not able to evaluate the broader
implications, or the benefits of a pre-packaged design then it is easy to see
how the strategy is often overlooked.

The chiller flow rate is established by the manufacturer to meet the

maximum demand of the chiller and is also based on the projected
performance of a cooling tower. Since the chiller and cooling tower
manufacturers are different, the design criteria becomes somewhat
arbitrary. A typical rule of thumb for chiller cooling is 3 gpm /
ton-rated. This is not a fast rule and sometimes where the cooling tower size
is limited the chiller design is re-configured to operate at 2 gpm / ton.

ASHRAE recommends a minimum condenser water flow velocity of 3.3 ft/sec

to maintain turbulent velocity and prevent formation of deposits in the
condenser. This 3.3 ft/sec is well above the low the 6 to 8 ft/sec encountered
in today's chiller designs.

Heat exchange calculations show us that the main factor in condensing the
hot refrigerant gases is a large surface area requirement for the copper tubes
found in most condensers. The water velocity at the typical design flow
rates is a small and nearly negligible factor in the heat transfer equation.
The factor for condensing efficiency in a chiller is the number and size of
tubes and not the water flow velocity.

A major chiller manufacturer has published papers on the results of real time
chiller operations using various flow velocity regimes for the condenser
water. They were able to operate at very low flow velocities (and high
temperature differentials) without effecting the stable operation of the
chiller. These tests are a matter of public record.

When employing variable flow energy savings are realized in several ways:

1.) Reducing the flow of condenser water as a function of chiller demand not
only allows us to obtain direct savings of pumping energy, it provides a
second reason for employing a variable speed drive on the condenser pumps
for balancing purposes and additional savings.

2.) Also, moderately decreasing the flow of condenser water across the
cooling tower increases its performance. Therefore Variable Condenser

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Water Flow and Cooling Tower Temperature Relief can be combined for
greater savings then the savings achieved by each strategy alone.

3.) There are many instances where the condenser water pumps are much
larger than the theoretical chiller plant would seem to warrant. These
conditions include multiple chillers served by a single condenser circuit with
pumps and chillers in a parallel set-up. All of the pumps have to be designed
to meet the worse case pressure and flow requirements with all systems
operating at the same time. Add to that the fact that these systems tend to
have cooling towers located at some distance from the chillers and the
condenser pumps are suddenly nearly as large as the cooling tower fan
motors.

The Chiller Plant Optimizer TM is packaged controller and instrumentation

system that is factory preconfigured with control solutions to implement this
strategy in combination with the other strategies that are discussed in detail
in other articles.

Condenser Water Temperature Reset

All of the low hanging fruit has not been picked! If your facility uses water
cooled chillers it is unlikely that it is using the optimizing strategy known as
Condenser Water Temperature Reset. For those few sites that employ some
form of this strategy, the method of application in use limits the useful range
of control and does not take advantage of all of the potential savings.

This strategy simply means that the cold water temperature leaving the
cooling tower basin is controlled to a set point where the set point is allowed
to decrease with the changing requirements of the chiller. It is no secret
that refrigeration machines using common centrifugal or reciprocating
compressors are more efficient at lower condensing temperatures. The
conundrum has always been that lowering the condensing temperature also
reduces the chiller's capacity.

The challenge has been to develop a control method that can adequately
match the requirements of the chiller without limiting its ability to develop
full capacity when ever needed. The use of this technique was relegated to a
manual set-back , if used at all until recently. Several patents have been
recently granted for methods that can reliably achieve provide Condenser
Water Temperature Reset on an ongoing basis.

If you want to whet your appetite on the potential savings just consider this.
Some very efficient chillers have a full load rating of 0.6 Kw/ton with
entering water temperatures of 85° F. That same chiller can have a part load
rating of 0.3 Kw/ton with 65°F entering water temperature.

There is a trade-off. In order to achieve the lower temperatures the cooling

tower fan will run longer and harder. Therefore, it is feasible for the cooling
tower fan to chew up nearly half of the energy savings realized by the chiller.

There is a cold water temperature set point that will significantly reduce the
fan energy load and still obtain significant savings for the entire plant. The
three technologies address this control solution in different but still effective
ways. They will also apply a strategy known here as Cooling Tower
Temperature Relief, to limit the cooling tower fan energy use.

Cooling Tower Temperature Relief

Cooling Tower Temperature Relief is a difficult strategy to explain and prove.

But we will use an analogy and does not rely on detail and difficult to follow
spread sheets and calculations. Just know that the developer of the Chiller
Plant Optimizer TM has developed a method of calculating these savings which
can be laid out in a spread sheet format.

Consider a single chiller system of a given size operating at part load, say
75%. Then compare it to a smaller chiller system operating at the same
load. Say the first example is a 1200 ton chiller (system) operating at 900
tons. And the second example is a 1000 ton plant operating at 900 tons.
Both systems are then operating with the same outside conditions.

If the smaller chiller system was designed using the same criteria as the
larger system, it will have a smaller cooling tower with a smaller fan motor.
The fan energy use by the smaller system will be less then the larger system.

Now, since it is impractical to switch to a smaller cooling tower or smaller fan

motor. Cooling Tower Temperature Relief is simply a control method that

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insures a similar action by limiting the maximum speed of the cooling tower
fan motor.

The standard control method for cooling towers uses a temperature sensor for
the cold water (basin temperature) and controls the fan to achieve this
temperature. A control method that provides for Cooling Tower Temperature
Relief requires additional information then cold water temperature. The
control may reset the cold water temperature set point, or use some other
control strategy, that results in a different and possibly slightly higher cold
water temperature then the primary (or full load design) cold water
temperature.

As an independent strategy the savings are limited for Cooling Tower

Temperature Relief, and must be applied very judiciously. But as a strategy
combined with Condenser Water Temperature Reset it is a very effective tool
for energy optimization.

Multiple Chiller Optimizing Strategies

Multiply chiller management can not be applied across the board as a simple
strategy. The different types of chillers as well as their size drives the
decision matrix to determine the operational sequence and combinations.

Therefore we look at the “art” of multiple chiller management strategies.

More then any other strategy, this one can backfire and it has lead to
unnecessary and costly equipment installations that in the end did not lead to
energy savings, and is one reason that this strategy that must be carefully
considered and then reconsidered, when or if new chiller purchases are
involved.

The available savings from a complicated management strategy is limited.

Also, if the strategies of Variable Condenser Water Flow, Condenser Water
Temperature Reset, and Cooling Tower Relief have already been applied then
additional savings from other strategies are limited.

With the Chiller Plant Optimizer TM an optional method of control can be

added for each chiller so that a strategy tailored for the chiller plant can be
employed independently of the existing chiller plant of building automation
control.

Chilled Water Reset as an Optimizing Strategy

The strategy of Chilled Water Temperature Reset, can not be applied across
the board and is considered an optional strategy that can be applied for
simple environmental situations where personnel comfort is the only
consideration.

Chilled water flow of 1000 gpm that leaves the condenser barrel at 42° F.
and returns at 52° F. is 416 tons of refrigeration. That same flow rate of
1000 gpm leaving the evaporator barrel at 48° F. and returning at 58° F. is
still 416 tons of refrigeration. The difference is that under the second
condition the chiller produced the same refrigeration with much less work or
with less energy.

Reason tells us that we can save energy by raising the leaving chilled water
temperature set point. But we are also aware that the various systems
through-out the facility were designed for a selected cold water temperature
which determined equipment size such as fans and coils. Therefore, any
client operation requiring chilled water, operating at its full design load will
be adversely affected by a high chilled water temperature. Also any
operation with special humidity control requirements will be adversely
affected by a higher then design chilled water temperature.

Another effect of raising the chilled water temperature will mean that
distribution pumps and fan coil units may be required to operate longer and
harder when the chilled water temperature is above the design temperature.

Due to the above difficulties above the application of this strategy it is

arguable that application should be limited. Perhaps employed where the
primary and important loads are simple and can handle some flexibility, and
where the effect of outside conditions and operational loads are clearly
understand and are cyclical such as an office building that is lightly loaded at
night and on weekends.

Chilled water reset when used for the systems described in the previous
paragraph can be easy to implement and provide some nice savings. Some

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control methods use a load based system to simply implement chilled water
reset. The good thing about such a system is that it is easy to easy to
configure, and or reconfigure by the operator to achieve an optimal
compromise between comfort and energy savings. A some what more
sophisticated control might use a method that not only considers the chillers
operation but also the effect of outside conditions on the chiller and thus a
more reliable way to adjust to the buildings overall requirements. This is still
a system that can still be easily configured or reconfigured by the operator.

The savings are not as dramatic as the other strategies, but still worth
considering if conditions allow. It can also be combined with the strategies of
Cooling Tower Temperature Relief, Condenser Water Temperature Reset, and
Variable Condenser Water Flow as an optional addition to the Chiller Plant
Optimizer TM providing a boost to the overall savings and payback, and
supporting our goal for a 25% reduction in overall energy use.

Performance Monitoring for Chiller Plants

The HVAC industry has been loath to provide and install meaningful tools to
monitor the performance of chiller plants in a meaningful manner. When it
does the results are so limited that the their usefulness is problematic. We
propose a systematic and methodical method that can be used to compare
results with other chiller plants providing similar service and even with some
not so similar.

1. Measure the output of the chiller plant, don’t make assumptions from chiller
data. That means one measures the actual BTU’s of cooling that is
produced, preferably as near the chillers as possible.
2. Measure real power consumed, don’t use amperage and assume that
definitive results can be calculated. Real power means Kw including power
factor, not KVA.
3. Only include the chiller, condenser pumps, and cooling towers. In this
manner the long term results will be more meaningful from year to year and
sensible comparisons can be made for plant to plant.
4. Provide an executive report on a periodic basis that is easy to read and can
be analyzed by management in 60 seconds or less.
a. This means recording data on a continuous basis so that true averages
for various operating periods, night vs day and weekend vs week day
can be reported, if necessary.
b. Produce a single meaningful number. That is say it in Kw/Ton.

(Step four may be the most challenging, because people will have
to be trained to accept the Kw/Ton as a measuring tool. Also the
temptation to include the recirculation and distribution pumps
may be overwhelming. Think of the distribution side as the
customer’s responsibility not part of the producer’s responsibility.
Many chiller plants look similar, until one includes the distribution
of the chilled water. )

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