Chilled Water Plant

Design and Control

65 ECWT

0.555 KW/ton

56F

0.59 KW/ton
48F

CH-1

95F

40F

KW/ton

0.52 KW/ton

CH-2

90F

75 ECWT

85 ECWT

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

85F

0.2

25

50

75

Percent Loaded

Kent W. Peterson, PE, FASHRAE

P2S Engineering, Inc.
Long Beach, CA
kent.peterson@p2seng.com

March 2, 2012

100

Handouts

A copy of the todays slides in PDF format will

be available from Trent Hunt

Agenda

CHW Distribution Systems

CHW Distribution System Balancing
CW Distribution Systems
Break
Selecting CHW Distribution Systems
Selecting CHW T
Selecting CW T
Selecting Chillers
Optimizing Control Sequences
Questions
3

Optimizing Energy Usage

Chillers

Type, efficiency, size, VFD

Cooling Towers

Fan type, efficiency, approach, range, speed control,

flow turndown

Chilled Water Pumps

Arrangement, flow rate (delta-T), pressure drop, VFD

Condenser Water Pumps

Flow rate (delta-T), pressure drop, VFD

Air Handling Units

Coil sizing, air-side pressure drop, water-side pressure

drop
4

Pop Quiz 1
What

happens to component
energy usage if we lower CWS
setpoint?

Chiller
Towers
Pumps

Pop Quiz 2
What

happens to component
energy usage if we lower CW flow?

Chiller
Towers
Pumps

Pop Quiz 3
What

happens to component
energy usage if we lower CW flow
AND the CWS setpoint?

Chiller
Towers
Pumps

Optimizing CHW Plant Design

Ideal:

Design a plant with lowest life

cycle costs (first cost plus lifelong
operating costs) accounting for all the
complexities and interaction among
plant components

Practical:

Design plant subsystems to

be near-life cycle cost optimum using
techniques that are simple and practical
enough to be used without a significant
increase in design time
8

Chilled Water Distribution

Systems

Chilled Water System Classes

Constant

Flow

No control valves
3-way control valves

Variable

Flow

Primary-Only
Primary/Secondary (/
Tertiary)
Primary/Distributed
Secondary
Primary/Variable Speed
Coil Secondary

These are the major categories of distribution systems. The

list is by no means complete. There are many permutations
and combinations.
10

Constant Flow
Single Chiller, Single Coil, No Control Valve

11

Constant Flow
3-Way Valves
3-Way Mixing Valve

DPft
20

Bypass Balance
Valve

Item

Pressure Drop @ 100 GPM

100% to Coil
50% to Coil
0% to Coil

Pipe/Valves
Coil and/or Bypass
Globe Control Valve
Total
GPM @ 20 P*

2
8
10
20

2
2
7.5
11.5

2
6
12
20

100

132

100

*actual P available may change

12

Constant Flow
Single Chiller, Multiple Coils

13

Constant Flow
Multiple Parallel Chillers, Multiple Coils

CH1 240 gpm

How many
chillers do we
need to run?

CH2 240 gpm

Ballroom A 240 gpm

100% Loaded

Ballroom B 240 gpm

Unoccupied

14

Variable Flow
Vary

Flow Through Coil Circuit

Two-way valves
Variable speed coil pump

Configurations

Primary-secondary
Primary-secondary variations
Primary-secondary-tertiary
Primary-only
15

Variable Flow Chilled Water Systems

Old

Paradigm

Controls respond to changes in CHW

temperature
Variable flow causes low temperature
trips, locks out chiller, requires manual
reset (may even freeze)
Hence: Maintain constant flow through
chillers
16

Variable Flow
Primary/Secondary, Multiple Chillers and Coils

Hydraulic
Independence

If there is no
resistance in
the common
leg, then no
flow is induced
in the other
circuit.
17

Variable Flow
Series Flow, Multiple Chillers

18

Variable Flow
Primary/Distributed Secondary

19

Variable Flow
Primary/Secondary/Tertiary

20

Variable Flow Chilled Water Systems

New

Paradigm

Modern controls are robust and very

responsive to both flow and temperature
variations
Variable flow OK within range and rateof-change specd by chiller manufacturer

21

Variable Flow
Primary-only, Multiple Chillers

22

Variable Flow
Primary, Bypass Valve

Location

Near chillers
Best for energy
Controls less expensive
Control more difficult to
tune fast response

Remote
Smaller pressure
fluctuations (easier to
control)
Keeps loop cold for fast
response

Sizing

Sizing critical when at

chillers/pumps
Different size if pump has
VFD or not

Flow measurement

Flow meter
Most accurate
Needed for Btu calc for
staging

DP across chiller
Less expensive
Accuracy reduced as tubes
foul
One required for each chiller
23

Primary CHW Pump Options

Headered Pumping Advantages:

Dedicated Pumping Advantages:
Better redundancy
Less control complexity
Custom pump heads w/ unmatched chillers Valves can soft load chillers with primary-only
systems
Usually less expensive if each pump is
Easier to incorporate stand-by pump
adjacent to chiller served
Pump failure during operation does not
cause multiple chiller trips
24

Balancing Variable Flow

Systems

25

Balancing Issues

Ensure adequate flow available at all coils to

meet loads

Ensure differential pressure across control valves

is not so high as to cause erratic control

Less than design flow may be adequate most of the

time

Two-positioning
Unstable control at low loads

Cost considerations

First costs (installed costs and start-up costs)

Pump energy costs (peak demand and annual)
Rebalancing costs (if any) as coils are added to system
26

Balancing Options
1.

2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

No balancing

Relying on 2-way control valves to automatically provide

balancing

Manual balance

Using ball or butterfly valves and coil pressure drop

Using calibrated balancing valves (CBVs)

Automatic flow limiting valves (AFLVs)

Reverse-return
Oversized main piping
Undersized branch piping
Undersized control valves
Pressure independent control valves
27

Option 5: Oversized Main Piping

Advantages
No balancing labor
Coils may be added/
subtracted without
rebalance
Reduced overpressurization of control
valves close to pumps
Lowest pump head/
energy due to oversized
piping, no balance
valves
Increased flexibility to
add loads due to
oversized piping

Disadvantages
Added cost of larger
piping

28

Option 6: Undersized Branch Piping

Advantages
No balancing labor
Reduced cost of smaller

piping
Coils may be added/
subtracted without
rebalance
Reduced overpressurization of control
valves close to pumps
where piping has been
undersized

Disadvantages
Limited effectiveness and

applicability due to limited

available pipe sizes
High design and analysis
cost to determine correct
pipe sizing
Reduced flexibility to add
coils where piping has been
undersized
Coils may be starved if
variable speed drives are
used without DP reset
Slightly higher pump energy
depending on flow variations
and pump controls
29

Option 7: Undersized Control Valves

Advantages
No balancing labor
Reduced cost of smaller

control valves
Coils may be added/
subtracted without
rebalance
Reduced overpressurization of control
valves close to pumps
where control valves have
been undersized
Improved valve authority
which could improve
controllability where control
valves have been
undersized

Disadvantages
Limited effectiveness and

applicability due to limited

available control valve sizes
(Cv)
High design and analysis
cost to determine correct
control valve sizing
Coils may be starved if
variable speed drives are
without DP reset
Slightly higher pump energy
depending on flow variations
and pump controls

30

Option 8: Pressure Independent

Control Valves

Advantages
No balancing labor
Coils may be added/

subtracted without
rebalance
No over-pressurization of
control valves close to
pumps
Easy valve selection
flow only not Cv
Perfect valve authority
will improve controllability
Less actuator travel and
start/stop may improve
actuator longevity

Disadvantages
Added cost of strainer

and pressure
independent control valve
Cost of labor to clean
strainer at start-up
Higher pump head and
energy due to strainer
and pressure
independent control valve
Valves have custom flow
rates and must be
installed in correct
location
Valves can clog or
springs can fail over time
31

PICVs May Improve T?

NBCIP Test Lab (as reported

by manufacturer)

32

Ranks
Balancing Method

Controllability
(all conditions)

Pump Energy
Costs

First Costs

No balancing

Manual balance using calibrated

balancing valves

Automatic flow limiting valves

Reverse-return

Oversized main piping

Undersized branch piping

Undersized control valves

7
2
3
6
5

7
2
1
4
4

7
5
4
2
1

Pressure independent control

valve

78

33

Conclusions & Recommendations for

Variable Flow Hydronic Systems

Automatic flow-limiting valves and calibrated balancing valves

are not recommended on any variable flow system

Reverse-return and oversized mains may have reasonable

pump energy savings payback on 24/7 chilled water systems
Undersizing piping and valves near pumps improves balance
and costs are reduced, but significant added engineering time
required
Pressure independent valves should be considered on very
large systems for coils near pumps

Few advantages and high first costs and energy costs

Cost is high but going down now with competition

When costs are competitive, this may be best choice for all jobs

For other than very large distribution systems, option 1 (no

balancing) appears to be a reasonable option to consider

Low first costs with minimal or insignificant operational problems

34

Problems Caused by Degrading T

Q= 500 X GPM X T

For a given load Q, when T goes down, GPM goes up

Result:

Increases pump energy

Can require more chillers to run at low load, or coils will be
starved of flow
Can result in reduced plant effective capacity: chiller capacity
without the capability of delivering it

35

T Degradation in Large Chiller Plant

(January through March)

Design
=10oF

9.5F-10.0F

Evaporator Delta T (F)

Coincident Wet
Bulb Ranges
7.0F-7.5F

35F-40F
40F-45F
45F-50F
50F-55F
55F-60F

4.5F-5.0F

2.0F-2.5F

100

200

300

400
Approximate hrs/yr

500

600

700

800

T Conclusions
Design,

construction, and operation errors

that cause low T can and should be
avoided
But other causes for low T can never be
eliminated
Conclusion: At least some T degradation
is inevitable
Therefore: Design the CHW Plant to allow
for efficient chiller staging despite
degrading T
37

Some Solutions

Design CHW distribution system so chillers

can have increased flow so they can be more
fully loaded at low T

Primary-only pumping
Unequal chiller and primary pump sizes, headered

pumps so large pump can serve small chiller

Low design delta-T in primary loop
Insures low T in secondary
Higher primary loop first costs & energy costs

Primary/secondary pumping with check valve in

common leg

38

Check Valve in the Common Leg

CHECK
VALVE IN
COMMON
LEG

39

Supposed Disadvantages
Check Valve in Common Leg

Circuits are not hydraulically independent

So what?

Seldom a real problem - pump capabilities usually fall off fast

enough due to high chiller P
Maximum flow rates are usually arbitrary occasional
excursions should not be a problem
Resolved by using high design Ts (or adding auto-flow limiting
valves at chillers as last resort)

Flow rate may exceed maximum allowed by chiller

manufacturer

Pumps in series may force control valves open

Not true with variable speed driven secondary pumps.

Primary pumps may ride out their curves and overload

Seldom a real problem - pump capabilities usually fall off fast

enough due to high chiller P, and motor may be selected to
avoid this problem.
40

Real Disadvantages
Check Valve in Common Leg

Possible

dead-heading secondary
pumps if primary pumps are off and
chillers isolation valves are closed

Logically interlock secondary pumps to

primary pumps

flow through inactive

chillers with dedicated pumps

Ghost

Use isolation valves rather than dedicated

pumps
41

Check Valve in the Common Leg

Recommendation

For fixed speed chillers with T problems, a check

valve in the common leg can help. Make sure pump

design/controls address secondary pump deadheading and ghost-flow issues. Select a check valve
with low pressure drop (i.e. swing check, not
spring)
For variable speed chillers, do not put check valve in
common leg. It has little value (unless T
degradation is severe) since chiller plant will not be
inefficient by staging chillers on before they are fully
loaded
42

Condenser Water Distribution

Systems

43

Condenser Water Systems

Old

paradigm: constant flow &

speed
New paradigm: variable flow &
speed

Control logic to maximize efficiency?

44

Variable Speed CW Pumps

VSCW

CSCW
45

Condenser Water Pump Options

Dedicated Pumping Advantages:

Less control complexity
Custom pump heads w/ unmatched
chillers
Usually less expensive if each pump is
adjacent to chiller served and head
pressure control not required

Headered Pumping Advantages:

Better redundancy
Valves can double as head pressure control
Easier to incorporate stand-by pump
Can operate fewer CW pumps than chillers
for fixed speed pumps
46

Tower Isolation Options

1.

Select tower weir dams & nozzles to allow one

pump to serve all towers

2.
3.

Always most efficient

Almost always least expensive
Usually possible with 2 or 3 cells

Install isolation valves on supply lines only

Need to oversize equalizers

Install isolation valves on both supply & return

Usually most expensive but fail safe

47

Non-integrated water-side economizer (WSE)

Try to avoid this!

Twb 36F
Twb 41F

44F

You have to shut off

the economizer to
satisfy the load!

44F

44F
49F

44F
>46F

60F

41F
46F

Heat
Exchanger
in parallel
with chillers

Integrated water-side economizer

Twb 41F

You can use either

a control valve or
pump

44F

44F

46F

<60F
49F
V-1

Heat Exchanger in
series with chillers
on CHW side

44F

60F

Example WSE savings

building description
200,000

ft2 office building with ~ 110

tons of data center load
Location Pleasanton CA (ASHRAE
Climate 3B)
(2) 315 ton chillers (630 tons total)
Building has air-side economizer
Data center has CRAH units
Water-side economizer on central plant
with HX (integrated, see previous slide)
50

Example WSE Savings

~2%

~30%

~24%
~48%

51

Break

Design Procedure

Design Procedure
Select

Chilled Water Distribution System

Select Temperatures, Flow Rate and
Primary Pipe Sizes
Select Cooling Tower Design Criteria
Select Chillers
Finalize Piping System Design, Select
Pumps
Develop Optimum Control System and
Control Sequences
54

Recommended
Chilled Water Distribution Arrangement

Number of coils/loads
served

Size of coils/
loads served

Distribution losses
(excluding chiller)

Control
Valves

Flow

Recommended
Distribution Type

One

Any

Any

None

Constant or
Staged

Primary-only

More than 1

Large Campus

Any

2-way

Variable

More than 1

Large coils
(> 100 gpm)

Any

None

Variable

Small
(< 100 gpm)

Low (< 40 feet)

3-way

Constant or
Staged

Primary-only

Small
(< 100 gpm)

High(> 40 feet)
Variable

Primary-only
Or
Primary-Secondary

Few (2 to 5) serving
similar loads or system
has only one chiller
Few (2 to 5) serving
similar loads
Many (more than 5) or
few serving dissimilar
loads

Small
(< 100 gpm)

2-way
Any

Primary/ distributed
secondary
Primary/coil
secondary

55

Primary/Secondary
Secondary
Pump w/ VFD
at Chiller
Plant

2-Way Control
Valves at
AHUs

56

Primary/Distributed Secondary
Distributed
Secondary
Pump w/ VFD Typical at each
Building
No Secondary
Pumps at
Plant

Central Plant
57

Advantages of Distributed P/S

versus Conventional P/S or P/S/T
Reduced

pump HP - each pump sized for

head from building to plant
Self-balancing
No over-pressurized valves at buildings
near plant
Reduced pump energy, particularly when
one or more buildings are off line
No expensive, complex bridge
connections used in P/S/T systems
Similar or lower first costs
58

Primary/Coil Secondary
Distributed
Secondary
Pump w/ VFD Typical at each
AHU
No Secondary
Pumps at Plant

No Control
Valves at
AHUs
Large
AHU-1

Large
AHU-2

59

Hybrid Systems

Advantages of VFD Coil Pumps

versus Conventional P/S system

Reduced pump HP

Each pump sized for head from coil to plant

Eliminated 10 feet or so for control valves

Self-balancing

No need for or advantages to balancing valves, reverse

return

Lower pump energy

No minimum DP setpoint
Pump efficiency constant

Better control

Smoother flow control - no valve hysteresis

No valve over-pressurization problems

Usually lower first costs due to eliminated control

valves, reduced pump and VFD HP
61

Disadvantages of VFD Coil Pumps

Versus Conventional P/S system
Cannot

tap into distribution system

without pump

May be problem with small coils (low flow, high

head pump)

Possible

reduced redundancy/reliability
unless duplex coil pumps are added
Possible low load temperature
fluctuations

Minimum speed on pump motor

May need to cycle pump at very low loads

62

Primary-only System
Headered Pumps & Auto Isolation Valves
Preferred to Dedicated Pumps:
Allows slow staging
Allows 1 pump/2 chiller operation
Allows 2 pump/1 chiller operation if there is low T

BYPASS
VALVE

Flow Meter
or DP Sensor Across Chiller

63

Advantages of Primary-only Versus

Primary/Secondary System
Lower

first costs
Less plant space required
Reduced pump HP

Reduced pressure drop due to fewer pump connections,

less piping
Higher efficiency pumps (unless more expensive reduced
speed pumps used on primary side)

Lower pump energy

Reduced connected HP
Cube Law savings due to VFD and variable flow
through both primary and secondary circuit
64

Pump Energy
Primary vs. Primary/Secondary (3-chiller plant)
40.00
35.00
30.00

Pump kW

25.00

Primarysecondary

20.00
15.00
Primary-only
10.00
5.00

0.00
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
% GPM

65

Disadvantages of Primary-only Versus

Primary/Secondary System

Failure of bypass control

Not as fail-safe - what if valve or controls fail?

Must avoid abrupt flow shut-off (e.g. valves interlocked

with AHUs all timed to stop at same time)

Must be well tuned to avoid chiller short-cycling

Flow fluctuation when staging chillers on

Flow drops through operating chillers

Possible chiller trips, even evaporator freeze-up
Must first reduce demand on operating chillers and/or
slowly increase flow through starting chiller; causes
temporary high CHWS temperatures

(Problems above are seldom an issue with

very large plants, e.g. more than 3 chillers)

66

Primary-only System Staging

0 GPM

0 GPM

1000 GPM

67

Primary-only System Staging

0 GPM

500 GPM

500 GPM

68

Variable Flow
Primary/Secondary with CHW Storage

Advantages

Peak shaving
Simplifies chiller staging
Provides back-up for chiller
failure
Secondary water source for
fire department
Secondary water source for
cooling towers

Disadvantages

Installed cost
Space

69

Primary-only vs. Primary/Secondary

Use primary-only systems for:

Plants with many chillers (more than three) and with

fairly high base loads where the need for bypass is

minimal or nil and flow fluctuations during staging are
small due to the large number of chillers; and
Plants where design engineers and future on-site
operators understand the complexity of the controls
and the need to maintain them.

Otherwise use primary-secondary

Also for plants with CHW storage

70

Pipe Sizing

Pipe Sizing
Need

to balance

Cost of pipe and its installation

Cost of pump energy
Longevity of piping (erosion)
Noise
Sometimes space limitations

72

Accurately sizing pump head

Guessing at pump heads

Wastes money in oversized pumps, motors and (sometimes)

VFDs and (sometimes) need for impeller trimming
Wastes energy (minor impact w/VFD or if impeller is trimmed)

Calculating pump heads

Takes about 20 minutes of engineering time

Guessing cannot possibly be cost effective!

73

Optimum T

Flow Rate and T

Q = 500 GPM T
Load from Load
Calcs (Btu/hr)

Flow rate (GPM)

Conversion constant
=8.33 lb/gal * 60
minutes/hr

Temperature Rise or
Fall (F)

75

CHW T Tradeoffs
T
Low

High

Typical Range

8F

25F

First Cost Impact

smaller condenser

smaller pipe
smaller pump
smaller pump motor

Energy Cost
Impact

lower fan energy

lower pump energy

76

Coil Performance with T

Chilled Water T
Coil water pressure
drop, feet H2 O
Coil airside pressure
drop, inches H 2 O

11
28

13
20

15
15

18
10

20
8.1

0.46 0.48 0.49 0.52 0.54

43F chilled water supply temperature, 78F/62F

entering air and 53F leaving air temperature.

77

System Performance With T

Varying Airside Pressure

1200
CHP Energy kWh/year
Chiller Energy kWh/year

1000

Fan Energy kWh/year

kWh/ton/year

800

600

400

200

0
11

13

15

18

20
CHW Delta-T

CHWST = 44F
78

System Performance and T

Constant Airside Pressure

1400

CHP Energy kWh/year

Chiller Energy kWh/year

1200

Fan Energy kWh/year

kWh/ton/year

1000
800
600
400
200
0
41/16

42/14

43/12

44/10
CHWST/Delta-T
79

Choosing the Right CHW T

Both energy and first costs are almost

always minimized by picking a very high
T (>18F to 25F)
Savings even greater with systems that
have

Large distribution piping network

Water-side economizers
CHW thermal energy storage

80

Condenser Water (Tower) Range

at Constant CWST
T
Low

High

Typical Range

8F

18F

First Cost Impact

smaller condenser

Energy Cost
impact

lower chiller
energy

smaller pipe
smaller pump
smaller pump motor
smaller cooling tower
smaller cooling tower motor
lower pump energy
lower cooling tower energy

81

Condenser Water Range

at Constant Tower Fan Energy

600
Tower Fan
CW pump

kWh/ton/year

500

Chiller

400
300
200
100
0
73/16

73.5/14

74.5/12

75.5/10
CWST/Delta-T
82

COOLING TOWER SELECTION

DOE 2 Curve: Percent rated capacity at 70.0F wet bulb

2 X design capacity
Design capacity
210%

% Design Capacity

200%capacity
1/2 of design
190%
180%
170%
160%
150%
140%
130%
120%
110%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

19
17
15
1

13
2

11
5
Range (F)

9
7

Approach (F)

200%-210%
190%-200%
180%-190%
170%-180%
160%-170%
150%-160%
140%-150%
130%-140%
120%-130%
110%-120%
100%-110%
90%-100%
80%-90%
70%-80%
60%-70%
50%-60%
40%-50%
30%-40%
20%-30%
10%-20%
0%-10%

7
9

10

5
11

83

Cooling Tower Selection

Fan

Control
Efficiency
Approach

84

Tower Fan Control

One Cell Tower

Single Speed
Fan

% Power

Free Cooling
~ 15% of Capacity

Two-Speed or
Variable-Speed
Fan

% Capacity

85

Tower Fan Control

Two Ce ll Towe r
100%

Two Cell Tower

90%

Two 1-Speed Fans

80%

70%

One 1-Speed Fan and

One 2-Speed Fan

% Power

60%

50%

40%
Two 2-Speed Fans
30%
Two Variable Speed

Free Cooling Below 15%

Capacity

20%

10%

0%
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

55%

% Capacity

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

100
%

86

Tower Fan Control

One-speed control is almost never the optimum

strategy regardless of size, weather, or application
VFD fan speed control is best choice now

Costs now comparable to two speed motors & starters

Soft start reduces belt wear
Lower noise
Control savings for DDC systems (network card options)
More precise control

Multiple cell towers should have speed modulation on

at least 2/3 of cells (required by ASHRAE 90.1). For
redundancy, use VFDs on all cells

87

Tower Efficiency LCC

1000 ton
Oakland
Office

90 GPM/HP

70 GPM/HP

50 GPM/HP
88

Tower Efficiency Guidelines

Use Propeller Fans

Avoid centrifugal except where high static needed or

where low-profile is needed and no prop-fan options

available
Consider low-noise propeller blade option and high
efficiency tower where low sound power is required

Efficiency

Approach

Minimum 80 gpm/hp for commercial occupancies

Minimum 100 gpm/hp for 24/7 plants (data centers)
Maximum 10F for large central plants
3F for 24/7 plants (data centers)
89

Break

CHILLER SELECTION

Part-Load Ratio

91

Chiller Procurement Approaches

Most

Common Approach

Pick number of chillers, usually arbitrarily or as

limited by program or space constraints
Take plant load and divide by number of chillers
to get chiller size (all equal)
Pick favorite vendor
Have vendor suggest one or two chiller options
Pick option based on minimal or no analysis
Bid the chillers along with the rest of the job and
let market forces determine which chillers you
actually end up installing

92

Chiller Procurement Approaches

Better

Approach

Estimate plant annual load profile

Understand chiller efficiency curves
Request chiller options from multiple

manufacturers based on a performance desired.

Multiple options encouraged.
Estimate energy usage of options with a detailed
computer model of the building/plant

93

Sample Load Profile

800

700

Hours per year

600

500

Percent Load

400

300

200

100

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

94

Chiller Procurement Approaches

Another

Option

Pick a short list of vendors based on past

experience, local representation, etc.

Request chiller bids based on a performance
specification. Multiple options encouraged.
Adjust bids for other first cost impacts
Estimate energy usage of options with a detailed
computer model of the building/plant
Select chillers based on lowest life cycle cost
Bid the chillers at end of design development
phase
95

Chiller Bid Specification

Dont Specify:

Number of chillers
Chiller size
Chiller efficiency
Chiller unloading
mechanism
As much as possible
keep the spec flexible!

Do Specify:

Total design load

Anticipated load profile
Minimum number of

chillers and redundancy

requirements
Design CHW/CW entering
and leaving temperatures
and/or flows (or tables of
conditions)
Available energy sources
Physical, electrical or other
limitations
Acoustical constraints
Acceptable refrigerants
96

Zero Tolerance Data

Do

NOT allow tolerance to be taken in

accordance with ARI 550/590
Why insist on zero tolerance?

Levels playing field tolerances applied

inconsistently among manufacturers

Modeled energy costs will be more accurate
High tolerance at low loads makes chillers
appear to be more efficient than they will be,
affecting comparison with unequally sized, VFDdriven, or multiple chiller options
97

Zero Tolerance Data

ARI 550/590 Tolerance Curve

45%
40%
35%

% Tolerance

30%

10F Delta-T
15F Delta-T

25%

20F Delta-T

20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

% of Full Load

98

Factory Tests
Certified

Factory Tests

Need to verify performance to ensure accurate

claims by chiller vendors in performance bids
Field tests are difficult or impossible and less
accurate
Last chance to reject equipment

99

Chiller Bid Evaluation

Adjust

for First Cost Impacts

Estimate Maintenance Costs
Calculate Energy Costs

Energy model of building(s) and plant

Calculate

Life Cycle Costs

Temper Analysis with Consideration for
Soft Factors
Final Selection

100

Advantages & Disadvantages

OF RECOMMENDED CHILLER SELECTION APPROACH

Disadvantages

Extra work for both engineer and vendor

Difficult to include maintenance impact
Assumes energy rate schedules will remain as they
are now with simplistic adjustments for escalation

Advantages

Allows manufacturers to each find their own

sweet spots, both for cost and efficiency

Usually higher energy efficiency
More rational than typical selection approaches
101

OPTIMIZING CONTROLS

102

Optimizing Control Sequences

Cookbook

Solution

Relational

Control Approach

Staging Chillers
Controlling Pumps
Chilled Water Reset
Condenser Water Reset

103

Staging Chillers

Fixed Speed Chillers

Operate no more chillers than required to meet the

load
Stage on when operating chillers maxed out as
indicated by measured load (GPM, T), CHWST,
flow, or other load indicator
For primary-secondary systems w/o check valve in
the decoupler, start chiller to ensure primary-flow >
secondary-flow
Stage off when measured load/flow indicates load is
less than operating capacity less one chiller be
conservative to prevent short cycling
104

Staging Chillers, continued

Variable

Speed Chillers

Operate as many chillers as possible provided

load on each exceeds 30% to 40% load
Energy impact small regardless of staging logic
You MUST use condenser water reset to get the
savings

105

Part Load Chiller Performance

w/ Zero ARI Tolerance

100%
90%
Fixed Speed

80%

Variable Speed
70%

%kW

60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

% Load (with Condenser Relief)

106

Controlling CHW Pumps

Primary-only

Pumps

and Secondary CHW

Control speed by differential pressure measured

as far out in system as possible and/or reset
setpoint by valve demand
Stage pumps by differential pressure PID loop
speed signal:

Start lag pump at 90% speed

Stop lag pump at 40% speed
For large HP pumps, determine flow and speed
setpoints with detailed energy analysis

107

VFD Pump Power vs. Setpoint

100%
90%

DP setpoint = Design Head

DP setpoint = Head*.75

80%

DP setpoint =Head/2
DP setpoint =Head/3

Percent Pump kW

70%

DP setpoint = 0 (reset)
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
0

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Percent GPM

70%

80%

90%

100%

108

Chilled Water Setpoint Reset

Reset Impacts

Resetting CHWST upwards reduces chiller energy but will

increase pump energy in VFD variable flow systems
Dehumidification
Reset with open or indirect control loops (e.g. OAT) can starve
coils and reduce dehumidification
Reset by control valve position will never hurt dehumidification
humidity of supply determined almost entirely by supply air
temperature setpoint, not CHWST

Recommendations

Reset from control valve position using Trim & Respond logic
For variable flow systems with VFDs
Reset of CHWST and VFD differential pressure setpoint should
be sequenced not independent like VAV systems since control
valves are pressure-dependent
Sequence reset of CHWST and DP next slide

109

CHWST/DP Setpoint Reset for VSD

CHW System
DPmax

Tmin+
15F

DP
setpoint

CHW
setpoint
DP
setpoint

CHW
setpoint

Tmin

5 psi
0

50%
CHW Plant Reset

100%

Back off on CHWST first

Then back off on DP setpoint
110

CHW vs. DP Setpoint Reset

Plant with 150 ft CHW pump head

111

Condenser Water Setpoint Reset

Optimum Strategy Cannot Easily Be Generalized

Depends on efficiency/sizing of tower and type of chiller

Relational control by monitoring plant efficiency

Recommendations

CWS reset by plant load from [as low as manufacturer

recommends] at 30% plant load up to [design CWST] at
80% load
Reset based on wetbulb temperature not effective given
inaccuracy of sensors

112

Optimum Sequences
All

plants are different

Tower efficiency, approach

Chiller efficiency, unloading control
Pump efficiency, head, unloading control
Number of chillers, pumps, towers

generalized sequence can be

developed but it will not be
optimum
Solution?
113

Summary

In this course, you have learned techniques to

design and control chiller plants for nearminimum life cycle costs, including:

Selecting optimum chilled water distribution system

Selecting optimum CHW supply & return temperatures
Selecting optimum CW and tower range and approach
temperatures, tower efficiency, and fan speed controls
Selecting optimum chillers using a performance bid and
LCC analysis
Optimizing control sequences and setpoints

114

Questions

115