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control to reduce total system energy use. Specifically, it considers how the
design guidelines shown above could modified to enhance energy efficiency.
Source data: Trane, 2000, Chilled Water System Design and Operation,
CTV-SLB005-EN.
Tc = Tcsp
End if
Compressor input power per ton of evaporator cooling, KWPT, is given by:
4) KWPT = a + b FL + c FL2 + d Tc + e Tc2 + f Tc FL
Then, from an energy balance on the chiller, compressor input power,
Wcomp, heat rejected by the condenser, Qcond, volume flow rate of water
through the condenser, Vw, and temperature rise across the condenser, Tr,
are given by :
5)
6)
7)
8)
where pw is the density of water and cpw is the specific heat of water. The
value for Tr can then be substituted back into the start of the algorithm and
the algorithm repeated until Tr converges. After convergence, cooling tower
fan power, Wctf, can be calculated as:
Wctf = Fon RHP FML / Emotor x 0.746 kW/hp
Where RHP is cooling tower fan rated horsepower, FML is fraction motor
loaded, Emotor is the efficiency of the motor. The total power of the cooling
tower fan and compressor is:
Wtot = Wctf + Wcomp
Example
Consider a 500-ton chiller operated at 300 tons with a 30-hp cooling tower
fan and design water flow rate of 3 gpm/ton. The fan motor is 90% efficient.
The outdoor air wet-bulb temperature is 60 F. Calculate total cooling tower
fan plus compressor electrical power for cooling tower water set point
temperatures of 80 F, 70 F and 60 F.
Use of the algorithm shown above produces the following results. The
minimum total cooling tower fan plus compressor electrical power (192 kW)
occurred at a cooling tower water set point temperature of 70 F, which is 10
F greater than the outdoor air wet bulb temperature. This suggests that
total cooling tower fan plus compressor electrical power might be minimized
over an entire year by resetting the cooling tower water set point
temperature according to outdoor air wet-bulb temperature.
The results below show total cooling tower fan energy use for both a
constant speed fan Ecsf and variable speed fan Evsf, compressor energy use,
Ec, and total energy use for various cooling tower set-point temperatures.
These results indicate that chiller plus cooling tower fan energy use can be
reduced from a design condenser water temperature of 80 F by setting the
cooling water temperature equal to the minimum condenser temperature
recommended by the chiller manufacturer. Chiller plus cooling tower fan
energy use can then be further reduced by varying cooling water
temperature with outdoor air wet-bulb temperature.
Tcsp
(F)
80
70
60
50
Twb + 10 F
Ecsf
(kWh/yr)
52,296
93,217
134,651
173,341
1,498,886
Evsf
(kWh/yr)
5,541
48,493
99,355
151,437
94,166
Ec
(kWh/yr)
1,739,450
1,542,125
1,406,825
1,328,278
1,350,674
Ecsf + Ec
(kWh/yr)
1,791,746
1,635,342
1,541,476
1,501,619
1,500,559
Evsf + Ec
(kWh/yr)
1,744,991
1,590,618
1,506,180
1,479,715
1,444,840
These results are similar to an analysis by Trane, which showed that varying
condenser water temperature with outdoor air wet-bulb temperature resulted
in lower total energy costs than the design condenser water temperature or
the minimum condenser water temperature that the chiller could accept.
Source data: Trane, 2000, Chilled Water System Design and Operation,
CTV-SLB005-EN.
Traditionally, cooling plant pumps, fans and chillers were driven with
constant speed motors. Load following capability was provided by bypass,
mixing, staging and on/off control. Today, load following capability can be
provided by varying the flow of the pumps, fans and chillers with variable
frequency drives. Variable flow control can significantly reduce energy use
over traditional constant flow systems. The figure below shows an all
variable-speed cooling plant. Variable-speed cooling plants have been
documented to use as little as 0.5 kW/ton at high loads and 0.3 kW/ton at
low loads (Erpelding, Ben, 2008, Monitoring Chiller Plant Performance,
ASHRAE Journal, April, pp. 48-52.)
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