2005, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.org).

Reprinted by permission from ASHRAE Journal, (Vol. 47, No. 11, November 2005). This article may not be copied nor distributed in either paper or digital form without ASHRAEs permission.

Evolving Design Of Chiller Plants

By Thomas H. Durkin, P .E., Member ASHRAE

uring the last 15 years, mechanical rooms have seen dramatic changes. The rooms have become smaller with fewer pumps

and valves, the equipment has become more efcient, and more attention is paid to intricacies of connections. The quest is for solutions that are less expensive to build, less expensive to operate and easier to maintain than traditional (or previous) arrangements. This article covers the improvements in chiller plant design, the reasons why each variation was made, the challenges and opportunities that were presented, and the results achieved.
The evolution is driven by a continuous search for improvement, and the only way that can happen is if the performance of projects is tracked and all the results and implications are understood. The standard should never be that systems work. That must be a prerequisite. The standard should be
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that they work efciently, and the goal ought to be that each new system works better and more efciently than previous designs. This article traces the ongoing development of mechanical room designs from 1988. A baseline installed cost and baseline operating cost for the chiller
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plant have been ination-adjusted so the schemes allow for direct comparisons. For example, if the baseline chiller (1988 scheme) was 240 tons (844 kW), it would cost $134,000 to install today (R.S. Means 2005 Mechanical Cost Data). A chiller for the same size building per the 1990 design would be 192 tons (675 kW) (80% load diversity) and cost $103,000 in todays pricing. The 1990 chiller portion of the total cost would be 0.76 of baseline. Increases in controls result in a total cost of 0.90 of baseline. A similar analysis for operating cost begins with an estimate of $35,000 per year to operate the 1988 design at todays utility rates, based on a 100,000 ft2 (9290 m2) school in the Midwest. The pump energy saved by the 1990 scheme is estimated to lower annual operating cost to $33,250, or 0.95 of the baseline. One assumption that runs through all scenarios is design based on 12 (44F to
About the Author Thomas H. Durkin, P .E., is director of engineering at Veazey Parrott Durkin & Shoulders in Indianapolis.

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56F) T. The design T has a direct impact on pumping energy and pump/pipe sizing.
1988: Primary/Secondary Constant Speed Pumping Of Both Chiller Circuits

All coils were tted with three-way valves and automatic ow control valves, aka ow limiters (Figure 1). Installed Cost: baseline of 1.00. Operating Cost: baseline of 1.00. Advantages: Simple control, safe; easy to understand. Disadvantages: Unable to take advantage of load diversity in building; all pumps, chillers, piping are sized for the sum of the peaks. This means low T is normal and chilled water is mixed (see sidebar Mixing Chilled Water).
1990: Constant-Speed Primary, Variable-Speed Secondary Pumping For Chiller Circuits

All coils are tted with two-way valves and automatic ow limiters (Figure 2). The intent was to take advantage of the part load efciency of a pump running at reduced speed. Theoretically, as a pump slows to half speed and half ow (they work together), the energy used is ()3 of full speed energy. The actual energy saved is not that dramatic due to inefciency of the variable speed drive. Considering that a properly sized cooling system will operate at full load only about 50 hours a year, vs. about 1,500 hours of cooling system operations (a school in the Midwest), the savings potential is considerable. Of even bigger value is that now, the central plant can be downsized. In the 1988 version, chillers were sized for the sum of the individual spaces vs. the building peak in the 1992 version. Contributing to this would be solar load, which affects the east side in the morning, and the south and west sides in the afternoon. This is referred to as diversity in the load. It is typically about 80%, meaning the building peak is 20% less than the sum of the individual spaces. Large buildings with large assembly spaces, such as auditoriums and gyms, may put the diversity as low as 70%. Installed Cost: 0.900 of baseline. Operating Cost: 0.950 of baseline. Payback: Immediate. Advantages: Saves energy; and downsized central plant, pumps, piping. Disadvantages: Increased control complexity; and low T is still a limiting factor (see sidebar What Is Low T ?).
1993: Remove Flow Limiters

give the capacity needed (Figure 3). The same pump was now delivering more ow. This raised some interesting questions: What do ow limiters really do? Answer: They make system balancing easy and control valve selection less important. If a control valve were to fail open, the ow limiter would limit the impact on the rest of the system, maybe even to the point of masking the failed control valve. What happens when the ow limiters are removed? Answer: On the building side, nothing happens as long as the control valves are working correctly. In the mechanical room, additional pump capacity was found, and 3 psi (7 ft) of head was taken off the pumps, equaling a drop in pump energy for the life of that building. Anything else? Answer: In many control schemes, the winter fail-safe freeze-protection operation for heating systems is to open the control valves and count on the ow limiters to balance the ow. This means that the hot water pumps are running at 100% speed. This also means that the hot water pumps werent sized for the building peak load, but were sized for the larger sum of the individual spaces. And, it means that the speed drives arent being allowed to save money since most of the operating hours are unoccupied when the pumps are at full speed. A much better scheme is to limit the freeze protection valve position to some small percent calculated to prevent freeze-ups. This will allow for pump energy savings, and eliminate the need for ow limiters. Installed Cost: 0.890 of baseline. Operating Cost: 0.943 of baseline. Payback: Immediate. Advantages: Saves pump energy; and saves operating cost. Disadvantage: Balancing more time consuming; control valve and actuator selection more critical.
1996: Variable Primary Flow

This may not sound like much of a change, but the results were pretty interesting. While designing the nal phase of a multiyear project that began in 1990, the last addition ended up being larger than had been conceived three years earlier. Faced with modifying a recently installed chiller plant to solve a critical issue of pump capacity, 10% more ow was needed. By removing the pressure drop (ow limiters) from the piping loop, the system curve shifted to the right far enough to
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This was the next logical step in the evolution of variablespeed pump systems. The constant-speed chiller primary pumps design purpose is to provide constant ow through the chiller to ensure safe operation. However, with modern chiller controls, the need for constant ow through the chiller is not as critical as a generation ago. Minimum ow will always be required. The variable primary-ow design did away with the constantspeed chiller pumps and added chiller isolation valves. A ow meter in the chiller inlet line monitored ow, with a setpoint minimum corresponding to the number of chillers needed. The ow meter would open a chiller minimum ow valve to ensure safe operation (Figure 4). From a rst-cost standpoint, replacing two large pumps with two isolation valves, adding some additional controls, and increasing the size of the remaining pumps resulted in a net savings. That savings is compounded by reducing the required size of the mechanical room.
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Secondary Pumps Primary Pumps Potential Mixing Point Chiller Chiller Constant Speed Chiller Bypass Supply Flow Limiter Constant Speed Three-Port Control Valve Coil

Secondary Pumps Primary Pumps Potential Mixing Point Chiller Chiller

Supply

Flow Limiter

Variable Speed

DPT

Coil

Return

Constant Speed

Chiller Bypass Return

Figure 1: Primary/secondary constant speed pumping (1988).

140 11 in. D 10 in. 100 Total Head in Feet 10 in. 9 in. 80 9 in. 65% 70%

Figure 2: Variable speed secondary pumping (1990).

120

75%

78%

80%

New Selection 680 gpm at 83 ft 80.5% 80% 78% 70% 65%

25 hp

60 Original Selection 600 gpm at 90 ft

20 hp

40

20

NSPH REQ.
0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Capacity in U.S. gpm 900 1000 1100 1200

0 1300

Figure 3: Removing ow limiters (1993).

From a pump energy standpoint at full load, little difference exists from a primary/secondary scheme. At all part loads, variable primary ow will use less energy than any primary/ secondary scheme. From an operational standpoint, we now have a scheme that makes low T a nonissue. We can over-pump the

chiller if we need to, and stage chillers on ow and load, rather than just ow. This is a far cry from saying that low T is solved. Installed Cost: 0.867 of baseline. Operating Cost: 0.937 of baseline. Payback: Immediate. as an operating strategy can increase efciency, increase capacity or lower demand. During the summertime, when raising supply temperature would save kWh and demand, thats when the coldest water is needed to dehumidify properly. All chillers will be more efcient at warmer evaporator water outlet temperatures. For example, a 4F (2C) rise in supply temperature will roughly equal a 3% efciency increase, some of which will be given back by increased pumping energy for all variable speed distribution systems. Caution: if youre raising supply temperature to save demand charges, remember that although chillers have a 3% lower kW/ton at 4F (2C) higher evaporator temps, they also have 6% greater capacity and a net increase in total power consumption.
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Mixing Chilled Water

All primary/secondary systems have a mix point at the decoupler whenever the secondary ow exceeds the primary. Mixing chilled water is almost never a good idea. It raises the temperature and increases pump energy. Chilled water supply temperature has to match the coil selection temperature so cooling coils can dehumidify properly and so the coils can develop the intended T. Although for many hours in the year the coldest water wont actually be required for either temperature or humidity control, if the system can tolerate warmer water, the better way is to raise the chiller setpoint. On a related note, raising chilled water supply temperature
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NPSH in Feet 30 20 10

75%

15 hp

Chiller Isolation Valve Chiller Chiller

Flow Meter

Supply

Chiller Isolation Valve DPT DPT Chiller Coil Chiller DPT

Supply Chiller Min. Flow Valve DPT Coil

Chiller Min. Flow Valve Variable Speed Return

Primary Pumps

Variable Speed Primary Pumps

Return

Figure 4: Variable primary ow, Version 1 (1996).

Figure 5: Variable primary ow, Version 2 (1997).

Advantages: Save rst cost; save operating cost; low T a nonissue. Disadvantages: Increased control complexity (see Ghost Energy sidebar).
1997: The Good Idea Needed Optimizing

1999: Pressure-Independent Flow Control Valves (More Optimizing)

Too many small things popped up that negatively impacted reliability, control and the ability to ne tune the system. Flow meters did not perform as intended due to water quality issues, piping layout, and instrument accuracy. Realizing that the most accurate and well-documented orice in the mechanical room was the chiller barrel, the solution was to install a differential pressure transmitter across the evaporator barrel and write a simple algorithm to control the chiller minimum ow valve (Figure 5). This allowed more stable control, more nite control at low ow and a small increase in pump efciency. Installed Cost: 0.864 of baseline. Operating Cost: 0.937 of baseline. Payback: Immediate. Advantage: Better reliability. Disadvantages: None.

When designing, a myriad of operating conditions need to be considered that could affect the system, such as full load, part load, one pump out, startup, shutdown, etc. One particularly vexing condition is rapid increases in load. If the chiller plant were operating with pump speed and minimum ow valve in control, a large air-handling unit starting could cause a sudden increase in demand for chilled water. This might cause a chiller to trip on low ow if the minimum ow valve could not open up fast enough and the pump speed could not increase fast enough. The initial solution was to slow down the rate at which air-handling unit control valves open and close to avoid sudden ow variations. It was felt that slow acting valves would eliminate most of the problems. However, a better design would eliminate all of the nuisance trips, to be as operator friendly as possible. After much product research in various valve and actuator styles, an interesting device with its origins in the oil eld industry appeared most promising. A pressure-independent ow control valve (see sidebar Pressure Independent) became

What Is Low T?

It is a phenomenon that occurs in most chilled water systems when the return water coming back to the cooling plant is not as warm as it is designed to be. For example, if the design called for chilled water supply to the system to be 45F (7C), and the return to be 55F (13C), then any time return water was 54F (12C) or cooler, the plant would be suffering from low T. Usually worse at part loads, it is frequently seen at full load also. It dees the fundamentals of heat transfer, since theoretically, at all part-load conditions, the T should be above design rather than below it. Why is Low T a Problem? It limits the capacity out of your chillers. Generally, the most expensive piece of equipment in a building is the chiller. In a primary-secondary pumping arrangement with the primary pumps sized for the chiller capacity at

the design T, chiller plants will be limited on ow rather than load unless the T is at design. It wastes pump energy. In a 10F (5.5C) T design, if the water is coming back at 7F (4C) T, then the system is pumping 30% more than it should, and theoretically using 220% of the pump energy that it should. The piping/pumping system may be unable to meet the building load. Possible Causes of Low T Dirty coil, air-side or water-side; Poor coil selection; Changing design conditions; Laminar ow on waterside; Coil unequal air distribution; Three-way valves; System DP above valve shutoff head; Piping conguration, etc.
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the standard for chiller minimum ow protection, and a big drop in spurious trips was seen. The piping schematic did not change from the 1997 version, but operation became much more stable. Installed cost: 0.865 of baseline (increase vs. 1997). Operating cost: 0.937 of baseline. Payback: Never, but, highly worthwhile. Advantage: Better reliability. Disadvantage: Slight price increase.
2001 and 2002: Two Changes in Two Different Steps, Both Involving Cooling Coil Control Valves

First, the pump speed differential pressure transmitter (DPT) was relocated from across the terminal unit branch main (where it had been from 1990) to across only the most remote control valve. The theory is that best control and most energy savings would be seen by monitoring as close to the control device as possible. And additional energy savings is possible since, in the original scheme, the DPT setpoint was typically around 25 ft (75 kPa) (coil = 10 ft [30 kPa]; control valve = 10 ft [30 kPa]; and valves/strainer/pipe = 5 ft [15 kPa]). In the new location, the DPT setpoint would only need to be 10 ft (30 kPa), meaning that the variable speed pumps would spend more hours running at lower speed. This was an example of what Albert Einstein called a schlembe: an improvement that made things worse. Without the dampening effect of the coil, piping and the mains, even small changes in valve position resulted in wild variations in differential pressure and constant speed swings at the pumps. As with the chiller minimum ow valve, slowing down the valve response slowed the DPT swings but could not eliminate them. Conventional control valves could not control accurately or respond quickly enough to allow reasonable control, hence the second improvement. The success that was seen with the pressureindependent control valves (PICVs) in chiller minimum ow service again was seen when PICVs were installed on all the air handler coils (Figure 6). In addition, with the control valves actually controlling correctly, cooling coil T was now at or above design, occasionally signicantly above design.

Two things were immediately evident: the pumps could be accurately and smoothly controlled at a much lower setpoint, hence more energy savings; and low T no longer existed. All previous efforts were about making low T a non-issue, this change solved it. With PICVs on all the cooling coils, the system nally obeyed the fundamentals of heat transfer. At all part-load conditions, return water is consistently above design, with no change in room comfort level. From a rst-cost standpoint, PICV are about 50% more than conventional control valves. First-cost is always a concern, as owners and construction managers look for value engineering items. On a 100,000 ft2 (9290 m2) building, PICVs will add about $20,000 to the cost, which is 0.16% of the total project cost and 0.7% of the HVAC package. These certainly are not signicant percentages. From our energy savings point, the ghost energy was eliminated (see Ghost Energy sidebar), and control was much smoother. However, calculated payback was 12 years, prompting a reevaluation of other parameters to lessen the rst-cost impact. One suggestion was that since low T was no longer an issue, piping mains could be downsized. Building load diversity was showing up as much greater ow diversity. Resizing and recalculating the mains is worth about half the premium for the PICV, bringing the payback to six years. Serendipity is nding something good that you werent looking for. So, solving the low T was serendipity. However, it presented another concern. With the PICVs on all our cooling coils, the chilled water T was now consistently at 16F (9C) and occasionally in the 20F range (11C) (12F [7C] design). Most chiller manufacturers will say that, when used in a variable primary ow system, that chiller minimum ow should be 1.5 gpm/ton (0.03 L/s per kW). That equates to a chiller T of 16F (9C), which means that at many load conditions, considerable water is being bypassed when the chiller was heavily loaded. The chiller industry may need to better dene minimum ow so a chiller can run fully loaded with almost any T, without introducing another kind of ghost energy (unnecessary bypass water).

Pressure-Independent Control Valves

The ow-to-position response of valves (called valve authority) is characterized by ASHRAE as either quick opening, linear or equal percentage. Almost all valves used for temperature control systems are specied as equal percentage. Chapter 42 of the ASHRAE HandbookHVAC Systems and Equipment shows how ow in different valve styles reacts to changes in position. It also has a chart illustrating a phenomenon called authority distortion. The chart shows that any valve will only perform as advertised if the pressure differential across the valve stays constant, which almost never happens. From full load to part load, pressure differential across a control valve can vary signicantly. For example, 50% valve position may equal 10%
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ow at design differential, or it may equal 50% ow at part load (authority distortion = 0.1, see S42.9, Figure 19). A pressure-independent control valve automatically and immediately responds to variations in pressure. It is a relatively recent innovation for hydronic applications. A perfect analogy is the variable-air-volume (VAV) box. Years ago, when VAV was in its infancy (a great idea but inconsistent space control), the invention that made VAV the smart choice for most modern buildings was making the VAV boxes pressure independent. The addition of a ow ring in the box inlet meant that the box could maintain constant airow into the space regardless of anything that was happening on the upstream side. A pressure independent control valve has a similar device at the inlet.
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DPT 277 Ton Chiller 277 Ton Chiller DPT 57.3F

Chiller Min. Flow Valve

118 gpm

Chiller Isolation Valve

348 gpm, 42.8F

230 gpm, 42.8F

Chiller Isolation Valve DPT Coil

DPT Chiller Chiller DPT

Chiller Min. Flow Valve DPT Coil

64.4F Variable Speed Primary Pumps Evap. Cond. Dedicated Heat Recovery Chiller Hot Water Return

Variable Speed Primary Pumps

Figure 6: Version 3 with PICVs (2002).

Installed Cost: 0.872 of baseline (increase). Operating Cost: 0.900 of baseline. Payback: Six years. Advantage: Better control; energy savings; eliminate most ghost energy and low T. Disadvantage: Slight price increase.
2003: Dedicated Heat Recovery Chillers (DHRC) Became Standard on All Four-Pipe Projects

Figure 7: Dedicated heat recovery chillers (2003).

Heat recovery chillers are not intended to replace the main cooling plant, only to replace summertime boiler operation. They are an environmentally conscious way of controlling humidity, decreasing greenhouse gases, and providing domestic water heat. The ideal location is where it will see the warmest entering evaporator temperature, which is before the chiller minimum ow bypass (Figure 7). Typical sizing for a 100,000 ft2 (9290 m2) school might be a 200-ton (703 kW) main cooling plant and a 30-ton (106 kW) DHRC. Even though it is called a chiller, its summertime function is to make hot water, and cooling is a by-product. That reverses in the winter when it makes chilled water with the rejected heat as a by-product. This is distinctly different than a heat pump, which has reversing valves on the refrigerant side. In a DHRC, the evaporator is always the evaporator; the condenser is always the condenser. The control parameters differ from summer (condenser control) to winter (evaporator control).

Consider the operating economics of heat recovery chillers as applied to any concurrent heating/cooling load (the heating may include domestic water heating or swimming pool water heating). The utility rates shown are typical of central Indiana before Hurricane Katrina. Option 1: Run boilers and chillers. Chiller: Air-cooled screw at 1.25 kW/ton (0.36 kW/kW). Electricity at $0.07/kWh = $0.729/100 MBtu. Boiler: Condensing boiler at 92% efcient gas at $0.85/ therm = $0.924/100 MBtu. Total Option 1 = $1.653 for 100 MBtu of heating and 100 MBtu of cooling. Option 2: Its cool enough to run economizers, but there is still a heating load. Chiller: Off. Cooling = $0.00. Boiler: Condensing boiler at 92% efcient gas at $0.85/ therm. Heating = $0.924/100 MBtu. Total Option 2 = $0.924 for 100 MBtu of heating and 100 MBtu of cooling. Option 3: Heat recovery chiller. Chiller: Modular scroll at 1.2 kW/ton (0.34 kW/kW) (55F [13C] Evap EAT, 120F [49C] Cond LWT); at

Condensing Boilers and Heat-Recovery Chillers

A condensing boiler is one that is built to withstand the corrosive conditions of cool ue gases. It operates at temperatures signicantly cooler and at efciencies signicantly higher than would be found in conventional boiler systems. The most important factor of boiler efciency is entering water temperature (EWT), see Figure 6, p. 27.4, 2004 ASHRAE HandbookHVAC Systems and Equipment. Most conventional boilers have a minimum EWT low limit of 140F (60C) to prevent condensation on the re side. This is one of the key factors that has pushed HVAC engineers to the standard 180F (82C) hot water systems. Condensing boilers are, by denition, meant to condense, so that the latent heat from the ue gas is sent into the hy48 ASHRAE Journal

dronic loop, rather than pushed up the stack. Therefore, a heating system designed around condensing boilers operating in the condensing mode all the time (135F [57C] maximum leaving water temperature) will be more efcient in the boiler room and throughout the system because parasitic losses are less. It is the difference between component efciency, measured under ideal conditions, and system efciency measured under actual operating conditions. Payback on condensing vs. conventional boilers typically is two to four years. Once the heating plant is designed around the lower water temperatures, the viability and applicability of heat recovery chillers operating at 120F to 130F (49C to 54C) condensing temperatures is evident.
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$0.07/kWh. Cooling = $0.70. Boiler = Off. Heating = $0.00. Total Option 3 = $0.70 for 100 MBTU of cooling and 125 MBTU of heating. At these utility rates, a couple of interesting conclusions can be drawn from this. 1. Recovered heat will always be cheaper than any boiler or water heater arrangement. 2. It is cheaper to run the heat recovery chiller than to run the economizers if you have a need for the rejected heat. The potential economic benets of heat recovery have been known for several generations, but a reliable control arrangement and a way to use the low-grade heat recovered from condensers were never easy (see Condensing Boilers sidebar). The operating cost justication comes from eliminating summertime reheat and minimizing the amount of economizer operation. As illogical as it sounds, the cooling control sequences should be rewritten to make DHRC the rst call for cooling instead of economizers for VAV and multizone systems. If the facility has an indoor swimming pool, the payback is immediate, since a pool dehumidier (arguably the most expensive and complicated refrigeration device in any building)

Ghost Energy
Ghost energy refers to unintended and unnecessary energy usage such as reheating or overcooling for no psychrometric or comfort benet. At least three kinds of ghost energy exist: ghost cooling, ghost heating, and ghost pumping. The term originated with the observation that, if low T occurs (which it does), and if the fundamentals of heat transfer say that it shouldnt (which they do), then the Btus must be going somewhere (which they are). A leaky preheat valve, for example, can create signicant ghost heating and cooling demand. Excess ventilation, which comes with a need to dehumidify or preheat, is also a kind of ghost energy. Ghost cooling can be caused by authority distortion of pressure dependent valves, which appears to be a prime cause of low T. The actuators, especially on quarter turn valves, are not nite enough to react quickly to variations in system differential. The result is that VAV leaving air setpoint, nominally at 55F (13C), is now running at 54F or 53F (12C or 11C) (ghost cooling). No one in the space will notice the difference, but there would then be an implied reheat load (ghost heating). There is ghost pumping for the additional chilled water and heating water ows along with ghost heating and cooling. is no longer required. The same function and same economy can be had with conventional air-handling devices. Installed Cost: 0.999 of baseline (no pool) or 0.830 (with pool). Operating Cost: 0.800 of baseline. Payback: 4.6 years (no pool) or 0.5 years (with pool). Advantages: Lower operating cost; some cooling redundancy, some chillers available in winter. Disadvantages: Potentially higher rst cost; control complexity.

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The next generations are already on the drawing boards. Stay tuned.
Conclusion

In the quest for less expensive to build, it may seem that modern chiller plant design has come full circle. When adjusted for ination, current chiller schemes cost as much as 15-year-old designs unless a pool is part of the project. Less expensive to operate has been achieved, since it now costs 20% less to operate a comparable building. The easier to maintain is harder to track and quantify, but it is patently obvious that newer systems are more complicated. Increased control complexity is a disadvantage of almost every one of the improvements. Much more is required of the temperature controls people, and the complexity that is inherent in a more sophisticated design mandates building commissioning.
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