District Cooling Best Practices

Design Process and Key Issues

International District Cooling Conference
January 14-17, 2007
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Mark Spurr

Agenda

Load estimation
Focus on delta T
Condenser cooling options
Infrastructure integration
Designing for operations

Load estimation

Proper estimation of cooling loads affects the

design, operation and cost-effectiveness of
the district cooling system

Ensure sufficient but not excessive plant and

distribution capacity
Provide the ability to cost-effectively meet range
of loads
Provide a basis for accurate revenue projections

Cooling load estimation is addressed

extensively in ASHRAE and many computer
programs

Load estimation

Conventional methods tend to overstate loads

Design practices that contribute to high load
estimates include

Using extreme design temperatures

Assuming dry bulb & wet bulb peaks are coincident
Underestimation of load diversity
Safety factors

Three major aspects of load projections

Peak demand
Peak day hourly load profile
Annual cooling load profile

Load estimation
Case-specific variables
Weather
Building envelope, particularly windows
Lighting and computers
Number of people in occupied areas
Outside air for ventilation
Occupancy schedule
Load diversities
Operational practices and controls

e.g. shutting down fresh air intake at night would substantially

reduce dehumidification and cooling requirements

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Temperature (C)

Load estimation

50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Dry bulb

Mean
coincident
wet bulb

Load as % of peak

Peak day load profiles

110%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Hotel
Residential
Office
Retail

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Hours

System diversified peak day load profile

% of peak load

(50% office, 15% hotel, 22% residential, 13% retail)

110%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Peak day
load
profile
Average
daily load

2 4

6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of day

Annual cooling energy

and load duration curve
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%

16
00
24
00
32
00
40
00
48
00
56
00
64
00
72
00
80
00
88
00

80
0

0%
0

Percentage of peak hourly load

100%

Hours per year with load at or below a given level

Annual cooling energy

and load duration curve

Load duration curve useful for evaluation of

plant options because it provides information
how many operating hours a given element in
the dispatch order will be used
Annual load profile also enables calculation of
the total annual energy, and thus the annual
Equivalent Full Load Hours (EFLH)
Critical for rate structure development and
revenue projections
In example shown, EFLH =3,978

Delta T, Delta T, Delta T!

Chilled water flow is inversely proportional

to the temperature differential (delta T)
between the supply and return
The larger the district cooling system delta
T, the less flow is required

Smaller pipes and pumps

Less pumping energy
Full capacity of chillers

Delta T, Delta T, Delta T!

Limitations on how large the delta T can go

Dropping supply temperature limited by
evaporator freeze-up and efficiency
penalties on the chillers
If chilled water storage is used, supply
temperature is limit 4C or 39F (maximum
density of water)
Coil performances
System and operational effects

Delta T, Delta T, Delta T!

For higher return temperature in building

HVAC, coil costs are higher but costs are
reduced due to

Smaller pipes, fittings and valves

Smaller pumps and less pumping power

For new construction, life-cycle costs should

be analyzed for the entire system (building
HVAC, ETS, distribution, plant)

Delta T, Delta T, Delta T!

Optimize delta T within integrated life

cycle costs
Typical recommendation for new
construction
3.3-6.7C (38-44F) supply
12.2-16.7C (54-62F) return

Condenser cooling

Cooling tower make-up options

Untreated seawater
Desalinate seawater (likely Reverse Osmosis)
Treated sewage effluent (TSE)

Seawater for direct condenser cooling

Cost
Environmental impact
Impact of future land reclamation

Infrastructure integration options

Plant siting

Consideration of condenser cooling options is

critical for district cooling plant siting
Need to consider access to both power and
water at an early stage in system planning
Depending on condenser cooling option, plant
site may require pipeline access corridor to

Seawater for tower make-up or direct cooling

Treated sewage effluent for tower make-up
Other water sources

Designing for operations

If approached as a long-term utility business, should

involve the Operations and Maintenance staff in the
design process
Challenge: fast pace with which most district cooling
systems are being designed
Experienced operating staff can provide input that can
reduce life-cycle costs and improve reliability
Desirable for O&M staff to take ownership of these
systems

Thanks for your attention!

Mark Spurr
Phone: 612-607-4544
Email: mspurr@fvbenergy.com