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Does your building have a centrifugal chiller? If it does, you should know that chillers typically consume more
electricity than any other single energy-consuming device in a commercial building, except for an occasional extremely large fan. Thus, inefficient chillers can waste significant amounts of electricity, and even modest improvements in efficiency may yield substantial energy savings and attractive paybacks.
However, it's important to select a chiller (and its associated efficiency) carefullybuying a chiller that is highly
efficient may not be cost-effective in all cases. It is also important to remember that chillers are actually part of a
chilled water system, and the efficiency and control of pumps and cooling towers can have a significant impact
on overall efficiency. Maximizing the efficiency of the chiller alone does not ensure that the system will operate
efficiently. To maximize cost-effectiveness, we recommend analyzing the entire chilled water system as well as
exercising care in specifying the efficiency of the chiller itself.
Purchasing Advisor
Source: Platts
Purchasing Advisor
Reduce cooling loads. About half of the cooling load in an inefficient building comes from solar gain and lighting,
so careful treatment of these two sources of heat gain can yield impressive savings. A lighting retrofit offers direct
energy savings in addition to reducing the cooling load for the building. Figure 3 illustrates several ways to reduce
solar heat gain.
Optimize HVAC auxiliary systems. Cooling tower fans, condenser and chilled water pumps, and air and water
distribution systems should all be analyzed for potential efficiency improvements.
Optimize control of the system and its components. In many cases, significant energy savings can be achieved by
modifying the operating characteristics of chiller plant components during part load conditions. Microprocessorbased building automation systems can be programmed to adjust operating parameters in near-real time to maximize
overall chiller plant efficiency.
Compare chillers at a variety of efficiency levels to determine the best buy. Annual energy costs for a chiller may
amount to as much as a third of the purchase price, so even a modest improvement in efficiency can yield substantial
energy savings and attractive paybacks. For example, paying an extra $6 per ton for each 0.01 kW/ton improvement
to raise the efficiency of a 500-ton chiller from 0.6 kW/ton to 0.56 kW/ton would increase that machine's first cost
by $12,000. But that change might reduce operating costs by as much as $3,000 per yearassuming 1,500 equivalent full-load hours and electricity at an average price of 10 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), including demand
chargesyielding a four-year simple payback. For a chiller that operates fewer hours and would therefore produce
lower savings, some buyers might choose to forgo both the efficiency improvement and the additional cost. Most
manufacturers have software that will help you make such evaluations.
Compare chillers under the conditions they are most likely to experience. Even though chiller performance can
vary dramatically depending on loading and other conditions, designers frequently select chillers based on fullload, standard-condition efficiency. But chillers run for most hours at 40 to 70 percent load, under conditions that
often vary considerably from standard conditions. To select the chiller that will have the lowest operating costs,
evaluate the efficiency of various candidate chillers under the actual operating conditions the equipment is likely
to experience.
Account for system effects when comparing chillers. Although it is tempting to improve the efficiency of chilled
water systems by minimizing the energy consumption of each individual component, that approach does not necessarily lead to the most efficient system. The pieces of a chilled water system interact in complex ways that
make such general prescriptions difficult. For example, although the efficiency of a chiller can be improved by
increasing chilled water flow, that will require more pumping power, which may exceed the saved chiller power
and result in a net loss in system efficiency.
Consider using computer simulations to model building cooling loads throughout the year. Computer simulation
programs are available that can carry out the numerous and complex equations needed to evaluate how buildings
use energy under different conditions. The most sophisticated programs are capable of calculating building energy
consumption hour by hour for an entire year; they can also account for interactions between building components.
This allows you to experiment with different combinations of efficiency strategies to determine which ones will
be most cost-effective. The best-known hourly simulation software is DOE-2 (developed by the Simulation Research
Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), but there are several other packages available on the market,
a few of which are produced by HVAC equipment manufacturers. It takes some practice to become adept at using
these building energy performance simulationsyou may prefer to hire consultants who specialize in performing
these evaluations.
Select unequally sized machines for multiple chiller installations. Constant speed chillers operate most efficiently
when they are loaded close to their full rating (about 75 percent for most chillers). If one chiller in a two-machine
installation is smaller than the other, under most operating conditions, one of the two chillers should be able to
handle the job running close to full load. Having the option of switching between plants with different capacities
will result in more efficient operation than if one or two same-sized chillers were operating at a lighter load.
Purchasing Advisor
Consider a chiller with a variable frequency drive (VFD) to maximize part load efficiency and energy savings.
Variable speed centrifugal chillers are now offered by all of the major manufacturers and offer energy performance
that is superior to traditional constant speed chillers under most conditionsparticularly part load operation.
Chillers equipped with VFDs typically have IPLV values between 0.35 and 0.45 kW/ton, which is considerably
better than their constant speed brethren. Some manufacturers are fairly new to the VFD chiller market, however,
so it pays to research the track record of specific products before you make a purchase.
Purchasing Advisor
Chiller Terminology
Tons: One ton of cooling is the amount of heat absorbed
by one ton of ice melting in one day, which is equivalent
to 12,000 Btu/h or 3.516 thermal kW.
kW/ton rating: Commonly referred to as efficiency, but
actually power input to compressor motor divided by
tons of cooling produced, or kilowatts per ton (kW/ton).
Lower kW/ton indicates higher efficiency.
Coefficient of performance (COP): Chiller efficiency
measured in Btu output (cooling) divided by Btu input
(electric power). Multiplying the COP by 3.412 yields
the energy-efficiency ratio.
Energy-efficiency ratio (EER): Performance of smaller
chillers and rooftop units is frequently measured in EER
rather than kW/ton. EER is calculated by dividing a
chiller's cooling capacity (in Btu/h) by its power input (in
watts) at full-load conditions. The higher the EER, the
more efficient the unit.
ARI conditions: Standard reference conditions at which
chiller performance is measured, as defined by the
Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI): 44F
for water leaving the chiller and, for water entering the
condenser, 85F at 100 percent load and 60F at zero
percent load.
Integrated part-load value (IPLV):
This metric attempts to capture a more representative
"average" chiller efficiency over a representative
operating range. It is the efficiency of the chiller,
measured in kW/ton, averaged over four operating
points, according to a standard formula.
Purchasing Advisor
Source: Platts