Study of possibility of replacing the existing air

conditioning units by VRF AC system

(Wulfruna Building - Colombo International Nautical &
Engineering College)

Asiri Manchanayaka (Admission No: 178253F)

M Eng/ PG Dip in Energy Technology (Intake 12)

ME5020 - Energy Economics

Introduction
Searching for energy saving options is a welcome for any organization. Different kind of options
may be suggested by different people without doing proper analysis. At a glance, some
suggestions are seem to be versatile and some are not. But always, it is not a harm to do a
proper analysis and make sure whether the suggested option is feasible or not.

"Replacing of existing air conditioning units by variable refrigerant flow system" is also an idea
came through the management. The viability of implementing the suggestion is discussed in this
report.

General information of the organization

Colombo International Nautical & Engineering College (CINEC) is a private educational institute
which is offering various professional certificate courses, diplomas and degrees in different
streams.

As the first step of the analysis, month to month energy consumption pattern of the entire
organization for last 12 to 13 months is observed.

Table 01: Month to month energy consumption of the entire organization

Total Total
Peak units/ Day units/ Off peak kVA Fixed
Month units/ Charge/
kW h kW h units/ kW h units charges/Rs
kW h Rs
2017 April 2621 45997 3295 51913 401 3000 1567296.2
2017 May 3092 55150 4046 62288 434 3000 1827225.6
2017 June 2719 51234 3489 57442 380 3000 1663957.2
2017 July 2694 54070 3388 60152 398 3000 1743361.6
2017 Aug 2693 53215 3280 59188 361 3000 1682332.8
2017 Sep 2725 45705 3696 52126 346 3000 1509372.4
2017 Oct 2737 48535 3773 55045 328 3000 1552771.4
2017 Nov 2459 48908 3540 54907 358 3000 1582919.8
2017 Dec 2433 39508 3875 45816 326 3000 1347267.2
2018 Jan 2908 46218 4182 53308 325 3000 1509808.0
2018 Feb 2784 49512 3946 56242 366 3000 1619784.4
2018 Mar 3117 59955 4615 67687 386 3000 1888602.2
2018 April 2735 45257 4068 52060 410 3000 1576000.8
2018 May 3278 55809 4511 63598 395 3000 1810800.4
2018 June 3058 51246 4284 58588 368 3000 1672279.2
2018 July 3522 55658 5000 64180 351 3000 1773129.6
Average
2848.4 50373.5 3936.75 57158.7 371 1645431.8
values
Total Units/ kW h
70000

60000

50000

40000
2017 July

2018 July
2017 Aug

2017 Nov
2017 April

2018 April
2017 May

2017 Sep

2018 May
2018 Feb
2017 June

2017 Dec

2018 Mar

2018 June
2017 Oct

2018 Jan

Graph 01: Month to month energy consumption of the entire organization

The Wulfruna Building

Figure 01: A pictorial view of the entire organization and Wulfruna building
The Wulfruna is a 4 story building having approximate floor area of 25163 ft 2. The building
consists of staff rooms, laboratories, research centers, one board room and lecture rooms. The
building is consuming approximately 22% of the monthly electrical energy usage of entire
organization per month.

Wulfruna
Building
22%

Other areas
78%

Figure 02: Percentage energy consumption of Wulfruna building

Data gathering
The above energy balance is calculated by tabulating the energy consumption of each and
every electrical item in the building according to the scheduled operating hours as follows.

Table 02: Data gathered and monitored for the calculation of the energy balance in the building

Ground Floor

No. of Power
Usage Description criteria for the calculation of Number
Item & Description operating consumption
energy consumption during a week of items
Hours per one item/W

2.5 HP Split inverter type A/C Continuous from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 6 9 1880
Fluorescent tubes 4ft Indoor 80 % from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 44 9 36
Fluorescent tubes 4ft Outdoor 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 12 12 36
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Indoor 80% % from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 24 9 20
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Outdoor 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 15 12 20
CFL bulbs Outdoor 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 6 12 15
Desktop Computers 90 % from 8.30 a.m to 5.00 p.m for six days 30 8.5 160
Photocopier 10 % from 8..30 a.m to 5.00 p.m for six days 1 8.5 1500 (Max)
Printers 5 % from 8..30 a.m to 5.00 p.m for six days 8 8.5 15 (Max)
Exhaust Fans 50 % from 8.30 a.m to 5.00 p.m for six days 2 8.5 60
First Floor
Number No. of Power
Usage Description criteria for the calculation of
Item & Description of operating consumption
energy consumption during a week
items Hours per one item/W
2.5 HP Split inverter type A/C 30 % from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 11 9 1880

1.5 HP Split inverter type A/C 30 % from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 7 9 1040
Fluorescent tubes 4ft Indoor - 30 % from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 40 9 36
Fluorescent tubes 4ft Outdoor - 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 4 12 36
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Indoor - 30 % from 8.15 a.m to 5.15 p.m for six days 9 9 20
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Outdoor - 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 15 12 20
Desktop Computers 30% from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 56 7.5 160
CFL bulbs Outdoor - 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 12 12 15
Multimedia Projectors 30 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 2 7.5 215
D.R. Shear test apparatus 5 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 1 7.5 1000
Drying Oven 5 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 1 7.5 1500
Electrical Sieve shaker 5 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 1 7.5 100
Vibrating Table 5 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 1 7.5 100
Hydraulic Bench 5 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 1 7.5 3700
Oscilloscopes 20 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 5 7.5 100
Function Generators 20 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for five days 5 7.5 20
nd rd
2 &3 Floors
Number No. of Power
Usage Description criteria for the calculation of
Item & Description of operating consumption
energy consumption during a week
items Hours per one item/W
2.5 HP Split inverter type A/C 60 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 26 7.5 1880
1.5 HP Split inverter type A/C 60 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 10 7.5 1040
Fluorescent tubes 4ft Indoor - 60 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 16 7.5 36
Fluorescent tubes 4ft Outdoor - 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 8 12 36
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Indoor - 60 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 128 7.5 20
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Outdoor - 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 36 12 20
Desktop Computers 40% from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 19 7.5 160
CFL bulbs Outdoor - 80% from 6.15 p.m to 6.15 am every day 24 12 15
Multimedia Projectors 40 % from 9.00 a.m to 4.30 p.m for six days 19 7.5 215
Fluorescent tubes 2ft Washrooms - 100% from 8.45 a.m to 4.45 p.m 24 8 20

The energy balance of the building shown in the following pie chart is calculated based on the
details in the table 02
 Other
3%

Computers Energy Balance per one month/

11%
Lighting kW h - Wulfruna building
11%
Air conditioning 13287.65

Lighting 1914.52
Air Conditioning
75% Computers 1980.00

Other 563.51

Figure 03 - Energy Balance in Wulfruna Building

Cooling load and energy calculations

For further analysis, the required details of the existing air conditioning units are tabulated as
follows.

Table 03: Details of the existing air conditioning units

Table 04 describes the monitored floor by floor energy requirement of the presently available air
conditioning units.
Table 04: Present floor by floor energy requirement for air conditioning

The cooling load capacity of the existing units is calculated based on the data in table 03. Note
that, a separate cooling load calculation based on the room sizes, number of occupants and
other parameters is not done in this analysis. Basically, the present cooling load capacity is
considered as the cooling load capacity required in the new system also.

Table 05: Required cooling load capacity for the building

In most of the VRF system manufacturer's catalogues, the maximum cooling capacity of an
individual system is not exceeding 600 000 Btu/h units. Also considering the different activities
and schedules in each different floors, it is decided to install separate VRF systems in each
floors.

Various catalogues are available from various VRF suppliers. For this analysis, the technical
data are obtained from the published product catalogue of Mitsubishi Electric. Details of the
selected Outdoor units and Indoor units with the relevant cooling load capacities are inserted in
the table 06.
Table 06: Selection of outdoor and indoor units

Saving and Investment

Rated power consumption of indoor units are very small. These values are provided by the
manufacturer. Also the manufacturer has provided the energy efficiency ratio (EER) for outdoor
units. The rated power input of outdoor units is calculated using the given EER.

Projected values of the energy consumption for the new systems are calculated against the
same criteria used in table 02 and tabulated in table 07. Note that the cooling loads are
converted to kWs. (1 Btu / hour = 0.00029307107 kilowatts)
Table 06: Projected energy consumption for the new VRF system

Number of units which can be saved by introducing the new system is the difference of total
energy consumption per month calculated in table 04 and 07.

Number of units which can be saved = (13287.65 – 12434.56) kW h

= 853.09 kW h

Day time tariff per 1 kW h = 21.80 Rs

Money saving = 853.09 × 21.80

= 18597.40 Rs

This is a very small percentage compared to the portion of the monthly electricity bill of the
building.

Generally the investment is very high for the installation of VRF air conditioning systems. Rough
installation cost is about 27 - 30 Rs/Btu based on outdoor unit cooling capacity. (This is for a
Japanese brand including pipe work, labor and other costs.)

Approximate investment required = 806 600 Btu × 28 Rs

= 21,845416 Rs

Simple payback period = 21845416 Rs/ (18597 × 12)

= 97.6 years
Conclusion
According to the simple payback period calculation, the proposed VRF system is not feasible at
all. Even if the existing units are re-sold, it is impossible to come closer to 21 millions of huge
investment cost.

There may be possible reasons for this.

1. Existing air conditioning units are inverter type and about 4 to 5 years old. Therefore the
units are working with good efficiency.
2. According to the activities, most of the air conditioners in the building are running only
for 8 -9 maximum hours per day. The proposed systems are more effective for 24 hours
continues running.

Therefore the management should think about the implementation of alternative energy saving
methods. Followings may be good options to analyze.

1. Installing a solar PV system on the roof top -This may give about 3 to 4 years of simple
payback period and some potential to reduce the maximum demand.
2. There may be some quick saving by replacing the available florescent and CFL type
bulbs by suitable LED panel lights. But this saving is also not vary high since only 11 %
of power consumption required for lighting.