Compromise with Fan Power in VAV

Systems

In a variable-air-volume (VAV) air handling system, space
cooling is controlled by varying the supply air
flow, and the supply air temperature is nominally kept
constant. Raising the chilled water temperature may raise
the air temperature, which will cause the fans to operate at
higher power.

Typically, more energy is saved in the chiller than is lost in
the fans, so the best efficiency is usually
produced by raising the chilled water temperature as much
as possible. However, this may not be true in all cases. In
case of doubt, calculate the optimum compromise between
chiller power and fan power.

Changing the chilled water flow rate affects a
specific chiller's performance. Too low a flow rate
lowers the chiller efficiency and ultimately leads
to laminar flow. The minimum flow rate is
typically around 3 fps (feet per second). Too high
a flow rate leads to vibration, noise and tube
erosion. The maximum flow rate is typically
around 12 fps. The chilled water flow rate should
be maintained between these limits of 3 to 12
fps.

For air conditioning applications, the common design
conditions are 6.7
o
C (44
o
F) supply water temperature and
2.4 gpm/ton.
Using this equation and the above design conditions, the
temperature change in the evaporator is found to be 10
o
F.
The water temperature entering the evaporator is then
54
o
F.
Most air conditioning design conditions are based on 75
o
F
and 50% relative humidity (RH) in the occupied space. The
dewpoint for air at this condition is 55.08
o
F. Most HVAC
designs are based on cooling the air to this dewpoint to
maintain the proper RH in the space. Using a 10
o
F approach
at the cooling coil means the supply chilled water needs to
be around 44
o
F or 45
o
F.

Load (tons) = Flow (USgpm) (
o
F
in
-
o
F
out
)/24
The condenser water flows through the
condenser of the chiller. The condenser is also a
heat exchanger. In this case the heat absorbed
from the building, plus the work of compression,
leaves the refrigerant (condensing the
refrigerant) and enters the condenser water
(raising its temperature). The condenser has the
same limitations to flow change as the
evaporator.

Chiller full load efficiency ratings are usually
given in the form of kW/ton,
COP (Coefficient of Performance = kW
cooling
/
kW
input
) or
EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio = Tons X 12/
kW
input
).
Full load performance is either the default ARI
conditions or the designer specified conditions. It
is important to be specific about operating
conditions since chiller performance varies
significantly at different operating conditions.
Chiller part load performance can be given at
designer-specified conditions or the NPLV (Non-
Standard Part Load Value) can be used. The
definition of NPLV is spelled out in ARI 550/590-
98
To convert from COP to kW/ton;
COP = 3.516/(kW/ton)
To calculate EER = Tons x 12/(total kW input)






Replace the reciprocating chiller with the scroll chiller

Presently specific energy consumption of the
reciprocating chiller is 1.29kW/TR which is
very high, hence it can be replaced with the
scroll chiller whose specific energy
consumption is around 0.7kW/TR

Install automatic ON/OFF actuators with the chillers

Install automatic ON/OFF actuator with the
chiller, these actuators will be operated
through the chiller plant manager. This will
help to stop the flow through the standby
chiller & no mixing of water will be there.

Install variable frequency drive with
chilled water pump
The operating flow across the pump is 125CMH.
Out of 125 CMH, 90 CMH is going through the
operating chiller & rest 30 CMH is flowing
through the stand by chiller. After installing
automatic ON/OFF actuator the flow through the
stand by chiller will be stopped & the required
flow across the pump will be only 95 CMH.
Install VFD with chilled water pump (with change
over arrangement) & run the pump at reduced
constant frequency which will optimize the
power consumption.

Increase the set temperature of chiller

Present set temperature of chiller is 12 Deg C
which means the chiller will cut off when the
supply water temperature is less than 12 Deg C &
the chiller will cut in when the supply water
temperature becomes more than 20 Deg C. A trail
was conducted on chiller for 4 hrs on chiller by
increasing the set temperature to 16 Deg C. The
increase in set temperature does not affect the
process requirement. The average power
consumption per hours decreases by 10 kWh by
increasing the set temperature.

Auto cut off the condenser circuit

Present set temperature of chiller is 12 Deg C
which means the chiller will cut off when the
supply water temperature is less than 12 Deg C &
the chiller will cut in when the supply water
temperature becomes more than 20 Deg C.
Install chiller plant manager which will switch off
the condenser circuit when the chiller gets cut off
with a time delay of 1 min & will switch ON the
condenser circuit when the chilled water supply
temperature becomes 19 Deg C.

Install temperature indicated control (TIC) with cooling tower fan

All the cooling tower fans are operated
irrespective of the chiller load.
Install TIC (Temperature Indicator controller)
with the cooling tower fan for optimizing the
power consumption during the low ambient
condition and on lower chiller load.

Absorption refrigeration systems that use Li-
Br-water as a refrigerant have a Coefficient of
Performance (COP) in the range of 0.65 - 0.70
R a n g e- Range is the difference between
incoming and outgoing water or fluid
temperature. It is the temperature difference
across the chiller.
A p p ro a c h - Approach is the temperature
difference between the leaving water or fluid
and the evaporating refrigerant t e m p e r a t
u r e .

Four basic things in order to predict
how a heat exchanger will perform:
Temperature differential (DT)
Velocity and pressure drop (V and DP)
Fouling
Fluid type

For condensers, Delta T is the condensing
temperature minus the incoming water
temperature.
For chillers, Delta T is the incoming water
temperature minus the suction temperature.
The greater the Delta T, the greater the rate of
heat exchange in a given time period, usually
expressed in BTUs/Hr.

Velocity is the speed at which a fluid flows. There is an
ideal rate of flow through a heat exchanger for any
fluid. At this ideal flow rate, the fluid mixes with itself in
such a way that it produces maximum heat pick-up.

Turbulent flow causes cooler fluid to be constantly moved
into contact with the heat surface. If the flow is too slow,
a laminar condition may develop. That is a condition in
which only the fluid right next to the heat exchange wall
is being heated, but beyond this very thin layer, the heat
cant penetrate to the rest of the fluid. But the
velocity must be limited by another condition, pressure
drop (DP). DP increases with velocity.
After a certain point, the amount of energy
expended to overcome DP will be more than
any efficiency picked up by increased
velocity. High DP and high velocity also
produces problems that greatly shorten the
life of a heat exchanger. Impingement
corrosion and erosion will shorten the life to
just a few months, if bad enough.

Fouling occurs because most water is not
pure. There are many materials dissolved or
suspended in water. These materials coat the
surface of the tubes and inhibit heat
transfer. Even on the refrigerant side, oil can
coat the surfaces and act as an insulator
between the refrigerant and the water. It is
impossible to prevent all fouling, so a fouling
factor must be included when sizing a heat
exchanger.

The fourth factor, fluid type, has to be taken
into consideration. As an example in many
chillers, glycols or brine solutions are used in
low temperature applications. Due to a
decrease in heat transfer coefficients, ratings
based on water are no longer valid.

Chiller barrels function just the opposite of a
condenser. Instead of using liquid to cool
refrigerant, a chiller barrel uses refrigerant to cool
a liquid. It is an evaporator. Refrigerant
evaporates inside tubes as water flows through a
baffled course on the outside of the tubes.
Sizing a chiller barrel depends on the same basic
factors as for condensers: DT, velocity DP,
fouling, and fluid types, plus range, approach,
and superheat.

Range is the difference between the incoming water
temperature and the outgoing water
temperature. Approach is the temperature difference
between the outgoing water temperature and the
refrigerant temperature. Superheat is the difference
between actual saturated refrigerant temperature and
suction gauge temperature. The best way to size a
chiller barrel is by temperature range and GPM flow
rate. GPM should be converted to pounds of water per
hour by multiplying GPM by 500 (1 gallon of water is
8.3 pounds. 8.3 x 60 = 498, rounded off to 500.)

Flow velocity in a chiller barrel must be less than
4.5 feet per second. Excessive velocity will
damage the chiller barrel.
Pressure drops of 8 psig or under are
acceptable. If the DP is higher than 8 psig,
choose a different model chiller barrel where the
DP will be 8 or less than 8 psig.
The water velocity in shell and tube condensers
(the most popular design) should be kept less
than 8 feet per second. The velocity is a function
of design and water flow rate.

Most condenser ratings printed in manufacturers
catalogs take into consideration a fouling factor. It is
usually expressed as a .005 fouling factor. Fouling
is the coating of tubing walls with scale and dirt. This
increases heat transfer resistance and reduces the
condensers efficiency. It is impossible to completely
prevent fouling so an allowance is made in condenser
ratings for some fouling. Water conditions vary widely,
so it is the users responsibility to keep the condenser
clean. Generally speaking, if the water leaving the
condenser is more than 10 greater than the
refrigerant condensing temperature, the condenser
needs to be cleaned.

FCU - Fan Coil Unit, as the name suggests the
unit houses the Blower(Fan), the evaporator
Coil (for DX System) / Heat Exchanger Coil( for
sytems other than DX), Filter and sometimes
Heater Coil(Electric). Usually employed for
upto4 to5tons , some manufacturers do make
higher capacities but will be belt driven which
could be noisy.

AHU : Air Handling Unit, think of AHU as a bigger
FCU. AHU typically houses Blower, Heating or
Cooling Coil(or both) and Filters. AHU's can be
given provision for adding Fresh Air(Outside Air) ,
Humidifier and UV lights (Seen a demonstation
conducted by carrier and their studies shows no
or very very less amount of mould forming at the
coils and ofcourse bacteria and viruses) for killing
organic substances. AHU's are be available for
larger tonnages too.

FAHU : Fresh Air Handling Unit, same as a AHU
but dosent have air recirculation option(100%
Fresh Air is used). The Return air is extracted to
the atmosphere, usually used in places like
hospitals where contaminated return air is not
advised to be reused. The extract air is most likely
to be of at a lower temperature that the fresh air
taken by the FAHU, so inorder to increase the
efficiency of the system a heat exchanger(usually
Heat wheel or Cross flow Plate type HX) is used
where the temperature of fresh air is transfered
to the extract air.

Zone control with Variable Air Volume
controls (VAV)
The goal of any HVAC system is to maintain a
temperature within a space or zone. When the
space is large, such as an auditorium or open
factory space, the HVAC system delivers
tempered supply air based on a single setpoint
and space temperature.
The simplest variable air volume control (VAV)
system controls air from a single supply duct and
varies the airflow to each zone or room based
upon the temperature in the room
A VAV system consists of four basic parts: a
thermostat, a precision actuator controlled
damper, an airflow sensor, and a controller.