District Cooling Systems (Energy Engineering) : PDF Solutions For P&Ids

District Cooling Systems (Energy Engineering)
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Abstract
Seemingly small efficiency improvements to traditionally designed chiller plants multiply to create impressive savings in district cooling
plants.The size and scope of these larger projects make the benefits more obvious and very valuable. For example, the United Arab Emirates is
fully embracing district cooling for accommodating its tremendous growth, rather than using individual cooling systems in each building. It has
been estimated that 75% of the energy used in Dubai, U.A.E. is for cooling. By using district cooling, Dubai planners expect to reduce the amount
of electrical energy used by 40%. More than 30% of the Dubai market is selecting pre-engineered, packaged chilled water systems, many of
which employ series chillers, variable-primary distribution design, and other concepts discussed in this article.
INTRODUCTION
District cooling was inspired by district heating plants,which became popular in the 19th century for providing steam to a number of buildings
and often to entire portions of cities. Recent district cooling projects exceed 100,000 tons, typically in urban areas with dense, simultaneous
development. One project of this size can, all by itself, magnify an incremental efficiency improvement into nearly 10 MW and offset $10 million
or more in power generation capacity.
These ideas can naturally be used on smaller projects, where the benefits are less immediately obvious. To illustrate the energy and cost savings
potential, this entry includes an analysis from a 10,500-ton convention center. The key design elements used on these projects violate traditional
rules of thumb and allow the system designer to focus on the energy consumed by the entire chilled water system.
MOVING AWAY FROM CHILLER-ENERGY-ONLY ANALYSES

In the last 40 years,water-cooled chiller efficiency expressed in coefficient of performance (COP) has improved from 4.0 to over 7.0. Cooling
tower and pump energy has remained largely flat over the same period. The result is that towers and pumps account for a much higher percentage
of system energy use.
Because of these dramatic improvements,it is tempting to go after chiller savings in new plants and chiller replacements. After all, the chiller
usually has the biggest motor in a facility. Many chiller plant designs continue to use flow rates and temperatures selected to maximize chiller
efficiency and ignore the system effects of those decisions. Chilled water system designs frequently default to using the flow rates and
temperatures used for the rating tests developed by the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) standards 550/590 for vapor
compression chillers[1] and ARI 560 for absorption chillers.
While these benchmarks provide requirements for testing and rating chillers under multiple rating conditions,they are not intended to
prescribe the proper or optimal flow rates or temperature differentials for any particular system. As component efficiency and customer
requirements change, these standard rating conditions are seldom the optimal conditions for a real system. There is great latitude in selecting flow
rates, temperatures, and temperature differences.
Today, an equal price centrifugal chiller can be selected for less condenser flow,with no loss in efficiency. At the same time, chilled water
http://what-when-how.com/energy-engineering/district-cooling-systems-energy-engineering/ 7/28/2013
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temperatures are dropping. Pump savings usually exceed chiller efficiency losses. Larger chilled water distribution systems will realize higher
savings. Analyze the entire system to define the right design conditions.
MARKET TRENDING TOWARD HIGHER LIFT

Chiller efficiency is dependent on several variablescapacity (tons) and lift (chiller internal differential temperature) are two of them. Lift is
the difference between the refrigerant pressures in the evaporator and condenser, and it can be approximated using the difference between the
water temperatures leaving the evaporator and condenser.
Designers are converging on higher-lift systems for a variety of reasons; e.g.,more extreme climates, system optimization, replacement
considerations, thermal storage, and heat recovery. Higher lift creates solutions for engineering problems and leverages chiller capabilities.
Chiller plant design for U.S. conditions usually calls for a maximum tower-leaving temperature of 85F.Conventional designs used 44F/54
F evaporators and 85F/95F condenserseasy on the chiller (and the system designer). But higher ambient wet bulb conditions are common in
the Middle East and China. Many parts of China call for 89.6F design condenser/tower water, and parts of the Middle East design for 94F. As
the cooling markets grow in areas with extreme weather, technology providers must find better ways to deliver cooling at the higher lift
conditions.
A reduced flow rate in the condenser saves tower energy and condenser pump energy.In the replacement and renovation market, the resulting
increase in delta-T (tower range) delivers the same capacity with a smaller cooling tower, or more capacity with the existing cooling tower.
Chilled water temperatures below 40F allow system designers to implement a larger chilled water delta-T.The result is less costly chilled
water distribution and more effective cooling and dehumidification. Besides reducing water flow rates, colder chilled water gives higher deltaTs at the chiller and better utilization of the chillers.
Thermal storage is also becoming more prevalent. For stratified chilled water storage tanks, 39F water is the magic number, because it
corresponds to the maximum density of water and keeps the charged section below the thermocline.[2]
Higher condensing temperatures provide more useful heat to recover from the condenser water.Some commercial building codes require
condenser heat recovery for applications with simultaneous heating and cooling.
A proper chiller selection can deliver these conditions with little or no extra cost. It is possible to increase lift while increasing overall chiller
plant efficiency by using a series-counter flow chiller arrangement.
SERIES CHILLERS
In their heyday of the early 1960s,series chillers were widely used in government buildings in Washington, D.C. Series arrangements were
necessary for perimeter induction cooling systems, which supply cold primary air to the space and require colder water from the chiller. As
previously discussed, chillers in the 1960s had a COP of about 4.0, with high-flow (velocity) smooth-bore tubes, low tube counts, and one-pass
evaporators to reduce pressure drop. The most efficient centrifugal chillers today have a COP of more than 7.0more than 75% higher than
chillers used in these early series chiller plants.
Designers virtually stopped using series arrangements in the 1970s because variable air volume (VAV)systems made the colder chilled
water used for induction systems unnecessary. Given the chillers relatively low efficiency by todays standards, it made sense to raise
temperatures and save chiller energy. Variable air volume systems were widely adopted because they saved energy and adapted to unknown
cooling loads. Variable air volume systems are still the most popular choice for comfort cooling applications.
Induction systems are virtually nonexistent in 2006,but the dramatically improved centrifugal chiller efficiencies are driving resurgence in
series chiller arrangements. Series chiller plants offer energy and first cost savings, even in VAV systems.
Using multiple-stage centrifugal chillers and putting chillers in series creates higher lift more easily and more efficiently, with a more rigorous,
stable operating profile. In contrast, chillers lined up in parallel must each create the coldest water required for the entire system while rejecting
heat to the warmest condensing temperature.
While series arrangements of chiller evaporators have been used in many applications,1-34-1 series condenser arrangements are less common. A
series-counterflow chilled water plant design arranges the evaporators in series, but also arranges the condensers in series using a counterflow
configuration. Counterflow means that the condenser water and the evaporator water flow in opposite directions.
Chiller plants with series evaporators and parallel condensers arent recognizing the highest efficiency gains because the chiller producing the
coldest chilled water must create more lift and therefore do more work. By arranging the condensers in series counterflow, the lift of each
compressor is nearly the same. The result is a pair of chillers working together to create high lift while increasing overall plant efficiency.
VARIABLE FLOW
A relatively new concept,the variable-primary system, has removed one barrier to series-chiller plant design. Series chillers often have a higher
pressure drop. In traditional primary-secondary systems, constant flow through the chillers equals constant pressure drop and constant pump
energy, so the series chillers higher pressure drop results in higher pump energy all the time. Varying the flow through series chillers eliminates
the penalty for much of the operating hours.
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Variable-primary systems send variable amounts of water flow through the chillers to reduce the pumping energy and enable the delta-T seen by
the chiller to remain equal to the system delta-T. Because pump energy is approximately proportional to the cube of the flow (subject to losses
through the distribution system), even small flow reductions are valuable.
Consider the following ideal relationship between flow and energy in a pumping system:
Pump Energy oc Flow3

For a system using 80% of the design flowa modest 20% reductionthe energy required is reduced by nearly 50%. In turn, a more aggressive
50% reduction in flow is an 87% reduction in power.
Varying the flow through series chillers reduces the total operating cost, despite an increased pressure drop at design conditions. Improved tube
designs and extensive testing in manufacturers testing labs have cut minimum water velocities in half, leading to better turndown for all chillers.
The additional implicit turndown capability of the series configuration enables further pumping energy savings. Single-pass evaporators and
condensers, when practical, reduce water pressure drop and pumping costs compared to two- or three-pass configurations.
VARIABLE FLOW COMBATS THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING CHILLER

So far, we have only discussed efficiency and energy savings.But what about the installed costs associated with chiller-water system design?
Any chiller, big or small, is a significant capital investment. This is one reason most chillers are factory tested for capacity. Cooling capacity is
the product of chilled water flow and chilled water delta-T. For the same capacity, as gallons per minute goes up, delta-T goes down.
Chilled water system design has a unique and sometimes dramatic effect on chiller capacity.Primary-secondary chilled water systems shrink
chiller capacities, while variable-primary chilled water systems help chiller capacities expand. At times, this chiller capacity expansion can
exceed nominal chiller capacity.
Due to this variation in chiller capacity,primary-secondary chilled water systems have excessive chiller starts as well as higher chiller run
hours, because more chillers will be operating than necessary. Variable-primary chilled water systems have fewer chiller starts and lower chiller
run hours, by squeezing more capacity out of the operating chillers. The plant controller can delay the operation of an additional chiller by
increasing the flow through the operating chillers, thus increasing the chiller capacity. Operating the fewest number of chillers possible is a wellknown energy optimization strategy.
It is the design of the chilled water system that causes this change in net chiller capacity,not the chiller itself. Chillers are constant flow
devices when employed in a primary-secondary chilled water system. A bypass pipe, commonly called a decoupler, serves as a bridge between
the primary loop serving only the chillers and the secondary loop distributing chilled water throughout the building to all the air handling units.
Because the chiller is a constant flow device, we must subject the chiller to a smaller chilled water delta-T in order to unload the chiller. The
decoupler pipe mixes surplus-chilled water with water returning from the load to produce cooler return water for the chiller. But what if some
event other than the decoupler lowers the temperature of the returning chilled water? This reduction of chiller-entering water temperature
unloads the chillereven when we dont want the chiller unloaded.
In a primary-secondary system,additional chillers are sequenced on when the demand for chilled water exceeds the constant flow capacity of
each chiller. To illustrate, consider three equally sized chillers in a primary-secondary system. Each chiller is sized for 500 tons and 750 gpm of
chilled water (1.5 gpm per ton, or a 16F chilled water delta-T). When the chilled water distribution system demands more than 750 gpm, two
chillers must operate. When the chilled water system demand exceeds 1500 gpm, all three chillers must be on. These chillers will produce their
full 500-ton cooling capacity only when the cooling coils create a full 16F water-temperature rise. If the cooling coils collectively can only
produce a 12F water-temperature rise, the 500-ton chillers can only produce 375 tons. 125 tons of installed cooling capacity is lost. This
inability of the chilled water distribution system to achieve the design chilled-water-temperature rise is called low delta-T syndrome.
There are several contributors to low delta-T syndrome,but the three greatest offenders are excess distribution pump head, three-way control
valves, and chilled water reset. Three-way control valves allow cold chilled water to bypass the cooling coil. The bypassed water is dumped into
the return chilled water line, diluting the return chilled water. Any high water-temperature rise created by the cooling coil is destroyed.
The chilled water distribution pump is variable speed,producing more pressure when more chilled water flow is required, and producing less
pressure when less chilled water flow is required. The speed of the pump is controlled by sensing the available pressure at the end of the chilled
water distribution loop. If this pump creates excess pressure, even two-way control valves will have a difficult time reducing chilled water flow
through the cooling coil. When the cooling coil receives excess flow, there is not enough heat in the air to adequately warm the water. Again,
water-temperature rise is hampered.
Perhaps the most insidious destroyer of water-temperature rise is chilled water reset.The chiller will consume less energy when it produces
warmer chilled water, but chiller energy savings may be dwarfed by the additional pump energy consumption required for delivering warmer
chilled water. Coils use less chilled water when it is delivered at a colder temperature. As the chilled water temperature is set upwards, each coil
will demand more water to meet the same cooling load.
CHILLER PLANT DESIGN ENERGY COMPARISON

The following example is for a design created initially for the Washington DC Convention Center.Each pair of series-counterflow chillers
(assuming multiple-stage compressors on each circuit) has eight to twelve stages of compression equally sharing the load (Fig. 1). The chiller
module depicted in Fig. 2 created series-pair efficiencies of 0.445 kW per ton (7.8 COP) at standard ARI rating conditions.
Page 4 of 7
Note: Graph depicts an approximation of actual compressor lift based on water temperatures rather than refrigerant temperatures or
pressures. Where two or more refrigerant circuits are represented, the evaporators and condensers are piped in a series-series
counterflow arrangement, respectively.
Fig. 1 Series counterflow chiller arrangement equalizes lift performed by each compressor, minimizing the energy needed to create high
lift.
Fig. 3 shows the component and system energy use of various parallel and series chiller configurations using variable evaporator flow with
reduced condenser water flow. The series-series counterflow arrangement for the chillers reduces the chiller energy to compensate for additional
pump energy. In the case of this particular installation, series-series counterflow saved $1.4 million in lifecycle costs over the parallel-parallel
alternative. The low-cost alternative used six electric centrifugal chillers with dual refrigeration circuits, 2 gpm of condenser water per ton of
cooling, piped in a series evaporator-series condenser arrangement. It also used 1040 kW less than the parallel-parallel configuration.1-5-1
Fig. 2 Module with dual-circuit chillers in series provides 8-12 stages of compression and uses 0.445 kW per ton for the chillers at standard
ARI rating conditions.
Arrangement
Chillers*
Evaporator
Compressor
Evaporator Condenser
Parallel
Parallel
Series
Units/
efficiency
modules
Parallel
5/5
Parallel
6/6
SeriesCounterflow
6/3
(1.5
gpm/ton)
kW/ton
0.649
0.618
0.560
Cooling
Towers
Condenser
System
Number Power
Number Power
AP
AP
Power
Total
Flow Feet
per
Flow Feet
per
Number per
Life-cycle
power
gpm of
pump gpm of
pump of cells cell
cost $USD
of
of
kW
Water pumps kW
Water Pumps kW
kW
2,800 3.26
2,333 4.18
5
6
4,667 17.96 3
2.18
2.33
4,200 3.66
3,500 3.53
5
6
3.67
2.95
8 60
8 60
7324 18,836,302
7001 18,076,391
19.99 5,250 14.8
18.54 8 48
6379 16,819,167
Page 5 of 7
SeriesCounterflow
6/3
0.535
4,667 17.96 3
19.99 7,000 25.2 3
42.08 8 60
6284 16,656,947
(2.0
gpm/ton )
Parallel (2.0
Series
6/3
0.555
4,667 17.96 3
19.99 3,500 3.53 6
2.95 8 60
6385 16,888,493
gpm/ton)
* The chillers represented in this table all have dual refrigerant circuits. The full analysis included single refrigerant circuit chillers at
various flow rates and efficiencies.
Series
* The chillers represented in this table all have dual refrigerant circuits. The full analysis included single refrigerant circuit chillers at various flow
rates and efficiencies.
Fig. 3 Projected energy-use and lifecycle costs for series and parallel chiller configurations.
DESIGN PARAMETERS
A larger-than-conventional difference between the entering and leaving chilled water temperatures permits a lower flow rate, reducing the initial
costs for distributing the chilled water (pumps, piping) in central chilled water plants. Smaller pipes and pumps can then be used to satisfy the
same capacity.
Because supplying colder chilled water requires more power from the chillers,the cost savings from reducing the pumping power and pipe
size and installation must offset the chiller power increase. Chiller designs and controls have improved to the point at which producing 37F
water no longer causes concern for freezing evaporator tubes. Experience shows that fast, accurate chiller controls and algorithms can safely
accommodate temperatures as low as 34F without the addition of antifreeze.
Entering-chiller water temperature: 55F.
Leaving-chiller water temperature: 37F.
Evaporator flow rate/capacity: 1.33gpm/ton.
Many plant configurations are possible:
Both evaporators and condensers in parallel.
Evaporators in series and condensers in parallel.
Both evaporators and condensers in series.
At design conditions:
Chilled water enters the upstream chiller at 55F and exits at 45.1F.
Chilled water enters the downstream chiller at 45.1F and exits at 37F.
Condenser water enters the downstream chiller at 85F and exits at 91.3F.
Condenser water enters the upstream chiller at 91.3F and exits at 98.9F.
FULL-LOAD EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT

The series-series counterflow arrangement yields the lowest full-load chiller power(about 14% lower than the parallel-parallel configuration)
(Fig. 3). The dramatic reduction in chiller power occurs because the upstream chiller in the series-series counterflow arrangement operates at a
higher chilled water temperature, which means that the refrigerant temperature and refrigerant pressure in the evaporator are also higher in the
upstream machine. The downstream chiller sees a lower con-denser-leaving water temperatureand therefore has a lower condenser
refrigerant pressurethan it would in a plant with the chiller condensers arranged in parallel. Fig. 1 illustrates the concept of reduced lift using
the design parameters for this chilled water plant. Chiller power can be reduced by decreasing compressor lift. In this example, the difference
in average lift at design is nearly 13%.budget number, series chiller configuration and low-flow, low-temperature conditions could save $10
million or more in power generation equipment on a 100,000-ton project.
Now, consider a series-series counterflow arrangement of two dual-circuited chillers. Because each of the chillers in this design has two
refrigeration circuits, the reduced lift effect is multiplied. Instead of two lifts, there are four. The difference in average lift at design for the
system with four independent refrigeration circuits in a series-series counterflow arrangement exceeds 19%.
Page 6 of 7
At the design conditions defined for the system, chiller performance is well above the 6.1 COP requirement set by ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA
Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. At standard ARI rating conditions, each chiller
module would operate with an efficiency of 0.445 kW/ton.
PART-LOAD EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT

The reduction in lift provided by the series-series counterflow arrangement also occurs at part-load conditions. The temperature of the water
leaving the evaporator of the upstream chiller is always warmer than the system water, and the temperature of the water leaving the condenser of
the downstream chiller is always cooler than the system water. The upstream chiller does not need to perform the same amount of cooling as the
downstream chiller. The benefit comes from the upstream chillers ability to produce chilled water at an elevated temperature.
SAVINGS AMPLIFIED BY POWER INFRASTRUCTURE

While the chiller performance is remarkable with this design, the performance conditions for this application were carefully selected to optimize
the overall energy consumption of the entire chilled water plant. Series chiller configurations are not just about the chiller or the pump savings,
but reduced electrical infrastructure requirements and environmental impact. The previous example was a 10,500-ton plant. Consider the
reduction in power generation requirements when multiplied tenfold. In a 100,000-ton cooling and power infrastructure project, increasingly
common in the Middle East and China, our examples 1040-kW reduction blossoms into nearly 10 MW. A conservative estimate for the cost of
the generation equipment is $1000 per kW. Using that round
PACKAGED SOLUTIONS MINIMIZE COMPLEXITY AND RISK

Frequent users of these concepts are packaged chiller plant manufacturers that are pre-engineering and packaging series-counterflow
chillers with built-in optimization controls.Packaged chiller plants utilizing series-counterflow chiller arrangements are currently available in
sizes up to 8000 tons. The chillers in these packaged chiller plants can be factory-performance tested in accordance with ARI procedures prior to
shipment from the chiller manufacturers facility.
Packaging companies and astute engineers have put two series-counterflow chillers in series with each other essentially creating a 4-chiller
series module (Fig. 2). These solutions enhance the thermodynamic benefit created by series-counterflow chillers while minimizing complexity
and risk for the system owner and operator.
CONTROL STRATEGIES
How the plant should respond to varying system conditions is a topic for discussion with the design engineer, plant owner, and plant
operators. For example, if the entering-chiller water temperature is not reaching design conditions, the operators could:
1.Increase pump speed or turn on more pumps to increase flow rates and more fully load the active chillers.
2.Reset the setpoints of the upstream chillers to 55% of the total temperature difference. Lowering the setpoint of the upstream chillers as the
result of a drop in entering-chiller water temperature lessens the benefit of reduced lift. However, the upstream chillers will always run at a
higher evaporator pressure than the downstream chillers, which saves energy consumption and costs.
3.Address chiller sequencing in the context of the system options, variable or constant chiller flow, extra pumps, orotherconcerns. Itmightbe
mostcost effective to use a startup strategy that fully loads one chiller module and then activates the remaining chillers in modules (pairs).
Activating the upstream chiller and operating it at the higher water temperature takes advantage of all of the available heat transfer surface area
without increasing the energy consumed by ancillary equipment.
USEFUL REDUNDANCY
Large chiller plants can be more adaptive and efficient with multiple chillers rather than fewer large,field-erected chillers. In plants with
more chillers, redundancy is easily created through parallel banks of upstream and downstream chillers. Different combinations of upstream and
downstream chillers can meet the load, so if one chiller is being serviced, its duty can be spread out to the other chillers. The same is true for
pumps, which do not have to be sequenced with the chillers.
EFFICIENCY, FLEXIBILITY IN SMALLER PLANTS AND RETROFITS

The benefits of low flow,low temperature, and high efficiency apply to other types of chillers as well. Smaller, noncentrifugal chillers can benefit
proportionately more under these conditions when placed in series.
Helical-rotary chillers are sensitive to increased lift and decreased condenser water flow. Absorption chillers struggle to make water colder than
40F, and their cooling capacity increases when placed upstream. Both can be put upstream in the sidestream position for reduced first cost and
Page 7 of 7
higher efficiency. Reusing existing, older, less efficient chillers upstream is also an interesting option to explore. These sidestream configurations
combine the benefits of series and parallel chillers while isolating some chillers from water flow variations.
CONCLUSION
As chiller efficiencies continue to improve,district energy and central plant designers can optimize the entire system to achieve even lower costs
of ownership. Owners can expect more first cost and energy savings from low-flow, low-temperature and highly efficient chiller configurations.
The unique benefits and flexibility of series chiller plant designs with variable-primary pumping arrangements include lower overall chilled water
system operating costs, reduced emissions, and improved environmental responsibility.
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