Trane Sales Webinar

Central Geothermal Systems

A System Overview…
 Trane Sales Webinar
Lee Cline P.E.
Senior Principal Systems Engineer
Trane
La Crosse, WI
Agenda
Overview

Single Chiller/Heater Configurations

Multiple Chiller/ Heater Bi-directional Cascade

Water-to-Water Heat Pump Configurations

A Few Lessons

Additional Resources

Q&A

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Distributed Geothermal System
 WSHPs
 Dedicated outdoor air units
 Optional fluid cooler
 Water pumps heat
 Geo heat exchanger pumps

vertical-loop ground water pumps

heat exchanger (borefield)

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Central Geothermal System

• Chillers provide heating and cooling Air handlers

VAV boxes
• Ground couple for an efficiency boost
• Central air handlers
• VAV terminals
• Water pumps chiller/heaters
• Auxiliary boilers
• Fluid or dry cooler

Geothermal loop
(borefield)

6
Central Geothermal Customer Benefits
Compared to Distributed

• Premium efficiency (LEED EA Credit #1)

– Efficient central equipment
– Bi-directional cascading
– VAV
– Air economizing
– Better heat recovery management

• Easy to maintain
– Central equipment, few cooling units
– Uses equipment rooms, no access to occupied space
required
– Simpler coil condensate collection

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Central Geothermal Customer Benefits
Compared to Distributed

• Low space noise (ASA 12.60)

– Fans and compressors away from occupied space
– Noise paths can be more easily attenuated

• Good IAQ
– Many filtration options available (LEED EQ 5 – MERV 13)
– Easier to deliver 30% more outdoor air (LEED EQ 2)

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 Vertical Markets

• Education
– Primary and secondary
– Colleges and universities

• Government
– Federal sector
– State and county level

• Long-term owners
– Accept extended payback periods
– Interested in embracing green technologies
– Usually have space for a borefield

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 Incentives

• Utility
• Reimbursement
• Tax (if private)

www.dsireusa.org

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 Central Geothermal
System Types

System Type Capacity Range Target Market

Single chiller/heater K / 12 Schools
70-250 tons
systems Simpler / Smaller
(based on typical industry units) Premium Efficiency
cascading High School / Secondary Ed
150-1500 tons
multi-chiller/heater > 36,000 sq. ft
systems (based on typical industry units) Super Premium Efficiency
Water-to-water Small Building – Large Volume
heat pump system 5-200 tons 80% of Buildings < 25,000 sq ft
(based on typical industry units) Premium Efficiency

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Agenda

• Single Chiller-Heater Central Geothermal Systems

– Four-pipe distribution system configuration
– Two-pipe distribution system configuration

• Multiple Unit Cascading Systems

• Water-to-Water Heat Pump Based Systems

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 Central Geothermal Systems
Single Chiller-Heater

• Allow screw compressor chiller-heater based CGS

systems down to 70-75 tons
• Simple configurations
• Simpler operation
• Two basic distribution configurations:
– 4-pipe – simultaneous heating/cooling
– 2-pipe – changeover heating/cooling

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
4-pipe distribution / Constant flow (3-way control valves)

heating
loads

aux
heat
from
ground P-HT cond
source VAL-1 / VGS
P-GS
CHR-1
Chiller/Heater

P-CH evap

to
ground
source
cooling
loads

15
 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
4-pipe distribution / Constant flow (3-way control valves)

heating
loads

aux
heat
from
ground P-HT cond
source VAL-1 / VGS
P-GS
CHR-1
Chiller/Heater

P-CH evap

to
ground
source
cooling
Standard chilled water loads
system maybe constant
flow, primary/secondary or
variable primary flow

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
4-pipe distribution / Constant Flow (3-way control valves)

heating
loads

aux
heat
from
ground P-HT cond
source VAL-1 / VGS
P-GS CHR-1
Chiller/Heater

P-CH evap

to
ground
source
cooling
Heating water system will loads
likely be constant flow or
primary/secondary

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
4-pipe distribution / Decoupled pumping

Primary/secondary
heating water system heating
loads
- for expanded heating water
distribution delta T by-pass
aux
and variable flow heat
from
ground P-CD cond P-HT
source VAL-1 / VGS
CHR-1
P-GS
Chiller/Heater

P-CH evap

to
chilled water
ground by-pass
source
cooling
loads

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
4-pipe distribution / 3-way control valves

heating
loads

aux
heat
from
ground P-HT cond
source VAL-1 / VGS
P-GS
CHR-1
Chiller/Heater

P-CH evap

to
ground
source
cooling
loads
Ground-source loop should be variable flow
for controllability and pumping efficiency

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Central Geothermal System Options

• Auxiliary heating
– NOT OPTIONAL for single unit systems

• Auxiliary heat rejection

• Auxiliary cooling

• Contingency cooling connections

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Central Geothermal System Options

heating
loads

aux ht aux
reject heat
from
ground P-HT cond
source VAL-1 / VGS
P-GS Chiller/Heater

P-CH evap

to aux
Contingency
ground cooling
Cooling
Connections
source
cooling
loads

21
Single Chiller/Heater
Central Geothermal Systems
 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
2-pipe distribution / Constant Flow (3-way control valves)

to
ground V3
source V1
P-DS
auxiliary
heat
from P-GS cond
V4
ground building
Chiller/ loads
source
Heater
evap

V2

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
2-pipe distribution / Constant Flow (3-way control valves)

Cooling only mode

to
ground V3
Chilled
source
water distribution
V1
will likely be constant flow P-DS
or primary/secondary auxiliary
heat
from P-GS cond
V4
ground building
Chiller/ loads
source
Heater
evap

V2

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
2-pipe distribution / Constant Flow (3-way control valves)

Cooling only mode

to
ground V3
source V1
P-DS
auxiliary
heat
from P-GS cond
V4
ground building
Chiller/ loads
source
Heater
evap
Ground-source loop
providing cool water to the
chiller/heater condenser
V2

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
2-pipe distribution / Constant Flow (3-way control valves)

Heating only mode

to
ground V3
source V1
P-DS
auxiliary
heat
from P-GS cond
V4
ground building
Chiller/ loads
source
Heater
evap
Heating water distribution
will likely be constant flow
or primary/secondary V2

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 Single Chiller-Heater CGS
2-pipe distribution / Constant Flow (3-way control valves)

Heating only mode

to
Ground-source loop
ground V3 providing warm water to the
source V1
chiller/heater evaporator
P-DS
auxiliary
heat
from P-GS cond
V4
ground building
Chiller/ loads
source
Heater
evap

V2

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Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading
Central Geothermal Systems
 Central Geothermal Systems
Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC
load

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Review
• Number of Chiller-Heaters
– 2-6 Units
 Nominal 80-250 ton unit capacity
 Actual 150-1500 ton plant size

• Operating conditions
– 38 leaving chilled water
– 140 leaving condenser water (lower is better)
– Not at the same time!
• Cascading has the potential to increase plant efficiency
• The energy transfer loops increase plant controllability

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC
load

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
Cooling system evap evap
M Standard Chilled Water
PC PLe
System may be:
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC • constant flow
load
• primary/secondary or
• variable primary flow

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
Heating Water System will M M M
likely be constant
PLcflow or heating
primary/secondary VAL-2 load
/ VEC
cond cond Heating system
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC
load

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction
Ground-source loop Ground-source loop
should be variable
from VAL-1 / VGSC
ground
flow for pumping
PB
source efficiency
to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC
load

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction
Condenser Energy Transfer Loop

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
Condenser Energy Transfer M VAL-3 M
Loop brings coolingcooling
water to / VCC
load
condenser from ground-source
loop or heater evaporator

35
 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
Evaporator Energy Transfer M VAL-3 M
coolingto / VCC
Loop brings warm water
load
evaporator from ground-source
loop or chiller condenser Evaporator Energy Transfer Loop

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading Introduction
Single Chiller-Heater Operation

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground PB
source

to
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC
load Multiple chiller-heater systems
can and will provide simultaneous
cooling and heating with one unit.

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 Central Geothermal Systems
Water To Water Heat Pump

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 WWHP – Simple piping - dedicated pumps
Cooling Heating
load load
PH

PC
evap evap cond
Water-to-Water On On
Off On
Cool Cool Heat
Heat Pumps
cond cond evap

P P P P
From wellfield
PW

To wellfield

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 Key Design Issues

• Geothermal vs Heat Recovery

• Optimizing life cycle costs
– Borefield sizing
 Supplemental heating
 Auxiliary heat rejection

– Load shedding economizer

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Application Comparison
Geothermal vs Heat Recovery

Geothermal Heat Recovery

• Separate heating and • Significantly cooling
cooling seasons dominant
• Relatively balanced • Relatively low peak or
• Real estate for ground – average heating load
source system • “Right-sized” heat
• Capital availability for recovery unit
ground-source system • Energy and ROI driven
• Energy savings driven

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 optimizing life cycle costs
Ground-Source Sizing

• Must consider
– Peak building demand
– Annualized building energy balance
• Optimization
– Reduce peak demand – cooling and heating
– Balance annual heating and cooling loads
– Consider a hybrid system design
 Fluid cooler
 Pond / lake system

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 Heating Dominate
Seasonal Load Profile

Building Load Profile

600000

Cooling
Heating
Energy

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Month

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 Cooling Dominate
Seasonal Load Profile

Total vs. monthly?

Building Load Profile
500000

Cooling
Heating
Energy

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Month

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 Addressing Load Profile Imbalance

• A cooling dominate building

– Reduce solar loading and/or interior loads
– Auxiliary energy rejection (e.g. fluid cooler)
– Add heat load to system (e.g. domestic hot water)
• A heating dominate building
– Auxiliary heating system (e.g. condensing boiler)
– Thermal solar heating
• Optimize the building life cycle cost
– Reducing borefield size
– Increasing borefield utilization for energy efficiency

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 Multi-Chiller/Heater Cascading

from VAL-1 / VGSC

ground
source

to PB
ground
source

PH
M M M
PLc heating
VAL-2 load
cond / VEC cond
On On
A B
Cool Heat
evap evap
M
PC PLe
M VAL-3 M
cooling / VCC
load

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 Packaged Central Geothermal Plants

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 A Few Lessons…
• Do not oversize the plant!
– Do a computerized load analysis – not rule of thumb
– Size for “block loading” - not “sum of the coil peaks”

• Apply optimization principles

– Pump pressure optimization
– Load based setpoint resets

• Have auxiliary / backup heat in single unit systems

• Watch the condenser minimum flow in heating
• Fully and carefully document control
system sequence of operation
– Do not leave the “details” to the controls field technician

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 Additional Resources

• Applications Engineering Manual - SYS-APM009-EN

includes single and multiple chiller/heater configurations.

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