Absorption Chiller Sytem Design

SYS-AM-13 (May 1999)
Mick SchwedIer, appIications engineer

DarryI runsvoId, inIormation designer
REV_SY13_book.book Page iii Friday, May 28, 1999 11:42 AM
The Trahe Conpahy, ih proposihg these systen desigh ahd applicatioh
cohcepts, assunes ho respohsibility or the perornahce or desirability o ahy
resultihg systen desigh. Systen desigh is the prerogative ahd respohsibility o
the systen desigher.
1999 Anericah Stahdard lhc. All rights reserved
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999)
This nahual was developed to provide directioh or the proper applicatioh o
absorptioh techhology ahd thereby help cohsultihg ehgiheers ahd desigh/build
cohtractors correctly apply absorptioh coolihg equipneht ih HVAC systens.
With that ih nihd, a high-level perspective o the absorptioh process is oered.
The nahual's prinary cohcehtratioh, however, is the applicatioh o absorptioh
chillers. Various systen cohiguratiohs, absorptioh chiller uses, retroit optiohs,
ahd ecohonic ahalyses are addressed. Although issues related to ihstallihg ahd
servicihg absorptioh chillers are addressed, this docuneht is hot ah ihstallatioh
or service nahual.
Systen desighers nay get the nost use ron this nahual by aniliarizihg
thenselves with absorptioh chiller basics ahd uhderstahdihg the systens ih
which the advahtages o absorptioh chiller techhology are best utilized.
Thereater, wheh a speciic |ob would beheit ron these advahtages,
appropriate sectiohs o the nahual cah be cohsulted ih detail.
REV_SY13_book.book Page i Friday, May 28, 1999 11:42 AM
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) i
IIIustrations ....................................................................................... |v
TabIes ................................................................................................... v
Introduction .......................................................................................1
Absorption: An Overview ..............................................................2
A Conpar|son o C,c|es .....................................................................2
echan|ca|conpress|on Fer|geral|on .........................................2
Absorpl|on Fer|geral|on ..............................................................3
Absorpl|on S,slen F|u|ds .............................................................4
Cr,sla|||zal|on ...............................................................................5
ach|ne C|ass||cal|ons ......................................................................5
Operal|ng Characler|sl|cs ...................................................................6
Economics oI Gas CooIing with Absorption ...........................9
Wh, se Absorpl|on7 ........................................................................9
Econon|cs ...................................................................................9
Env|ronnenl ................................................................................9
Fue| F|ex|b|||l, ..............................................................................9
Coe|c|enl o Perornance ...............................................................10
F|rsl, a S|np|e Conpar|son .........................................................12
Nexl, an Exacl|ng Ana|,s|s .........................................................13
Source Energ, Consunpl|on ............................................................13
Conpar|ng Ch|||er a|nlenance Cosls ..............................................14
Ana|,s|s Too|s ..................................................................................16
System Design Considerations ..................................................13
Coo||ng Waler ..................................................................................13
Eecls o Coo||ngwaler Tenperalure ........................................13
Fep|ac|ng an Ex|sl|ng Ch|||er w|lh an Absorpl|on Ch|||er ...............13
Fep|acenenl w|lh a Sna||er Absorpl|on Ch|||er .....................20
Fep|acenenl w|lh an Absorpl|on Ch|||er o Ecua| S|ze ..........21
u|l|p|e Ch|||ers and Coo||ng Towers ..........................................24
Coo||ng Tower B,pass .........................................................24
var|ab|espeed Coo||ng Tower Fans ......................................24
Conb|nal|on (H,br|d P|anls .................................................25
Low|ow Absorpl|on S,slens ...................................................23
Absorpl|on Ch|||er Spec|a| App||cal|ons .............................................31
Heal|ng s Ava||ab|e ....................................................................31
Turb|ne n|el Coo||ng ..................................................................31
Hol A|r as an Energ, Source .......................................................31
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SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) ii
Conlro|s ...........................................................................................32
The nporlance o Conlro|s ........................................................32
Conlro| nprovenenls al lhe n|l Leve| .....................................33
Fesponse lo Chang|ng Cond|l|ons ........................................33
A|r ns|de lhe ach|ne .........................................................34
l|||z|ng var|ab|e Evaporalorwaler F|ow ...............................34
Conlro|s al lhe S,slen Leve| .....................................................34
Conlro| o Heal|ng/Coo||ng Changeover ................................35
Ch|||edwaler Fesel .............................................................35
nlerac|ng w|lh an Aulonal|on S,slen ................................36
S,slen Opl|ons ...............................................................................36
Conb|nal|onp|anl P|p|ng Arrangenenls .....................................37
Ser|es and Para||e| ................................................................33
Connon Decoup|ed ............................................................40
Decoup|ed w|lh Preerenl|a| Load|ng ....................................41
S|deslrean w|lh Preerenl|a| Load|ng ...................................42
S,slen Opl|on Ana|,s|s .............................................................43
Therna| Slorage ........................................................................45
Absorpl|on Ch|||ers and Ch|||edwaler Slorage ......................45
Absorpl|on Ch|||ers and ce Slorage ......................................46
Heal|ng App||cal|ons ..................................................................49
S|nu|laneous Heal|ng and Coo||ng .......................................49
Heal|ng On|, ........................................................................49
InstaIIation Considerations .........................................................50
Conbusl|on A|r Fecu|renenls ..........................................................50
Slo|ch|onelr|c A|r ......................................................................50
Excess A|r: lhe Proper Anounl ..................................................50
ver|,|ng Conp|ele Conbusl|on: Tesl|ng F|ue Cas Conpos|l|on .51
NOx En|ss|ons .................................................................................52
Exhauslgas Ducl and F|ueslack Des|gn ...........................................54
Des|gn .......................................................................................54
Slack Open|ng ...........................................................................54
Slack Local|on ...........................................................................54
Conslrucl|on ..............................................................................56
u|l|p|eun|l nsla||al|ons ...........................................................56
np||cal|ons o ASHFAE Slandard 151994 ......................................57
nsu|al|on o Hol and Co|d Absorpl|on Ch|||er Suraces ......................53
ach|nes Sh|pped D|sassenb|ed .....................................................53
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SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) iii
Maintenance Considerations ......................................................59
Ch|||er a|nlenance .........................................................................59
echan|ca| Conponenls ............................................................59
Fer|geranl and So|ul|on Punps ...........................................59
Purge ..................................................................................60
s|ng lhe Purge as a Ch|||er a|nlenance Too| .....................60
Burner .................................................................................61
Heal Transer Conponenls ........................................................61
Conlro|s .....................................................................................62
WalerandL|lh|un Bron|de So|ul|on a|nlenance .....................63
Prevenl|ve a|nlenance nspecl|ons or Absorpl|on Ch|||ers .......63
Aux|||ar, Ecu|pnenl a|nlenance .....................................................63
ConcIusion ........................................................................................64
GIossary .............................................................................................65
Index ...................................................................................................70
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SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) iv
F|gure 1 echan|ca|conpress|on Fer|geral|on C,c|e ......................2
F|gure 2 Absorpl|on Fer|geral|on C,c|e ...........................................3
F|gure 3 Exanp|e S,slen ..............................................................19
F|gure 4 Sna||er DFA Ch|||er ..........................................................21
F|gure 5 Ecu|va|enl DFA Ch|||er ......................................................22
F|gure 6 Coo||ng Tower B,pass ......................................................24
F|gure 7 Conb|nal|on P|anl (Ecua| Ch|||er F|ows ............................26
F|gure 3 Conb|nal|on P|anl (necua| Ch|||er F|ows ........................27
F|gure 9 F|ow Fales versus Operal|ng Cosls ..................................30
F|gure 10 Hol A|r as an Energ, Source .............................................32
F|gure 11 Ser|es Arrangenenl .........................................................33
F|gure 12 Para||e| Arrangenenl ........................................................39
F|gure 13 Connon Decoup|ed Arrangenenl ....................................40
F|gure 14 Decoup|ed Arrangenenl w|lh Preerenl|a| Load|ng ............41
F|gure 15 S|deslrean Arrangenenl w|lh Preerenl|a| Load|ng ...........42
F|gure 16 S,slen Ana|,zer Craph .................................................45
F|gure 17 H,br|d Ch|||er S,slen w|lh ce ..........................................47
F|gure 13 Exanp|e Bu||d|ng Load Pro||e ...........................................43
F|gure 19 F|uegas Fec|rcu|al|on (FCF .............................................53
F|gure 20 Avo|d Fec|rcu|al|on o Exhausl Cas ...................................55
F|gure 21 T,p|ca| Exhausl Ducl nsla||al|on .......................................55
F|gure 22 u|l|p|eun|l nsla||al|on ....................................................56
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SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) v
Tab|e 1 S|ng|eeecl Slean/Hol Waler n|l ....................................7
Tab|e 2 Doub|eeecl Slean/Hol Waler n|l ..................................7
Tab|e 3 Doub|eeecl D|recl|red n|l ............................................3
Tab|e 4 Ch|||er Cosl Conpar|son ...................................................12
Tab|e 5 l|||l, Cosl Conpar|son ....................................................13
Tab|e 6 FF Conpar|son ..............................................................14
Tab|e 7 T,p|ca| Ch|||er a|nlenance Cosls ....................................15
Tab|e 3 |n|nun ode||ng/Ana|,s|s Progran Capab|||l|es ............16
Tab|e 9 Fep|acenenl Conpar|son ................................................23
Tab|e 10 F|ow Fale Conpar|son .....................................................29
Tab|e 11 Operal|ng Characler|sl|cs .................................................37
Tab|e 12 Tab|e o A|lernal|ves .........................................................44
Tab|e 13 Fue|/A|r Fe|al|onsh|ps ......................................................50
Tab|e 14 Conpos|l|on o F|ue Cas ..................................................51
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REV_SY13_book.book Page vi Friday, May 28, 1999 11:42 AM
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 1
ChIucabn (CFC) egsatn, zne depetn, gba wanng and
enegy eIIcency. eectc utty deeguatn, a tghtenng eectcty suppy
and danatc nceases n eectca enegy and denand csts. These conplex
issues challehge today's HVAC systen desigher to cohsider alterhatives to
traditiohal nechahical rerigeratioh equipneht. Ohe such alterhative is the
absorptioh chiller.
Absorptioh chillers have eh|oyed widespread popularity outside the Uhited
States or sone tine. Absorptioh chillers heated with stean or hot water, or
ired directly utilizihg hew burher techhology, use the proveh, sae,
ehvirohnehtally conpatible conbihatioh o water ahd lithiun bronide. The
direct-ired absorptioh (DFA) chiller desigh sinply substitutes ah ihtegral burher
or the cohvehtiohal stean/hot water geherator ahd auxiliary boiler. Higher
chiller eiciehcies, robust naterials withih the chiller, ahd advahced cohtrols
ehhahce the beheits o applyihg absorptioh chillers. The ability to displace
electric coolihg durihg peak hours, uel choice lexibility, ahd advahces ih chiller
desigh ahd cohtrol have resulted ih a rehaissahce or absorptioh chillers.
REV_SY13_book.book Page 1 Friday, May 28, 1999 11:42 AM
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 2
A Comparison oI CycIes
Like nechahical-conpressioh rerigeratioh, absorptioh rerigeratioh enploys
the prihciples o heat trahser ahd a rerigeraht's chahge o state to produce
coolihg. To illustrate how the absorptioh cycle works, let's conpare it with the
nore aniliar nechahical rerigeratioh cycle.
MechanicaI-compression PeIrigeration
Feer to Figure 1 or the ollowihg discussioh. lh the nechahical-conpressioh
rerigeratioh cycle, high-pressure liquid rerigeraht ehters the lower-pressure
evaporator through a neterihg device . Wheh the liquid passes through the
neterihg device, its pressure is abruptly reduced to that o the evaporator. At
this low pressure, a snall portioh o the liquid boils innediately, coolihg the
renaihihg liquid to evaporator tenperature. Ohce ih the evaporator, the how-
cold liquid rerigeraht absorbs heat ron the conparatively warn systen water
ahd evaporates . (The trahser o heat associated with this evaporative
process lowers the tenperature o the systen water, providihg the desired
coolihg eect.)
Maihtaihihg the pressure dierehce betweeh the high-pressure ahd low-
pressure sides o the cycle, the conpressor draws cool, low-pressure
rerigeraht vapor ron the evaporator, conpresses it , theh discharges it ihto
the cohdehser as hot, high-pressure vapor. Here, the heat o vaporizatioh ahd
conpressioh carried by the rerigeraht noves to the coolihg water, causihg the
vapor to cohdehse at a relatively high pressure ahd tenperature . As a high-
pressure liquid, the rerigeraht returhs to the neterihg device at the ehtrahce to
the evaporator ahd the cycle repeats itsel.
Condense
Cooling
Water
Evaporate
System
Water
Expand
Compress
Figure 1 Mechanical-compression Refrigeration Cycle
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 3
Absorption PeIrigeration
Ah absorber, geherator, punp, ahd recuperative heat exchahger replace the
conpressor ih absorptioh rerigeratioh, as showh ih Figure 2. Like nechahical-
conpressioh rerigeratioh, the cycle begihs wheh high-pressure liquid
rerigeraht ron the cohdehser passes through a neterihg device ihto the
lower-pressure evaporator ahd collects ih the evaporator pah or sunp. As
beore, the lashihg that occurs at the ehtrahce to the evaporator cools the
renaihihg liquid rerigeraht. Sinilarly, the trahser o heat ron the
conparatively warn systen water to the how-cool rerigeraht causes the latter
to evaporate , ahd the resultihg rerigeraht vapor nigrates to the lower-
pressure absorber . There, it is soaked up by ah absorbeht lithiun bronide
solutioh. This process hot ohly creates a low-pressure area that draws a
cohtihuous low o rerigeraht vapor ron the evaporator to the absorber, but
also causes the vapor to cohdehse as it releases the heat o vaporizatioh
picked up ih the evaporator. This heat, alohg with the heat o dilutioh produced
as the rerigeraht cohdehsate nixes with the absorbeht, is trahserred to the
coolihg water ahd released ih the coolihg tower.
O course, assinilatihg rerigeraht dilutes the lithiun bronide solutioh ahd
reduces its aihity or rerigeraht vapor. To sustaih the rerigeratioh cycle, the
solutioh nust be recohcehtrated. This is acconplished by cohstahtly punpihg
dilute solutioh ron the absorber to the geherator , where the additioh o
Cooling
Water
Cooling
Water
Generate
System
Water
Condense
Expand
Evaporate
Absorb
Heat
Exchanger
Figure 2 Absorption Refrigeration Cycle
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 4
heat boils the rerigeraht ron the absorbeht. Ohce the rerigeraht is renoved,
the recohcehtrated lithiun bronide solutioh returhs to the absorber, ready to
resune the absorptioh process.
Meahwhile, the rerigeraht vapor liberated ih the geherator nigrates to the
cooler cohdehser , there, the rerigeraht returhs to its liquid state as the
coolihg water picks up the heat o vaporizatioh carried by the vapor. The liquid
rerigeraht's returh to the neterihg device narks the cycle's conpletioh.
Absorption System FIuids
Ferigeraht-the substahce used to absorb ahd trahsport heat-is the lieblood
o ahy rerigeratioh systen: it takes ih trenehdous anouhts o heat wheh
chahgihg ron a liquid to a vapor, ahd releases the sane anouht o heat wheh
the thernal reactioh is reversed as the vapor cohdehses. Ohe o the greatest
dierehces betweeh the nechahical-conpressioh ahd absorptioh cycles |ust
reviewed is the rerigeraht that each cycle uses. Costly luorihated hydrocarboh
conpouhds serve as rerigeraht ih nechahical-conpressioh rerigeratioh
nachihes, while distilled water is the rerigeraht ih virtually all large
connercial absorptioh nachihes. With a lateht heat o vaporizatioh o
1,000 Btu/lb |2326 kJ/kg], distilled water is stable, hohtoxic, ihexpehsive, readily
available, readily absorbed, ahd easily separated ih large quahtities durihg the
absorptioh cycle.
Uhlike the nechahical-conpressioh cycle, absorptioh rerigeratioh requires a
secohd luid: ah absorbeht. The hohtoxic salt lithiun bronide, ih solutioh with
water, typically serves as the absorbeht ih large connercial absorptioh
equipneht. lts high aihity or water (rerigeraht) nihinizes the quahtity o
solutioh that nust be punped per pouhd o rerigeraht trahsported betweeh
the absorber ahd geherator. lts boilihg poiht is also substahtially higher thah
that o the rerigeraht (water), nakihg it easy to separate rerigeraht ron
absorbeht.
As hoted ih the precedihg descriptioh o the absorptioh rerigeratioh cycle, the
absorbeht's aihity or rerigeraht chahges with the anouht o rerigeraht
preseht ih the solutioh. Cohvehtiohal ihdustry ternihology describes a dilute
solutioh-ohe with a high cohcehtratioh o rerigeraht ahd, thereore, little
aihity or it-as weak absorbeht. Cohversely, the tern strohg absorbeht
describes a cohcehtrated solutioh as ohe with a strohg attractioh or rerigeraht
because it cohtaihs little or hohe. A related tern used ih this nahual is
ihternediate absorbeht, which describes a partially recohcehtrated solutioh
with a noderate aihity or rerigeraht.
These terns pertaih ohly to the water-ahd-
lithiun bronide cycle, the opposite
hanihg cohvehtioh is applied to ahother
connohly used pair o absorptioh
rerigeratioh luids: annohia (rerigeraht)
ahd water (absorbeht). Though hot
discussed ih this nahual, annohia-ahd-
water absorptioh equipneht cah be used
ih large-capacity ihdustrial ihstallatiohs,
snall-capacity residehtial systens, ahd ih
certaih donestic rerigerators.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 5
CrystaIIization
No discussioh o the absorptioh rerigeratioh cycle would be conplete without
at least briely addressihg this topic. Like nost salts, lithiun bronide has a
crystallihe structure wheh solid, is soluble ih water, ahd precipitates ron
solutioh-i.e., crystallizes-wheh its saturatioh poiht is exceeded. This
crystallizatioh results ih a slush-like nixture that cah plug pipelihes ahd other
luid passages, nakihg the nachihe ihoperable.
Crystallizatioh does hot harn absorptioh equipneht, but is a huisahce ahd a
synpton o trouble. While air leakage ihto the nachihe is nost oteh to blane,
other connoh causes ihclude inproper cohtrol settihg(s), low-tenperature
coolihg water, ahd electrical power ailures. Ohce a nachihe crystallizes,
operatioh cah ohly be resuned ater the cohcehtrated solutioh tenperature is
raised above its saturatioh poiht, the solutioh cohcehtratioh is reduced, or both.
At this elevated tenperature or at reduced cohcehtratioh, the salt crystals
returh to solutioh, reeihg the nachihe.
Curreht absorptioh nachihes, with their inproved hernetic ihtegrity, airtight
cohstructioh, ahd especially advahced cohtrols, are desighed to operate over a
broad rahge o operatihg cohditiohs without dahger o crystallizatioh, nahy
ihclude cohcehtratioh cohtrols as urther protectioh. Cohsequehtly,
crystallizatioh rarely occurs ih noderh absorptioh nachihes that are properly
operated ahd naihtaihed.
Machine CIassiIications
Water-ahd-lithiun bronide absorptioh equipneht is classiied by its irihg
nethod-i.e., how the prinary geherator is heated-ahd whether it has a
sihgle-eect or a nultiple-eect geherator.
n lhdirect-ired nachihes are heated with stean or hot liquids supplied ron a
boiler, or waste ehergy stean such as gas turbihe exhaust, direct-ired
nachihes are heated via the conbustioh o ossil uels.
n Absorptioh equipneht with a sihgle geherator is sihgle-eect. Multiple-
eect or nultiple-stage nachihes have nultiple geherators that ihclude
both low-tenperature ahd high-tenperature. All connercially available
direct-ired uhits are double-eect nachihes.
Like nechahical-conpressioh rerigeratioh chillers, absorptioh equipneht cah
also be classiied by the cohdehsihg nethod enployed: either air-cooled or
water-cooled. Fhysical size linitatiohs typically cohstraih air-cooled cohdehsihg
to annohia-ahd-water absorptioh equipneht applied ih residehtial ahd snall
connercial applicatiohs (i.e., 3 toh to 5 toh |10 kW to18 kW] capacities). Despite
added water treatneht ahd naihtehahce costs, nost large connercial (i.e., 20
For a geheral discussioh o absorptioh
rerigeratioh ahd coolihg tower
uhdanehtals, reer to Chapter 41 o the
1998 ASHFAE FeIgeatn Handbk ahd
Chapter 36 o the 1996 ASHFAE HVAC
Systens and Equpnent Handbk,
respectively.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 6
to 1,500 tohs |70 to 5,300 kW]) water-ahd-lithiun bronide absorptioh
equipneht enploys water-cooled cohdehsihg, ahd ih particular, coolihg towers,
because o its higher ehergy eiciehcy at desigh cohditiohs.
Notwithstahdihg these distihctiohs, operatioh o all water-ahd-lithiun bronide
chillers, whether direct-ired or ihdirect-ired, sihgle-eect or nultiple-eect,
air-cooled or water-cooled, is based oh the uhdanehtal absorptioh
rerigeratioh prihciples |ust described.
Operating Characteristics
Double-eect direct-ired absorptioh nachihes are typically ired with hatural
gas or No. 2 uel oil, though sone have dual-uel capabilities as ah optioh.
Typical ull-load Coeiciehts o Ferornahce (COFs) are about 1.0, based oh the
higher heatihg value (HHV) o the uel. These nachihes are connercially
available ron several nahuacturers ahd have rerigeratioh capacities rahgihg
ron 20 to 1,500 tohs |70 to 5,300 kW].
Geherally, tenperatures or chilled water leavihg the evaporator are 40F to
60F |4.4C to 16C] ih direct-ired absorptioh applicatiohs. Upper ahd lower
linits o this rahge are established, respectively, by desigh cohsideratiohs or
punp lubricatioh (which is sonewhat lexible) ahd the rerigeraht reezihg
poiht (which, or water, is 32F |0C]). The latter neahs that outdoor
ihstallatioh, despite its advahtage o nihinizihg the anouht o buildihg space
occupied by coolihg equipneht, is seldon a viable alterhative. Cohtact the
chiller nahuacturer i cohsiderihg ah outdoor ihstallatioh. Evaporator
approach tenperature, solutioh cohcehtratioh, ahd saety linitatiohs also
ihluehce the leavihg-evaporator chilled-water tenperature.
Acceptable tenperatures or coolihg water ehterihg the absorber-cohdehser
tube buhdle usually rahge ron 55F to 105F |12.8C to 41C]. Liquid traps
betweeh the high-pressure ahd low-pressure sides o the nachihe (geherator-
absorber ahd/or cohdehser-evaporator) ix the upper rahge linit. They will hot
uhctioh at high pressure dierehtials. The lower rahge linit helps assure
proper operatioh by naihtaihihg the nachihe's desighed solutioh-
cohcehtratioh balahce. ("Coolihg Water," begihhihg oh page 18 o the Systen
Desgn Cnsdeatns sectioh, reviews the eects o coolihg-water
tenperature oh the perornahce o chillers.)
See Table 1 ahd Table 2 oh page 7, ahd Table 3 oh page 8, or connoh
perornahce characteristics o absorptioh equipneht.
l the absorptioh chiller is applied
outdoors, the ihstaller nust provide a
neahs to preveht the tenperature o the
anbieht air innediately surrouhdihg the
chiller ron allihg to the rerigeraht's
reezihg poiht.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 7
Table 1 Single-effect Steam/Hot Water Unit
Chiller Characteristic Fated Cohditioh1 Operatihg Fahge
Fuel Cohsunptioh Stean: 18.7 lb/toh-hr @ 12
psig
Stean: 20 ih. Hg-20 psig
|70-140 kFa]
Hot Water: 170-270F
|77-130C]
Coolihg COF 0.67 -
Chilled Water
Ehterihg
Leavihg
Flow Fate
54F |12C]
44F |7C]
2.4 gpn/toh |0.043 Lps/kW]
-
40-60F |4.4-16C]
1.6-6.0 gpn/toh |0.029 -0.11 Lps/kW]
Coolihg Water
Ehterihg
Leavihg
Flow Fate
85F |29C]
102F |39C]
55 F |13C] nihinun
120 F |49C] naxinun
2.5-5.0 gpn/toh |0.045-0.09 Lps/kW]
Electric Fower 0.04 kW/toh |0.011 kW/kW] -
1
AFl Stahdard 560 Fatihg "Stahdard Cohditiohs"
Table 2 Double-effect Steam/Hot Water Unit
Chiller Characteristi
c
Fated Cohditioh1 Operatihg Fahge
Fuel Cohsunptioh Stean: 9.8 lb/toh-hr @ 115
psig
Stean: 60-140 psig
|410-960 kFa]
Hot Water: 300-370F
|150-190C]
Coolihg COF 1.20 -
Chilled Water
Ehterihg
Leavihg
Flow Fate
54F |12C]
44F |7C]
-
40-60F |4.4-16C]
1.6-6.0 gpn/toh |0.029-0.11 Lps/kW]
Coolihg Water
Ehterihg
Leavihg
Flow Fate
85F |29C]
96F |36C]
4.0 gpn/toh 0.072 Lps/kW]
55F |13C] nihinun
120F |49C] naxinun
2.5-5.0 gpn/toh |0.045-0.09 Lps/kW]
Electric Fower 0.04 kW/toh |0.011 kW/kW] -
1
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 8
Table 3 Double-effect Direct-fired Unit
Chiller
Characteristic
Fated Cohditioh1 Operatihg Fahge
Fuel Cohsunptioh
(HHV)
12,000 Btu/toh-hr
|1 kW/kW]
11,400-13,000 Btu/toh-hr
|0.95-1.08 kW/kW]
Coolihg COF (HHV) 1.02 -
Chilled Water
Ehterihg
Leavihg
Flow Fate
54F |12C]
44F |7C]
-
40-60F |4.4-16C]
1.6-6.0 gpn/toh |0.029-0.11 Lps/kW]
Coolihg Water
Ehterihg
Leavihg
Flow Fate
85F |29C]
95F |35C]
55F |13C] nihinun
105F |41C] naxinun
2.5-5.0 gpn/toh |0.045-0.09 Lps/kW]
Electric Fower
0.04 kW/toh |0.011 kW/kW] -
1
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 9
Why Use Absorption7
Whehever a buildihg owher or ehgiheer cohsiders the proper applicatioh or
equipneht, nahy actors ehter the decisioh-nakihg process. Ohe inportaht
cohsideratioh is serviceability. With essehtially ohly 2 novihg pieces o
equipneht-the punp assenblies ahd conbustioh blower-direct-ired
absorptioh uhits nihinize the likelihood o nechahical problens. The ollowihg
decisioh-nakihg actors oteh avor absorptioh uhits.
Economics
Ecohonics are oteh a prinary cohcerh, especially ih light o receht sighiicaht
ihcreases ih electrical denahd costs. Sihce absorptioh uhits use uels other
thah electricity, applyihg then cah help nihinize electrical denahd costs.
Depehdihg oh local utility cohsunptioh rates, absorptioh chillers nay also cost
less to operate thah electric chillers. lh ahy case, sihce the anouht o heat
re|ected to the atnosphere is greater or absorptioh chillers, the coolihg towers
used with absorptioh nachihes nust either be larger or ruh at cohditiohs
diereht thah those or electric chillers. (See "Feplacihg ah Existihg Chiller with
ah Absorptioh Chiller" oh page 18.)
Environment
Ehvirohnehtal inpact-that is, ozohe depletioh potehtial (ODF) ahd global
warnihg potehtial (GWF)-is ahother key actor ihluehcihg today's equipneht
choices. Absorptioh nachihes do hot use CFCs, givihg then ah ODF o zero. As
or GWF ahd carboh dioxide enissiohs, there is ho ihdisputable evidehce to
support the speciicatioh o ohe chiller type over ahother.
FueI FIexibiIity
Various uels cah be used to power the direct-ired absorptioh process, nakihg
chillers o this type highly adaptable. They cah be used ih renote sites that
cahhot provide adequate electrical power or nore traditiohal vapor-
conpressioh chillers. Sinilarly, they cah also be applied ih existihg buildihgs
with power grids that are uhable to support urther electrical draw. Wheh
ihdirect-ired absorptioh chillers are enployed, a boiler geherates either stean
or hot water. Depehdihg oh local cohditiohs, hatural gas, waste stean ron a
process, No. 2 uel oil, or sone other source such as high-tenperature solar
ehergy cah provide heat to the boiler. Direct-ired absorptioh chillers directly
burh uel, usually either hatural gas or uel oil, to provide heat or the
absorptioh process. These optiohs provide lexibility ahd choice to the buildihg
owher.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 10
Sone o the burhers supplied with direct-ired chillers cah be dual uel ahd cah
use either hatural gas or No. 2 uel oil. This lexibility is particularly attractive
or applicatiohs ih which oil is a nore cohvehieht ehergy source thah gas (e.g.,
renote locatiohs). Ohe galloh o No. 2 uel oil cohtaihs 138,460 Btu |146,075 kJ]
o heat ahd costs roughly $1.10, thereore, providihg 1 toh |3.5 kW] o coolihg
or 1 hour requires about 9 worth o oil.
Burhers cah also uhctioh usihg nixtures o propahe ahd air. lh act, sone gas
utilities use this nixture to augneht their gas supplies at tines o peak
denahd. Other gaseous uels-lahdill gas, or exanple-nay also be used i
their heat cohtehts exceed 500 Btu/cu t |18,839 kJ/n
3
]. O course, as the heat
cohteht o the uel decreases (as conpared to hatural gas), so does the
conbustioh chanber's capacity.
Let's look at ah exanple. Cohsider a 300 toh |1050 kW], direct-ired chiller with
a heat ihput o 3,855 MBh |1,129.5 kW] ahd a COF o 0.93. l we assune that
lahdill gas is 50% nethahe-givihg it a heat cohteht o 0.5 x 1,000 Btu
|0.293 kWh], or 0.5 MBtu/cu t |3.15 kWh/n
3
]-ahd has a speciic gravity
approxinatihg that o air (1.0), we cah estinate the volune o gas required to
deliver 300 tohs |1050 kW] o coolihg.
This, however, is the theoretical volune o uel hecessary, urhace volune nay
be a linitihg actor. The additiohal throughput required or various uels nay be
linited by the anouht o heat that cah be released ih the conbustioh chanber.
(The linit or lahdill gas, or exanple, is about 70,000 Btu/cu t |2,637,500 kJ/
n
3
] o conbustioh chanber volune.) Thereore, either a larger conbustioh
chanber is heeded to deliver the sane anouht o coolihg tohs or the chiller's
capacity nust be derated.
CoeIIicient oI PerIormance
Coeicieht o Ferornahce (COF) values have lohg beeh used by ehgiheers to
help buildihg owhers ahd developers nake ihorned choices wheh selectihg
coolihg equipneht or their buildihgs. Accepted as a geheric neasureneht o
perornahce, equipneht COFs pronote ah apples-to-apples conparisoh o
alterhatives. Wheh ohe electric chiller is conpared to ahother, 1 kW always
equals 3,413 Btuh. With ihcreased denahd oh their electrical grids, however,
utilities are ehcouragihg the use o optiohs that reduce electrical denahd
durihg peak daytine hours ahd nay inpact the calculatioh o COF values. Such
optiohs ihclude load shitihg (thernal storage), cogeheratioh, gas-ehgihe-
lh sone locatiohs, the gas utility oers
ihterruptible gas rates. Oil is a choice or
energehcy backup.
Wheh usihg uels other thah hatural gas
(especially those with lower heat cohteht),
cohtact the chiller nahuacturer to
deternihe how that particular uel aects
burher output.
Equvaent Cu Ft/H
Fequed Gas nput Fate
Heat Cntent I Avaabe Gas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SpecIc Gavty
0.60
-------------------------------------------- =

3 855NBh ,
0.5 NBtu/cu It
---------------------------------------
1.0
0.60
----------- =
9,954 cu It/h =
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 11
driveh chillers, ahd absorptioh chillers. Sihce sone o these alterhatives use
ossil uels rather thah electricity, ehgiheers nust take care to ehsure that their
evaluatiohs still conpare apples to apples.
Uhlike electricity, the heat cohteht (i.e., anouht o heat that cah be extracted
durihg conbustioh) o uels such as hatural gas cohsists o 2 distihct neasures:
n the higher heatihg value (HHV), which accouhts or cohdehsatioh o
conbustioh-produced water vapor by ihcludihg the lateht heat o
vaporizatioh ih the uel's heat cohteht value (renenber that the conbustioh
o hydrocarboh uels yields carboh dioxide ahd water), ahd
n the lower heatihg value (LHV) which, as ohe night expect, does hot take
credit or the lateht heat o vaporizatioh.
Methahe gas (the prinary cohstitueht o hatural gas), or exanple, has ah HHV
o 1,012 Btu/cu t |38,143 kJ/n
3
] ahd ah LHV o 911 Btu/cu t at 60F ahd
30 ih. Hg, dry |34,321 kJ/n
3
at 16C ahd 101.6 kFa]. Usihg this ihornatioh, let's
look at the eect o these values oh the COF. Testihg ihdicates that a direct-ired
absorptioh chiller requires 1,171 cu t |33.1 n
3
] o gas per hour to produce
100 tohs |352 kW] o coolihg. l we calculate its uel cohsunptioh (ih MBh) ahd
resultihg COF based oh the HHV, we ihd that:
l, ihstead, the sane calculatiohs are perorned usihg the LHV (911 Btu/cu t
|34,321 kJ/n
3
]), we discover that:
Thus, ah 11% inproveneht ih chiller COF was seenihgly realized sinply by
basihg the hecessary calculatiohs oh the lower heatihg value. This raises ah
inportaht questioh: which heat cohteht value should be used or chiller
1,171 cu It
1 hu
-----------------------------
1,012 Btu
1 cu It
--------------------------
1 NBh
1,000 Btuh
------------------------------ 1,185 NBh =
CCF
HHV
FeIgeatn EIIect
Net Heat nput
------------------------------------------------------ =

100 Tns 12 NBh/Tn
1,185 NBh
------------------------------------------------------------------ =
1.013 =
1,171 cu It
1 hu
-----------------------------
911 Btu
1 cu It
---------------------
1 NBh
1,000 Btuh
------------------------------ 1,077 NBh =
CCF
LHV
FeIgeatn EIIect
Net Heat nput
------------------------------------------------------ =

100 Tns 12 NBh/Tn
1,077 NBh
------------------------------------------------------------------ =
1.125 =
Sihce cohdehsed lue products are highly
corrosive, nahy nahuacturers choose hot
to cohdehse the lue products. Chillers
should, however, still be conpared ahd
evaluated usihg the uel's HHV.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 12
conparisoh7 Water produced by conbustioh is hot cohdehsed ih nost direct-
ired absorptioh applicatiohs. lt thereore seens logical to use the uel HHV to
accouht or water vaporizatioh.
But is the disparity betweeh COF
HHV
ahd COF
LHV
really sighiicaht ehough to
distort the results o ah ehergy ahalysis7 Let's look at ah exanple to ihd out.
Suppose a clieht/owher is cohsiderihg the easibility o a direct-ired absorptioh
chiller or a 120,000 sq t |11,150 n
2
] oice buildihg ih St. Louis. The buildihg's
desigh load is 220 coolihg tohs |773 kW] with 1,300 equivaleht ull-load hours
ahhually. As the systen desigher, we'll nake 2 ahalyses. First a sinple
conparisoh o chiller ehergy cohsunptioh, theh a nore rigorous exanihatioh
usihg a FC-based hourly-ahalysis sotware tool that lets us ahalyze ahd
conpare various systen alterhatives based oh cost ahd perornahce.
First, a SimpIe Comparison
We'll begih by cohsiderihg ohly chiller ehergy costs. Assune that the utility rate
or gas is 45/thern, ahd that the electric utility rates are 5/kWh or
cohsunptioh with a 6-nohth denahd charge o $8.00/kW. Our sinple
evaluatioh conpares a direct-ired absorptioh chiller (DFA) ahd a water-cooled
electric chiller with a screw conpressor. Note that the values showh ih Table 4
are chiller-ohly operatihg costs, systen operatihg costs, which accouht or the
varyihg ahcillary equipneht used with each chiller, should also be exanihed.
Table 4 Chiller Cost Comparison
Chiller Type Electric Screw DFA
HHV 1
1
DFA
HHV
is a direct-ired absorptioh chiller with ehergy costs based oh the uel's higher heatihg value,
DFA
LHV
is the sane direct-ired nachihe with ehergy costs based oh the uel's lower heatihg value.
DFA
LHV
Chiller COF 4.95 1.013 1.125
Electricity Cohsuned:
kWh
$$
203,147
10,157
-
-
-
-
Electrical Denahd:
kW
$$
156
7,488
-
-
-
-
Gas Cohsuned:
therns
$$
-
-
33,880
15,246
30,507
13,728
Total Ehergy $$ 17,645 15,246 13,728
As showh ih Table 3 oh page 8 ahd Table 2
oh page 7, the COFs o DFA ahd double-
eect ihdirect absorptioh chillers are about
1.0 ahd 1.2 respectively. So why would
soneohe choose a chiller with a COF o
1.07 We heed to recall that a DFA COF
ihcorporates the burher eiciehcy while
the ihdirect-ired chiller COF does hot
ihclude the boiler eiciehcy. To ehsure that
a correct conparisoh is nade we heed to
nake sure we ihclude all systen
conpohehts. Wheh cohsiderihg ihdirect-
ired absorptioh chillers, always ihclude
the boiler eiciehcy ih the ahalysis.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 13
These results denohstrate the cohsiderable depehdehcy betweeh gas chiller
ehergy costs ahd uel heat-cohteht values. They also show the allacy o
selectihg equipneht solely oh the basis o conpressor ehergy costs, especially
i the nisleadihg LHV-based COF is used as a basis or conparisoh.
Next, an Exacting AnaIysis
Conputerized ahalysis prograns like TFACE
600 or DOE-2 ehable a nore

accurate estinate o chiller costs. Usihg a tenplate or a nid-rise oice buildihg
(supplied with the progran) ahd actual utility rates ih St. Louis, TFACE
calculated yearly buildihg utility costs or coolihg, lightihg, ahd receptacles as
showh ih Table 5.
Agaih, though the overall utility costs are sinilar, the COF calculated with the
uel LHV proves nisleadihg ahd results ih uhderestinated utility costs or the
direct-ired absorptioh nachihe.
lh short, wheh presehted with the COF or a gas-ired or gas-ehgihe-driveh
chiller, always ask which heat cohteht value was used ih the calculatioh. Sone
nahuacturers catalog perornahce usihg LHV, others use HHV, while still
others use both. To avoid cohusioh wheh perornihg ah ahalysis, khow which
heat cohteht value was cataloged ahd, i conparihg chillers with diereht uels,
use the HHV. Fenenber, too, that heat cohteht values are ihluehced by the
conpositioh o a particular uel supply. Natural gas HHVs, or exanple, vary
ron approxinately 1,000 to 1,100 Btu/cu t |37,679 to 41,446 kJ/n
3
].
Source Energy Consumption
With ihcreased enphasis oh ehergy cohsunptioh, nahy goverhneht agehcies
are viewihg Source Ehergy Cohsunptioh with ihcreasihg ihterest. Sinplistically
speakihg, this neasure accouhts or the iheiciehcies o producihg ahd
trahserrihg ehergy to the buildihg. For exanple, coal-geherated electricity
typically carries a 5% loss or extractihg coal ron the grouhd ahd trahsportihg
it to the electricity geheratioh site, a 60% loss wheh cohvertihg the coal to
Table 5 Utility Cost Comparison
Chiller Type Ahhual Utility Cost
Electric Screw $ 75,320
DFA
HHV
$ 73,418
DFA
LHV
$ 72,479
For nore ihornatioh about the Coeicieht
o Ferornahce or conbustioh ahd uels,
cohsult Chapter 1, "Thernodyhanics ahd
Ferigeratioh Cycles," ahd Chapter 17,
"Conbustioh ahd Fuels," respectively, o
the 1997 ASHFAE Fundanentas
Handbk.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 14
electricity, ahd ahother 10% loss wheh trahsnittihg the electricity to the
buildihg site. The collective eects o these iheiciehcies cah be conbihed ihto
a Fesource Utilizatioh Factor (FUF). lh the exanple |ust described:
Sihce Source Ehergy Cohsunptioh is deternihed by dividihg site ehergy
cohsunptioh by the FUF, we discover that a total o 2.9 kWh (1 0.342) o
ehergy is required or every 1.0 kWh cohsuned.
Ah FUF o 90-97% is typically ascribed to hatural gas. Thereore, as evideht
ron the conparisoh o uels ih Table 6, absorptioh chillers cah have ah
advahtage over electrically powered chillers wheh Source Ehergy Cohsunptioh
is a criteria or systen selectioh.
Comparing ChiIIer Maintenance Costs
As with conparisohs o chiller COFs, ohe nust look beyohd chiller
naihtehahce cohtract costs to the scope o work they represeht to assure ah
ob|ective appraisal. For exanple, does the cohtract ihclude eddy curreht tests
or tubihg ahd, i so, how oteh, the starter or ah electric chiller, or the
conbustioh burher o a direct-ired absorptioh nachihe7 Does it cover
naihtehahce o a boiler used exclusively to ire a stean absorptioh chiller7
Table 7 oh page 15 conpares naihtehahce cohtract pricihg or various 500 toh
|1,760 kW] heavy rerigeratioh chillers. The scope o work relected ih these
prices ihcludes a 5-year parts-ahd-labor warrahty, a rerigeraht or bronide
warrahty, ahd routihe prevehtive naihtehahce, all ahhualized or a 5-year
period. A sinple conparisoh o these naihtehahce cohtract igures idehtiies
the lowest cost with the electric chiller, but is this |udgneht souhd7
Table 6 RUF Comparison
Fuel Typical FUF
Natural gas, oil, coal 0.90-0.97
Electricity 0.25-0.35
Furchased stean or hot water 0.60-0.80
Furchased chilled water
1
1
The Furchased chilled-water FUF values accouht or chiller COF. Wheh ah electric chiller is used ih
coh|uhctioh with the FUF or electricity, the Furchased chilled-water FUF value nay exceed 1.0.
0.60-1.40
FUF 1 0.05 ( ) 1 0.60 ( ) 1 0.10 ( ) =
0.342 34.2% , =
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 15
We nust uhderstahd the direct-ired absorptioh applicatioh beore we cah
ahswer this questioh. l the DFA chiller will provide heatihg as well as coolihg,
theh a real conparisoh o ahhual naihtehahce costs nust cohsider the electric
cehtriugal chiller plus a boiler. The results o such a conparisoh should show
the DFA's ahhualized naihtehahce costs to be less thah or roughly equal to
those o ah electric chiller ahd boiler, ahd roughly equal to or slightly nore thah
those o the electric chiller alohe.
The higher cost o absorptioh naihtehahce cah be explaihed, at least ih part, by
uhaniliarity. Years o experiehce, ihstalled uhits, ahd active techhiciahs
hunber about 10 tines less or absorptioh chillers thah or electric-driveh
chillers. Nevertheless, the naihtehahce requirenehts or these nachihes are
ihherehtly sinilar.
n Both chillers require ah ahhual checkout o cohtrols.
n Both chillers have tube suraces that require ahhual cleahihg. (Labor is
slightly nore or absorptioh uhits sihce they ihclude ah absorber buhdle as
well as a cohdehser buhdle.)
n Both chillers cohtaih luids that require periodic checkihg-rerigeraht ahd
oil ih electric nachihes, lithiun bronide solutioh ahd corrosioh ihhibitor ih
absorptioh uhits.
n Both uhits ihclude novihg parts-a purge ahd either a punp (absorptioh
chiller) or a large-horsepower notor ahd conpressor (electric chiller).
O course, it is inportaht to uhderstahd that absorptioh nachihes operate
uhder higher vacuun ahd withih a harrower pressure rahge thah electric
chillers. Cohsequehtly, they are less toleraht o leaks ahd require purgihg oh a
weekly/nohthly basis to preveht accunulatioh o hohcohdehsables, which
would otherwise disrupt the absorptioh process. Oh nost absorptioh chillers,
purge is how autonatic, there is, thereore, ho naihtehahce cost or purgihg
Table 7 Typical Chiller Maintenance Costs
1
Chiller Type $/Toh/Year $/Year
Low-pressure electric cehtriugal, ihcludihg low-voltage
starter
$15-22 $ 7,500-11,000
High-pressure electric cehtriugal, ihcludihg low-voltage
starter
$20-27 $10,000-13,500
Sihgle-eect stean absorptioh $16-24 $ 8,000-12,000
Double-eect stean absorptioh $17-25 $ 8,500-12,500
Double-eect direct-ired absorptioh, coolihg ohly $18-27 $ 9,000-13,500
Double-eect direct-ired absorptioh, coolihg ahd heatihg $20-30 $10,000-15,000
1
Cohtract cost estinates are based oh a 5-year naihtehahce plah or a 500 toh chiller.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 16
the uhit. Absorptioh chiller punps are typically scheduled or wear exanihatioh
every 3 years, cohtrasted to costly conpressor notor teardowhs that are oteh
scheduled at 5-year ihtervals or electric chillers.
AnaIysis TooIs
Systen desighers nust decide what types o chillers to select ahd where to
locate conpohehts, ahd theh nust |ustiy their decisiohs. Shorter cohstructioh
cycles reduce the tine available to evaluate various alterhatives. At the sane
tine, the growihg hunber o chiller types ahd optiohs available nakes this
evaluatioh critical to achievihg optinal desighs.
Mahy people use the botton lihe-How nuch does it cost7-as the ultinate
criterioh wheh nakihg decisiohs related to conort systens. Viewed strictly
ron the stahdpoiht o ehergy ahd ihstalled costs, use o ah absorptioh chiller
cah be diicult to |ustiy. To derive the nost beheit ron its selectioh, the chiller
should be evaluated ih terns o the systen.
Deternihihg ecohonic ahd ehergy trade-os betweeh gas coolihg, electric
coolihg, ahd conbihatioh plahts cah be a conplex ahd tine-cohsunihg
process (see "Systen Optiohs" oh page 36). Fortuhately, the availability o
conputerized ahalysis tools gives desighers the ease ahd lexibility to explore
the cost ahd perornahce o various systen alterhatives ahd arrive at valid
conparative results. Such prograns-the U.S. Departneht o Ehergy's DOE-2
ahd Trahe's TFACE
(Trahe Air Cohditiohihg Ecohonics) ahd Systen

Ahalyzer sotware, or exanple-nodel buildihg ehergy perornahce based
oh structural conpohehts, weather data, ull-load ahd part-load equipneht
perornahce, ahd ahticipated operatihg patterhs. Table 8 sunnarizes the core
capabilities suggested or nodelihg/ahalysis prograns.
Table S Minimum Modeling/Analysis Program Capabilities
Geheral Buildihg Systen Equipneht Ecohonics
Weather Architecture Airside Type Chiller
Arrahgeneht
Utility Fates ahd
lhcehtives
Load
Methodology
Glazihg ahd
Daylightihg
Heat Fecovery Coolihg Towers
ahd Funps
lhstalled ahd
Operatihg Costs
Cohstructioh
ahd Mass
Autonated
Cohtrol
Chiller Types
ahd Fuels
Sinple Fayback
ahd Feturh oh
lhvestneht
Use Ecohonizers Thernal Storage Cash Flows
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 17
Ahother source or ihornatioh oh gas coolihg equipneht ahd systens is ah
ehergy ahalysis tool ehtitled "Gas Coolihg Guide." Available oh a CD ron
lhterEhergy, the Gas Coolihg Guide provides a cohvehieht ahd accurate
neahs or screehihg potehtial gas coolihg ihstallatiohs. The guide is ah easy-to-
use piece o sotware that is desighed or ahyohe who has ah ihterest ih
uhderstahdihg nore about gas coolihg techhology. lt was developed ih
coh|uhctioh with the Gas Fesearch lhstitute (GFl) ahd eatures easy-to-
uhderstahd techhology descriptiohs, case studies, product catalogs, ahd a quick
ecohonic ahalysis capability.
With the aid o ahalysis tools, the desigher cah eectively ahd eiciehtly
provide a custoner with ecohonic |ustiicatioh or prospective desigh
alterhatives. Conputerized ahalysis tools have also proveh eective or pro|ects
o larger scope, or exanple, to exanihe various segnehts o the gas coolihg
narket. A short bibliography o articles resultihg ron these conputer-assisted
studies ollows.
n Altho, Jay. "Conputer Modelihg o Gas Coolihg Optiohs," Enegy Savng
Dgest (Anericah Gas Associatioh), Wihter 1991, pp. 6-9.
n Altho, J. ahd J. Mohre. "HVAC or Today's Hospitals," Heatng/Fpng/A
Cndtnng, July 1990, pp. 47-50.
n Larsoh, Foger ahd Carl Bauersield, Jr. "Weighihg the Beheits o Gas
Coolihg," Enegy Savng Dgest (Anericah Gas Associatioh), Wihter 1991,
pp. 2-5.
n Nordeeh, Ahdy ahd Mick Schwedler. "Low Flow Works or Absorbers, Too!,"
Cntactng Busness, Novenber 1998, pp. 108-112.
n Fawelski, Mike ahd Mike Byars. "Gas Flus Electricity Equals HVAC Savihgs,"
Fant Sevces, July 1992, pp. 18-19, 27.
n Suh, Tsehg-Yao. "Applicatiohs o Gas-ired Absorptioh Chillers," Heatng/
Fpng/A Cndtnng, March 1991, pp. 55-58.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 18
CooIing Water
The coolihg tower plays a critical role ih the success o ah absorptioh systen
ihstallatioh. This chapter reviews the eects o coolihg-tower water
tenperature oh absorptioh chiller perornahce ahd discusses the desigh
cohsideratiohs associated with:
n replacihg ah existihg chiller with a nachihe o equal or snaller size,
n ihstallihg nultiple chillers ih the sane chiller plaht, ahd,
n applyihg absorptioh equipneht with other types o chillers ih a conbihatioh
plaht.
EIIects oI CooIing-water Temperature
Coolihg-tower water tenperatures inpact the operatioh o absorptioh coolihg
equipneht. Wheh the ehterihg coolihg-water tenperature ihcreases, chiller
capacity decreases. lh past desighs these capacity decreases could be
substahtial: as nuch as 1%-2% or every 1F |0.6C] rise. This occurs because
the absorbeht cohcehtratioh nust be higher to neet capacity ahd thereore the
heat ihput nust also be ihcreased. Fast absorptioh chiller desighs also cah
experiehce operatiohal problens i the tower-water tenperature becones too
low. lh geheral, hew chiller ahd cohtrol desighs have overcone these problens.
Absorptioh chiller desighs are how based oh lower low rates through the
cohdehser. This act cah be used durihg systen desigh to reduce ahcillary
equipneht power draw, systen operatihg costs, ahd eveh systen ihstallatioh
costs. Further discussioh o this topic is cohtaihed ih the sectioh "Low-low
Absorptioh Systens" oh page 28.
Durihg operatioh, uhit cohtrols how vary solutioh low throughout the chiller,
thus allowihg nuch nore lexibility ih the tower-water tenperatures thah cah
be acconnodated. More ihornatioh is available ih the sectioh "Cohtrol
lnprovenehts at the Uhit Level" oh page 33.
Feceht absorptioh chillers are desighed to be able to operate with coolihg-
water ihlet tenperatures as low as 55F |13C]. Mahy cah start with
tenperatures as low as 45F |7.2C], provided this water warns up to 55F
|13C] withih 5 to 10 nihutes. lh nahy cases this neahs that a tower bypass is
hot required, although this should be veriied by the systen desigher.
PepIacing an Existing ChiIIer with an Absorption ChiIIer
Today, absorptioh nachihes are cohsidered viable replacenehts or existihg
chillers, especially i replaceneht costs cah be nihinized by retaihihg the rest
o the chiller plaht (coolihg tower, cohdehser punp, etc.). O course, usihg the
Wheh desighihg ah absorptioh chiller
ihstallatioh or higher elevatiohs,
cohsideratioh nust be giveh to the eect
o altitude oh chiller operatioh. At higher
elevatiohs, it will be hecessary to ihcrease
the stean pressure to the chiller. Cohsult
elevatioh tables to deternihe the stean
pressure required at a giveh elevatioh.
lh this discussioh, the terns ehterihg
coolihg-water tenperature ahd leavihg
tower-water tenperature are used
ihterchahgeably, as are leavihg coolihg-
water tenperature ahd ehterihg tower-
water tenperature.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 19
existihg tower ahd punps nay physically linit absorptioh chiller selectioh. The
ollowihg exanple illustrates the systen perornahce inpact o choosihg ah
absorptioh chiller o equal or snaller size thah the nachihe it replaces.
Our exanple systen ih Figure 3 ihcludes a 500 toh |1,760 kW] electric chiller
slated or replaceneht, it was desighed to deliver 95F |35C] water to the
coolihg tower at 1,500 gpn |94.6 Lps]. The coolihg tower, ih turh, was desighed
to produce 85F |29.4C] water at ah anbieht wet bulb tenperature o 78F
|25.6C]. (Coolihg towers ih nechahical-conpressioh rerigeratioh applicatiohs
are connohly desighed or 3 gpn |0.19 Lps] per toh with ah approxinate10F
|5.6C] tenperature chahge.) Fe|ectioh heat (the anouht o heat re|ected to the
coolihg tower at these cohditiohs) is 7,500 MBh |2,200 kW] ahd is calculated
with the ollowihg equatioh.
Feplacihg the electric chiller with ah absorptioh chiller hot ohly chahges the
type o re|ectioh heat (ron conpressioh to irihg), but also the anouht o heat
re|ected. While the evaporator load is the sane, the coolihg tower nust how
re|ect nore chiller heat, i.e., absorber load as well as cohdehser load. To
quahtiy the chiller heat ihput o a direct-ired absorptioh nachihe, nultiply the
heat ihput ahd burher eiciehcy values.
Absorptioh nachihes are quite oteh
selected with ehterihg ahd leavihg
coolihg-water tenperatures o 85F
|29.4C] ahd 100F |37.8C], respectively.
For sinplicity, the exanples showh here
do hot address the hegative eect o
ihcreased ehterihg coolihg-water
tenperatures oh the absorptioh chiller's
COF. (Wheh the chiller leavihg coolihg-
water tenperature ihcreases, the COF
decreases ahd the anouht o heat re|ected
ihcreases.) For sone chiller desighs the
COF reductioh cah be sighiicaht, ahd
thereore the estinatioh procedures
outlihed here should be perorned
iteratively.
System
Load
95 F water
at 1,500 gpm
85 F water at
78 F wb ambient
Rejection Heat =
7,500 MBh
Two-Stage
Centrifugal Chiller
10F
Figure 3 Example System
DFA Fe]ectn Heat Tns 1
1
CCF
------------ Bune EIIcency +
)
' ;

12 NBh/Tn =
Fe]ectn Heat gpn 0.5 T T Twe Ent Wate Tenp Twe Lvg Wate Tenp = ( ) =
1,500 gpn 0.5 95F 85F ( ) =
7,500 NBh =
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 20
Said ahother way, i the COF is 1.02, each toh o coolihg output requires 1 1.02
(or 0.98) tohs o heat ihput. Thereore, the anouht o heat re|ected to the
coolihg tower by a DFA chiller with a COF o 1.02 ahd a burher eiciehcy o 85%
is:
The anouht o heat re|ected by ah ihdirect-ired absorptioh chiller is depehdeht
oh the COF ohly.
The anouht o heat re|ected by a chiller with a COF o 1.20 is:
Sone night be surprised that the anouht o re|ected heat is the sane whether
the chiller is direct-ired or ihdirect-ired. l we step back ahd thihk about it,
however, we uhderstahd that the chiller is the sane ahd requires the sane
anouht o heat or the process. The dierehce is that with the direct-ired
chiller, sone o the heat goes up the stack at the chiller, rather thah at the boiler.
Replacement with a Smaller Absorption Chiller
Let's cohsider the systen perornahce inpact o selectihg a replaceneht chiller
with less capacity. lh this case we'll use a DFA. Suppose the existihg 500 toh
|1758 kW] chiller ih our exanple systen is oversized or the preseht load.
lhstallihg a snaller direct-ired absorptioh nachihe ih its place is possible.
We cah use the ihitial tenperature dierehce (lTD) estinatioh nethod
described ih the sidebar to predict the required size o the replaceneht chiller. l
the ehterihg tower (leavihg cohdehser) water tenperature is 100F |37.8C], the
lTD is 100-78F, or 22F |37.8-25.6C, or 12.2C]. Thereore, the re|ectioh heat
available is:
l we agaih assune a 1.02 COF ahd 85% burher eiciehcy or the direct-ired
absorptioh nachihe, we cah predict its capacity usihg the estinated re|ectioh
heat value.
Note that sihce the existihg punp is sized or 1500 gpn |95 Lps] the absorber
uses 3.4 gpn/toh |0.06 Lps/kW]. While this low rate is less thah the AFl
stahdard ratihg uses, hewly desighed absorptioh chillers cah be selected usihg
DFA Fe]ectn Heat Tns 1 0.98 0.85 ( ) + [ ] 12 NBh/Tn =
Tns 22 NBh/Tn =
ndect-Ied Fe]ectn Heat Tns 1
1
CCF
------------
,
_
+ 12 NBh/Tn =
ndect-Ied Fe]ectn Heat Tns 1
1
1.20
-----------
,
_
+ 12 NBh/Tn =
Tns 22 NBh/Tn =
Usihg the lTD Estinatioh Method
What cah be dohe to calculate coolihg
tower perornahce wheh ho conputer
prograns or other perornahce
calculatioh tools are available7 Use the
dierehce betweeh the anbieht wet-bulb
ahd ehterihg tower-water tenperatures to
orecast the leavihg tower-water
tenperature.
l we treat the tower as a heat exchahger,
we cah estinate its perornahce by
calculatihg the lhitial Tenperature
Dierehce or lTD. For exanple, the lTD or
a tower with ah ehterihg tower-water
tenperature o 95F |35C] ahd ah
anbieht wet-bulb tenperature o 78F
|25.6C] is:
lTD = 95F - 78F = 17F |35C - 25.6C = 9.4C]
Thereore, i the tower's desigh re|ectioh
heat or a particular applicatioh is
7,500 MBh |2,200 kW], its perornahce is:
Twe
FeInance
Fe]ectn Heat
TD
----------------------------------------- =
7 500NBh ,
17 F
------------------------------
2 200 kW ,
9.4C
--------------------------- =
441 NBh/F 234 kW/C [ ] =
Fe]ectn Heat 441 NBh/ F ( ) TD [ ] 441 22 ( ) 9700 NBh = = =
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 21
this low rate. Ehsure that the absorptioh chiller is selected at the hew operatihg
cohditiohs ahd low rate.
Theh calculate the coolihg tower T.
Wheh this T value is ehtered ih the tower selectioh sotware, the progran
arrives at a leavihg tower-water tenperature o 86.7 F |30.4C]. Giveh the
12.9 F |7.2C] T, the resultihg ehterihg tower (leavihg cohdehser) water
tenperature is 99.6F |37.6C] as showh ih Figure 4. Notice that the dierehce
betweeh the outcones o the lTD estinatioh nethod ahd the selectioh progran
is slight, i.e., 100F versus 99.6F |37.8C versus 37.6C.]
Replacement with an Absorption Chiller of Equal Size
Now let's look at the systen perornahce inpact o selectihg a chiller o equal
size. l the 500 toh |1758 kW] electric chiller ih our exanple systen is replaced
with a 500 toh |1,758 kW] ihdirect-ired absorptioh chiller, 11,000 MBh
|3,222 kW] (500 tohs x 22 MBh/toh = 11,000 MBh) |1,758 kW x 1.83 kW re|ected/
kW rerigeratioh = 3,222 kW] will be re|ected to the coolihg tower as showh ih
Tns
9,700
12 1
1
1.02
-----------
,
_
0.85 +
,
_
)
' ;

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
,

_
441 Tns = =
T
9,700
1,500 0.5
----------------------------- 12.9 F = =
System
Load
Rejection Heat =
9,700 MBh
100 F water
at 1,500 gpm
87 F water at
78 F wb ambient
13 F
441 Ton
Absorption Chiller
Figure 4 Smaller DFA Chiller
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 22
Figure 5. Fearrahgihg the re|ectioh heat equatioh to solve or T ihdicates how
nuch the tower water nust be cooled (ih F) to renove this anouht o re|ectioh
heat.
lt is tenptihg to assune that the resultihg leavihg tower-water tenperature is
99.7F, or 85F + 14.7F |37.6C, or 29.4C + 8.2C]. Fenenber, however, that
the anouht o re|ectioh heat ihcreased ron 7,500 to 11,000 MBh
|2,200 to 3,223 kW]. While the tower cah produce 85F |29.4C] water at the
desigh cohditioh o 7,500 MBh |2,200 kW], the leavihg tower-water tenperature
rises as re|ectioh heat ihcreases ahd the questioh is, by how nuch7
The systen desigher has 2 nethods o deternihihg leavihg tower-water
tenperature:
1 Use the coolihg tower nahuacturer's data wheh available.
The nost straightorward neahs o deternihihg coolihg tower perornahce
are conputer prograns ahd other calculatioh tools developed by the tower
nahuacturer. Usihg ohe such progran, we ihd that re|ectioh heat o
11,000 MBh |3223 kW] yields a leavihg tower-water tenperature o 87.5F
|30.8C]. Addihg the 14.7F |8.2C] T to this value establishes the corollary
102.2F |39.0C] ehterihg tower (leavihg cohdehser) water tenperature.
T
Fe]ectnHeat
gpn 0.5
-------------------------------------------- =

11,000
1,500 0.5
------------------------------ =
14.7 F =
Depehdihg oh the honihal tohhages
available ron the nahuacturer, it nay be
hecessary to select a DFA chiller that
exceeds 500 honihal tohs to deliver
500 actual coolihg tohs at the cohditiohs
showh.
System
Load
Rejection Heat =
11,000 MBh
102 F water
at 1,500 gpm
87 F water at
78 F wb ambient
15 F
500 Ton Direct-Fired
Absorption Chiller
Figure 5 Equivalent DFA Chiller
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 23
2 Estinate coolihg tower perornahce (lTD Method).
Fecall that the origihal desigh re|ectioh heat or our exanple coolihg tower
wheh parthered with the electric chiller was 7,500 MBh |2,200 kW] with ah
anbieht wet bulb tenperature o 78F |25.6C] ahd ah ehterihg tower-water
tenperature o 95F |35C]. Giveh the resultihg lTD o 17F |9.4C]
(lTD = 95F - 78F |35C - 25.6C]) ahd a tower perornahce o 441 MBh/ F
|234 kW/C], usihg the nethod showh ih the lTD Estinatioh Method sidebar
oh page 20, we cah how calculate ah lTD value or the ihdirect-ired
absorptioh chiller.
Thereore, the estinated ehterihg tower-water tenperature is 78F |25.6C] +
24.9F |13.8C] = 102.9F |39.4C] ahd, giveh the 14.7F |8.2C] T inposed by
the DFA chiller, the estinated leavihg tower-water tenperature is 88.2F
|31.2C]. A conparisoh o these tenperatures with the selectioh sotware
results ouhd ih nethod 1 legitinizes the use o estinates wheh ho other
orecastihg tool is available.
Table 9 shows a sunnary o the systen perornahce eects explored ih this
exanple.
lh short, ah absorptioh nachihe (direct-ired, stean, or hot water) nay be ah
eective replaceneht or ah existihg chiller without costly chahgeout o the
coolihg tower or cohdehser punps. The absorptioh chiller's uhique operatihg
characteristics nust hevertheless be cohsidered to assure satisactory systen
operatioh. l the existihg chiller is replaced with ah absorptioh nachihe o equal
tohhage, leavihg tower (ehterihg cohdehser) water tenperature will exceed the
hornal (origihal desigh) tenperature. This reduces chiller capacity ahd
eiciehcy. Dowhsizihg the replaceneht chiller, wheh possible, nihinizes this
eect.
Table 9 Replacement Comparison
Origihal Systen
Feplaceneht with a
Snaller DFA
Feplaceneht with ah
Absorptioh Chiller
o Equivaleht Capacity
Chiller Capacity 500 tohs |1,760 kW] 441 tohs |1,551 kW] 500 tohs |1,760 kW]
Fe|ectioh Heat 7,500 MBh |2,200 kW] 9,700 MBh |2,845 kW] 11,000 MBh |3,223 kW]
Tower Water T 10F |5.6C] 13F |7.2C] 15F |8.3C]
(Tower EWT/LWT) (95/85F |35/29C]) (100/87F |38/31C]) (102/87F |39/31C])
Estnated TD
11,000
441
------------------ 24.9 F = =
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 24
MuItipIe ChiIIers and CooIing Towers
At tines, nore thah 1 absorptioh chiller nay be ihstalled ih the sane chiller
plaht. Sihce each chiller requires cohdehser water, nultiple coolihg towers nay
be hecessary. Cohtrol o the coolihg towers is easiest i 1 tower is dedicated to
each chiller, although i all chillers share a connoh coolihg-water loop, the
plaht cah still be nade to work. lh either ihstahce, the coolihg tower(s) nust be
cohtrolled or piped to assure that the lowest leavihg tower-water tenperature
renaihs above the absorptioh chiller nahuacturer's reconnehded nihinun
to reduce the risk o crystallizatioh. This cah be acconplished through:
n use o a coolihg-tower bypass,
n providihg each chiller with its owh coolihg tower, ahd/or,
n uhequal divisioh o coolihg-tower water betweeh chillers ih conbihatioh
plahts.
Cooling Tower Bypass
Coolihg tower bypass is reconnehded to reduce the chahce o low ehterihg
coolihg-water tenperatures. Bypass also works very well durihg low anbieht
cohditiohs. Bypass cohtrol is excelleht sihce it naihtaihs cohstaht water low
through the absorber-cohdehser tube buhdle. Two butterly valves, cohhected
to a lahged tee ahd sharihg either a connoh actuator or a 3-way butterly
valve, conprise the bypass. Figure 6 shows the cohdehser-water pipihg
arrahgeneht. Notice that the valve lihkage is actuated by a tenperature sehsor
to assure that the desired nihinun ehterihg coolihg-water tenperature is
naihtaihed.
Variable-speed Cooling Tower Fans
Variable-speed drives oh coolihg tower ahs are beconihg nore prevaleht, due
ih part to the act that drive costs have decreased dranatically. Ohe beheit o
Chiller's
Absorber/Condenser
Tube Bundle
2 Butterfly Valves
Valve
Actuator
Temperature
Sensor
From
Cooling
Tower
Cooling Water Pump
Figure 6 Cooling Tower Bypass
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 25
variable-speed tower ahs is that cohdehser-water set poiht cohtrol is nuch
nore precise. Ahother beheit is that variable-speed ahs allow sighiicaht
ehergy savihgs at part-load cohditiohs. Fron a systen stahdpoiht, reducihg the
coolihg tower ah speed nay ehable the tower to naihtaih a water tenperature
above that required by the chiller nahuacturer. lh cases where the tenperature
is still too low, however, coolihg tower bypass nay be required.
Combination (Hybrid) Plants
Wheh absorptioh chillers ahd electric chillers are conbihed ih the sane plaht,
coolihg-water lows ahd cohtrol becone nore conplex. Cuite oteh, ah electric
chiller's ehergy cohsunptioh cah be reduced by lowerihg the ehterihg coolihg-
water tenperature. At the sane tine, however, sone older direct-ired uhits
require coolihg-water tenperatures o at least 70F |21.1C]. Cohsequehtly,
nixihg the coolihg-water lows ron both chiller types hecessitates a systen
desigh that ihcorporates a coolihg tower bypass, as described ih "Coolihg
Tower Bypass" oh page 24, or otherwise assures that a 70F |21.1C] nihinun
ehterihg coolihg-water tenperature is naihtaihed.
Fron a cohtrol stahdpoiht, the sinplest chiller plaht cohiguratioh dedicates a
coolihg tower to each chiller, eveh though such a cohiguratioh precludes the
use (ahd ecohony) o a sihgle tower. The beheits o a sihgle tower or connoh-
sunp-cohhected tower cells ihclude reduhdahcy ahd the capability to use lower
coolihg-tower water tenperatures to ehhahce systen operatioh. While hew
absorptioh chiller desighs cah use this colder tower water, previous chiller
desighs were oteh linited to a nihinun o 70F |21.1C]. l this is a linitatioh,
sone neahs o cohtrol ahd pipihg nust be used to avoid violatihg the
absorptioh chiller's nihinun tenperature linit or ehterihg coolihg water. The
bypass arrahgeneht previously discussed is ohe solutioh. lt naihtaihs cohstaht
coolihg-water low ih the DFA, but allows the coolihg tower to produce colder
water or the electric chiller(s).
Ahother possible solutioh is available or retroit applicatiohs that result ih
conbihatioh plahts. Mahy o the chiller plahts ih these applicatiohs were
origihally desighed with 2 chillers o equal size ahd type. lh such ihstahces, the
best retroit solutioh nay couple ah electric chiller with ah absorptioh nachihe.
lt is also likely that the existihg coolihg tower nay be retaihed to reduce
replaceneht cost. While a nultistage electric chiller cah acconnodate leavihg
coolihg-water tenperatures above 95F |35C], the sane tenperature cohditioh
reduces capacity ih ah absorptioh chiller. lhstead o equally splittihg coolihg-
tower water betweeh the 2 chillers, it nay thereore be advahtageous to
provide nore coolihg-tower water to the absorptioh chiller. The ollowihg
exanples denohstrate this cohcept.
Example 1: Equal tower water allocation Our inagihary chiller plaht was
origihally desighed to supply 1,000 tohs |3,520 kW] o coolihg. lts 35-year-old
chillers will be replaced with two 500 toh |1,760 kW] nachihes: ah electric
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 26
cehtriugal chiller that cohsunes 0.65 kW/toh |0.185 kW/kW], ahd a direct-ired
absorptioh chiller with a COF o 1.03 ahd a burher eiciehcy o 85%. The plaht's
coolihg tower was desighed to provide 3,000 gpn |189.3 Lps] ahd reduce 95F
|35C] water to 85F |29.4C].
Now that there is nore heat to re|ect, the water tenperatures ehterihg ahd
leavihg the coolihg tower nust chahge accordihgly.
Ohe optioh is to supply both chillers with the sane tenperature ahd anouht o
tower water as showh ih Figure 7. This, however, requires ah average 12F
|6.7C] T 18,050 (3,000 0.5)) ahd nay hecessitate oversizihg the DFA.
Heat Fe]ectn Avaabe 3,000 gpn 0.5 95 F 85 F ( ) =
15,000 NBh =

Tta Fe]ectn Heat DFA Fe]ectn Heat Eectc Fe]ectn Heat + =
S, I DFA Fe]ectn Heat 500 Tns 21.9 10,950 NBh = =

and Eectc Fe]ectn Heat 500 Tns 12
0.65 kW
1 Tn
---------------------- 3.413
,
_
+ =
7,100 NBh, =

then Tta Fe]ectn Heat 10,950 NBh
DFA
7,100 NBh
ELE
+ =
18,050 NBh =
Absorption Chiller
Bypass Line
System Pump(s)
9.5 F
1,500 gpm
14.6 F
1,500 gpm
Electric Centrifugal Chiller
System
Load
3,000
gpm
Figure 7 Combination Plant (Equal Chiller Flows)
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 27
Example 2: Unequal tower water allocation Ahother optioh is to avoid
DFA oversizihg by leveragihg the nultistage electric chiller's ability to operate
at elevated coolihg-water tenperatures. We cah acconplish this by ihcreasihg
the DFA's share o tower-water low ron 1/2 to 2/3.
This leaves 1,000 gpn |63 Lps] or the electric chiller, yieldihg a coolihg
tenperature dierehce o:
With this desigh strategy, the DFA suers ohly a slight loss o capacity, while
the electric chiller is ohly about 4% less eicieht. As ihdicated here ahd ih
Figure 8, uhderstahdihg the operatihg characteristics o both chiller types ahd
desighihg to the strehgths o each nihinizes the potehtially hegative inpact o
coolihg-tower water oh overall systen capacity ahd eiciehcy.
Botton lihe, desighers nust recoghize that the anouht o tower water allocated
to each chiller is hot predeternihed. lhstead, it is ahother variable that cah be
used to optinize chiller plaht desigh. Sihce each |ob is diereht, optinizatioh
DFA T
10,950 NBh
0.5 2,000 gpn
-------------------------------------------- 11F = =
Eectc T
7,100 NBh
0.5 1,000 gpn
-------------------------------------------- 14.2F = =
Absorption Chiller
Bypass Line
System Pump(s)
14.2 F
1,000 gpm
11 F
2,000 gpm
System
Load
3,000
gpm
Figure S Combination Plant (Unequal Chiller Flows)
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 28
nay be oh perornahce, cost, or other actors. The desigher nust be coghizaht
o which criteria are nost inportaht to the owher ahd satisy these
requirenehts or the chiller plaht's desigh usihg the optiohs available.
Low-IIow Absorption Systems
Wheh conparihg various air cohditiohihg systens, nahuacturers, systen
desigh ehgiheers, ahd buildihg owhers oteh orget ah inportaht cohcept: the
ehergy neters are oh the buildihg. Mahy tines the ocus is oh the largest
conpoheht ih the systen, the chiller, without regard or the other portiohs o
the systen. Nordeeh ahd Schwedler discuss a low-low absorptioh systen ih
Cntactng Busness, Novenber 1998. A shortehed versioh describihg how to
use this systen to reduce operatihg costs is presehted here.
The prinary ehergy cohsuners o a chilled-water systen are the
chilled-water punps, chiller, cohdehser-water punps, ahd coolihg
tower ahs. Fron a buildihg owher's perspective, reducihg the
operatihg costs o the systen (hot |ust the chiller) nakes sehse. The
ollowihg exanple shows how varyihg low rates through the
cohdehser reduces systen operatihg costs. lh this exanple, the ohly
systen chahge is to reduce the desigh cohdehser low rate ron
4.45 gpn/toh |0.08 Lps/kW] to 3.09 gpn/toh |0.055 Lps/kW]. While the
chiller nust work harder wheh the low rate is reduced, the power
reductiohs or the cohdehser-water punp ahd coolihg-tower ah nore
thah balahce the additiohal chiller work. lt cah be seeh, thereore, that
reducihg the cohdehser-water low rate cah reduce systen operatihg
costs. lt cah also reduce coolihg tower, cohdehser punp, ahd
cohdehser pipe size ahd cost. Systen desighers cah oteh provide
value to the buildihg owher by cohsiderihg systens with reduced low
rates as showh ih Table 10 oh page 29 ahd Figure 9 oh page 30.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 29
Table 10 Flow Rate Comparison
Cohvehtiohal
Desigh
(4.45 gpn/toh)
|0.08 Lps/kW]
Low-low Desigh
(3.09 gpn/toh)
|0.055 Lps/kW]
Absorptioh Chiller Conpoheht
Capacity ih tohs |kW] 437 |1536] 437 |1536]
COF 1.024 1.008
Full load gas cohsunptioh (therns) |kWh] 51.2 |1500] 52.0 |1523]
Cohdehser low rate (gpn) |Lps] 1945 |123] 1350 |85]
Leavihg CW tenperature (F) |C] 94.7 |34.8] 99.1|37.3]
Cohdehser head (eet o water) |kFa] 45 |135] 22.7 |67.9]
Coolihg Tower Conpoheht
Static head (eet o water) |kFa] 19 |57] 19 |57]
Nunber o cells 1 1
Fah hp per cell |kW per cell] 30 |22.4] 25 |18.6]
Total tower power |kW] 24.1 20.1
Cohdehser-water Funp Conpoheht
Fipihg/valve pressure drop (eet o water) |kFa] 20 |59.8] 9.6 |28.7]
Total head (eet o water) |kFa] 84 |251] 51.3 |153]
kW |kW] 44.1 |44.1] 18.7 |18.7]
Ahhual Operatihg Cost - Usihg TFACE
600
(Chiller + Coolihg Tower + CW Funp)
$31,802 $27,469
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 30
Percent of Chiller Load
Full Load 75% 50% 25%
$0
$5
$10
$15
$20
$25
$30
4.45 gpm/ton
3.60 gpm/ton
3.09 gpm/ton
O
p
e
r
a
t
i
n
g

C
o
s
t

P
e
r

H
o
u
r
Figure 9 Flow Rates versus Operating Costs
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 31
Absorption ChiIIer SpeciaI AppIications
Absorptioh chillers are used ih conort coolihg, process coolihg, ahd hybrid
systens-basically ahy systen where the lie-cycle ecohonics nake sehse. lh
additioh, absorptioh chillers it extrenely well ih several hiche applicatiohs.
While this sectioh deals with sone o these applicatiohs, there are others which
nay also it very well.
Heating Is AvaiIabIe
Absorptioh chillers that are hot direct-ired require a source o heat. lh nahy
ihdustrial applicatiohs, such sources o waste heat are available. These
circunstahces are ideal or ihstallatioh o absorptioh chillers. Speciic
applicatiohs ihclude those ih the ollowihg list.
n A hybrid systen where the electric chiller is ruhhihg ih a heat recovery
node: at a high ehough tenperature the electric chiller provides preheat to
the absorptioh chiller.
n lhdustrial processes with waste heat, such as stean turbihes or stean ron
sterilizatioh: sihce the stean nust be cohdehsed beore beihg reused,
absorptioh chillers cah be used to cohdehse it, thus greatly reducihg the
cost o providihg coolihg.
n Frocesses that ihclude gas-ehgihe-driveh chillers or gas ehgihes that
produce electricity: oteh these ehgihes have water |ackets to renove heat
ron the ehgihe casihg. Ohce agaih, this heat cah be used to reduce the cost
o providihg coolihg.
n Frocess loads that ruh cohstahtly: gas utility rates nay be extrenely
beheicial to those who cah provide a 24-hour-per-day load to the utility.
Turbine InIet CooIing
Utilities or large ihdustrial custoners nay use gas turbihes to produce
electricity. These turbihes becone nore eicieht as the dehsity o ehterihg air
ihcreases. Because air dehsity ihcreases as its tenperature is lowered, it is
oteh beheicial to cool the air. Absorptioh chillers cah be ideal, especially wheh
heat is available ron the turbihes to drive or ire the absorber.
Hot Air as an Energy Source
There are nahy applicatiohs where the ehergy source available at a acility is
hot air. This air is typically 300F to 800F |149C to 427C]. lh the past, sone
nahuacturers o direct-ired absorptioh chillers had desighs that could be ired
with this air source directly. Today we ihd that ahother path is connohly
choseh, ohe which ihvolves the use o a specialized heat exchahger to heat
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 32
water or use with a sihgle-eect or double-eect absorptioh chiller, as ih
Figure 10. This type o heat exchahger cah develop water tenperatures ron
200F to 370F |93C to 188C]. The honihal requireneht or ihlet-water
tenperature ih a typical sihgle-eect absorber is 270F |132C], ahd ih a double-
eect absorber it is 350F |177C].
ControIs
The Importance oI ControIs
lnagihe pilotihg ah airplahe. The plahe is lyihg snoothly, but it's tine to lahd.
You look at the pahel arouhd you but there's ho altineter, ho air speed
ihdicator, ho oil pressure light, ho nohitor. lh short, ho cohtrols o ahy kihd!
Few would argue the hecessity or adequate cohtrols ih this situatioh.
Casualties, ahd the costly destructioh o the airplahe itsel, are alnost certaih to
result without then. Though aircrat are adnittedly conplex, the inportahce o
cohtrols is hot uhique to such equipneht applicatiohs. Virtually all types o
nachihes require sone orn o cohtrols or operatioh. lh a conort systen,
cohtrols are heeded at 2 levels:
n uhit cohtrols that regulate conpoheht operatioh ahd preveht equipneht
danage, ahd
n systen cohtrols that naihtaih the desired conort cohditiohs.
The rest o this sectioh discusses cohtrol cohsideratiohs uhique to conort
systens with absorptioh chillers.
Absorption Chiller
Hot Source Air Cooler Return Air Heating
Coil
Inlet to
Generator
Chilled-Water Loop
and Condenser-Water
Loop Are Not Shown
Figure 10 Hot Air as an Energy Source
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 33
ControI Improvements at the Unit LeveI
Sihce the purpose o ah absorptioh chiller is to produce chilled water, cohtrols
are required to regulate this chilled-water supply ahd, at the sane tine,
saeguard the chiller ron detrinehtal operatihg cohditiohs that could lead to
costly equipneht dowhtine ahd repairs. The uhit-level cohtrols have chahged
substahtially ih the past 5 years. The na|or actor that allows today's
absorptioh chillers to outperorn their older couhterparts is the additioh o
nicroelectrohic cohtrols, or direct digital cohtrol (DDC). Absorptioh chillers
were previously cohtrolled with pheunatic cohtrollers, ahd although
pheunatics have beeh used or years with good reliability, they are hot able to
provide the level o cohtrol required to properly address the speciic
requirenehts o ah absorptioh chiller. With nicroelectrohic cohtrols, we are
how able to nohitor ahd cohtrol alnost every aspect o the cycle.
Cohcehtratioh levels, low rates, pressures, ahd tenperatures cah how be
nohitored ahd cohtrolled "oh the ly" to provide a cycle that is nuch nore
reliable ahd eicieht at part load. Sihce the uhit has a greater ability to cohtrol
the cycle, it is able to avoid operatihg at cohditiohs that could cause danage.
The nicroelectrohic cohtrols provide na|or inprovenehts to sehse, ahd react
quickly to, chahgihg cohditiohs. Sehsors are actory ihstalled ahd
connissiohed ih strategic locatiohs to provide ihornatioh ihput to the uhit-
level cohtrol. The uhit-level cohtrol conpares ahd ahalyzes this ihput based oh
established operatihg guidelihes, deternihihg i ahy neasured paraneters are
approachihg or outside o acceptable linits. The results o this ahalysis are
used alnost ihstahtaheously to cohtrol variable-speed punps ahd other
conpohehts withih the nachihe, saely reactihg to cohditiohs that would have
caused older, pheunatic cohtrols to shut the nachihe dowh or saety.
Sone o the problens averted by the hew uhit cohtrols, alohg with a geheral
descriptioh o how they work, are highlighted below. For ihornatioh oh
speciic nachihe operatioh, cohtact the chiller nahuacturer.
Response to Changing Conditions
Fapidly chahgihg cohditiohs were the bahe o past-geheratioh absorptioh
chillers. l the coolihg-tower water tenperature suddehly chahged 20 degrees
due to a ah ailure, the chiller shut dowh to protect itsel. l the load chahged
too rapidly, the chiller either shut dowh to avoid crystallizatioh or it crystallized.
While crystallizatioh wash't catastrophic to the nachihe, it certaihly kept the
chiller ron nakihg chilled water. A nyriad o cohditiohs could cause the chiller
to shut dowh. Fheunatic cohtrols could oteh cohtrol ohly the rate at which
heat ehtered the chiller. To protect the nachihe, the cohtrols shut it dowh.
Trahe's Horizoh chillers use sophisticated nicroconputer-based cohtrols (Trahe
reers to these as Adaptive Cohtrols) to vary the speed o punps ihside the
chiller. This allows close cohtrol o solutioh cohcehtratiohs ahd avoids
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 34
crystallizatioh o that solutioh. lh respohse to rapidly chahgihg cohditiohs,
Trahe Adaptive Cohtrols will nake as nuch chilled water as possible while
keepihg the nachihe withih a sae ahd eicieht operatihg ehvelope. Wheh
these uhit cohtrols are cohhected to systen-level cohtrols, ah alarn cah be seht
to the systen operator statihg, or ihstahce, that the cohdehser-water
tenperature has suddehly ihcreased 20 degrees.
Air lnside the Machine
Absorptioh chillers operate at pressures below those exterhal to the nachihe.
Thereore, i there are ahy leaks, air will leak ihto the chiller. For older uhits,
sonethihg as basic as air gettihg ihto the nachihe could cause the nachihe to
shut dowh or crystallize. l the nachihe did hot shut dowh, it would nost likely
operate at a reduced capacity ahd eiciehcy ahd, at the sane tine, the lithiun
bronide ih the nachihe would react with the air ahd cause corrosioh ih the
ihterior o the nachihe.
Today, uhder that sane scehario, the chiller's purge systen will autonatically
turh oh to renove the air. This will hot ohly keep the nachihe ruhhihg at the
optinun capacity ahd eiciehcy, but nore inportahtly it will allow the nachihe
to cohtihue operatihg ahd provide chilled water while the air is autonatically
purged. lh additioh, the air has hot speht ehough tine ih the nachihe or the
corrosioh process to begih. With ah autonatic purge, the systen operator has
ah ihdicatioh that the purge is ruhhihg at a high level ahd that the nachihe
should be checked out. Wheh cohhected to systen-level cohtrols, ah excess
purgihg alarn could be seht to a naihtehahce persoh at a renote locatioh ahd
a service techhiciah could be dispatched to deternihe i there is a problen with
the nachihe.
Utilizing Variable Evaporator-water Flow
lh the last ew years, variable-low chilled-water plahts have gaihed ih
popularity, partly because variable chilled-water low results ih a reductioh o
systen punpihg cost. Fast-geheratioh absorptioh chillers were hot capable o
allowihg the evaporator (chilled-water) low rate to vary. Today, variable-speed
drives oh the solutioh punps cah nodulate to acconnodate chahgihg
cohditiohs. Cohtact the chiller nahuacturer to deternihe the allowable
nihinun ahd naxinun low rates as well as the allowable rate o chahge o
evaporator-water low.
ControIs at the System LeveI
Uhit cohtrol is hecessary to ehsure that each nachihe is operatihg withih its
linits ahd is able to satisy coolihg ahd/or heatihg loads. Wheh a uhit becones
part o a systen, ahother layer o cohtrol is heeded to coordihate its operatioh
with that o other equipneht perornihg related roles. Fuhctiohs required at the
systen level o cohtrol ihclude:
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 35
n ehablihg (startihg) ahd disablihg (stoppihg) chillers ahd associated punps,
n resettihg chilled-water set poihts,
n loggihg data ron the systen, ahd,
n sehdihg diaghostics to the systen cohtroller.
Followihg are applicatioh cohsideratiohs or 3 systen-level cohtrol uhctiohs o
particular relevahce or absorptioh equipneht: cohtrol o heatihg/coolihg
chahgeover, chilled-water reset, ahd ihteracihg with a buildihg autonatioh
systen.
Control of Heating/Cooling Changeover
Switchihg a direct-ired absorptioh nachihe ron sinultaheous heatihg/coolihg
to heatihg-ohly operatioh requires chahgihg its systen-water set poihts. lt also
neahs that the chiller nust be told that it is how to produce ohly heated water.
The nethod used to connuhicate this chahge varies ron ohe DFA desigh to
the hext. For sone desighs it nay require opehihg or closihg ron 1 to 3 valves.
Be sure to cohsult the nahuacturer's operatihg ihstructiohs to uhderstahd the
required steps.
Chilled-water Reset
Chilled-water reset nay or nay hot beheit a chilled-water systen that ihcludes
absorptioh nachihes. Chilled-water reset will reduce the nachihe's uel
cohsunptioh. Fenenber that as the leavihg chilled-water tenperature
ihcreases, the uel cohsunptioh (or the sane chiller) decreases. (As a rule o
thunb, the eiciehcy gaihed with each 1F |0.6C] o reset is 1% to 2%.) At part-
load cohditiohs, it is thereore beheicial to the chiller to produce warner
chilled water. This cah be acconplished by settihg the chilled-water
tenperature set poiht upward as the chiller load decreases.
Chilled-water reset nay ihcrease the punp ahd/or ah ehergy required by the
systen. Fenenber that the chiller is operatihg as part o a systen, ahd the
systen's task is to naihtaih conort cohditiohs or satisy process coolihg
requirenehts. Dehunidiicatioh capability decreases as chilled-water
tenperature rises, so ohe nust ehsure that the use o chilled-water reset does
hot |eopardize occupaht conort. By the sane tokeh, i a process requires a
naxinun o 46F |7.8C] chilled water, it is hot advisable to cohtrol operatioh
to 48F |8.9C].
Ahalysis prograns such as TFACE
600, DOE-2, or Systen Ahalyzer cah help

systen desighers deternihe whether chilled-water reset is ah appropriate
cohtrol schene or a particular applicatioh.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 36
lnterfacing with an Automation System
Mahuacturers o cohtrols, whether or equipneht or systens, write their
sotware ih their owh proprietary lahguages. The result is babel: each cohtroller
speaks a diereht lahguage, so trahslators nust be developed to ehable
connuhicatioh betweeh the equipneht ahd buildihg autonatioh systen
cohtrols. As discussed below, nost such trahslatiohs today ollow 1 o 2
approaches: they either adopt ah opeh proprietary protocol or are ihteraces
writteh to ah opeh stahdard protocol BAChet. Ultinately, the systen desigher
nust choose betweeh 2 optiohs: either enploy a truly opeh connuhicatioh
protocol or, wheh available, use chiller plaht cohtrols provided by the chiller
nahuacturer.
Open proprietary protocol lh this scehario a cohtrols nahuacturer, usually
the buildihg autonatioh systen supplier, writes a trahslator ron the
proprietary cohtrols lahguage to each equipneht nahuacturer's uhit cohtrol
lahguage. Uhortuhately, sotware chahges inplenehted oh either the cohtrols
or equipneht side o the ihterace nay nake the trahslator ihconpatible.
Addihg hew products or cohtrols to the |ob nay thereore also hecessitate
updatihg the trahslator. lh eect, owhers nust cohtihue to work with the
origihal equipneht ahd trahslator nahuacturer(s) or all uture systen
upgrades or expahsiohs.
Open standard protocol This approach allows equipneht ahd cohtrols
nahuacturers to write ihteraces to a stahdard protocol. At irst glahce, this
nay appear sinilar to the opeh proprietary protocol |ust described. But there is
ah inportaht dierehce: wheh the systen chahges, ihteraces already exist
betweeh the uhit ahd buildihg autonatioh cohtrols. The buildihg owher is
thereore ree to deal with ahy cohtrol or equipneht nahuacturer or systen
updates ahd chahges.
BAChet (Buildihg Autonatioh ahd Cohtrol Network) is a connuhicatioh
protocol developed uhder the auspices o the Anericah Society o Heatihg,
Ferigeratihg, ahd Air Cohditiohihg Ehgiheers (ASHFAE). Alnost all cohtrol
systen nahuacturers support the use o BAChet ih their products, ihdicatihg
ihdustry support or the adoptioh o BAChet as ah opeh stahdard protocol.
System Options
Chillers, coolihg towers, punps, boilers, hatural gas coolihg, heat recovery,
thernal storage: there are couhtless ways to desigh a chilled-water systen
ron these ahd other conpohehts. Deternihihg which conbihatioh is optinal
or a particular applicatioh requires cohsideratioh o a hunber o actors.
Systen desigh, load, ahd operatihg hours nust be weighed agaihst the costs o
procurihg, ihstallihg, operatihg, ahd servicihg the equipneht.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 37
Absorptioh nachihes possess 2 operatihg characteristics that cah hoticeably
inprove overall systen eiciehcy ahd reduce systen ehergy costs:
n Absorptioh chillers use ossil uels rather thah electricity. Loadihg these
chillers at tines wheh electric ehergy ahd/or denahd costs are high reduces
total systen utility cost.
n Ah absorptioh chiller works nore eiciehtly ahd produces nore coolihg
with ihcreased leavihg chilled-water tenperatures. For exanple, a 500
honihal toh |1,760 kW] chiller that operates at 1,200 gpn |75.7 Lps] delivers
the perornahce showh ih Table 11.
To exploit these characteristics ahd nihinize electrical denahd, the systen
desigh should provide the absorptioh chiller with the warnest water ahd/or
greatest load possible.
With that ih nihd, this sectioh idehtiies systen desigh alterhatives that
advahtageously apply absorptioh chillers: the conbihatioh gas-ahd-electric
chiller plaht, the series pipihg arrahgeneht, the precoolihg pipihg arrahgeneht,
heatihg applicatiohs, ahd thernal storage. Ultinately, the desigher nust
conpare the advahtages o each o these alterhatives with other systen
cohiguratiohs uhder cohsideratioh to arrive at a cost-eective systen that best
satisies the lohg-tern heeds o the buildihg owher. (As previously hoted,
conputerized ahalysis prograns cah aid the evaluatioh ahd decisioh-nakihg
process. See "Ahalysis Tools" oh page 16.)
Combination-pIant Piping Arrangements
Conbihatioh gas-ahd-electric chiller plahts cah be easily |ustiied i electric
denahd ahd oh-peak ehergy charges are high. lh such ihstallatiohs, the
absorptioh chiller operates durihg oh-peak periods to avoid the high cost o
electricity. The electric chiller ruhs durihg o-peak periods to take advahtage o
the lower cost o electricity.
Table 11 Operating Characteristics
Fuel Cohsunptioh
Capacity, tohs |kW] EWT, F |C] LWT, F |C] HHV COF
463 |1,630] 52.3 |11.3] 43 |6.1] 5,431 1.02
497 |1,749] 54.9 |12.7] 45 |7.2] 5,747 1.04
500 |1,760] 60 |15.6] 50 |10.0] 5,190 1.16
The key to successul inplenehtatioh o a
conbihatioh plaht is ah ihtelligeht buildihg
autonatioh systen that optinizes chiller
plaht operatioh relative to electrical ahd
gas utility rate structures.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 38
For exanples o conbihatioh plahts, see "Series ahd Farallel" (below) ahd
"Connoh Decoupled" oh page 40, coolihg water or conbihatioh plahts is
discussed at the begihhihg o "Systen Desigh Cohsideratiohs" oh page 18.
Series and Parallel
Applicatiohs with 2 chillers cah either be piped ih series or ih parallel. Figure 11
(below) ahd Figure 12 oh page 39 cohtrast series ahd parallel arrahgenehts o
equal-tohhage chillers at desigh cohditiohs o 1,000 tohs |3,520 kW]. Though
there are advahtages associated with each arrahgeneht, the series
cohiguratioh eects a hoticeable ihcrease ih the overall systen eiciehcy o a
conbihatioh plaht, especially with the absorptioh chiller upstrean. Flacihg the
absorptioh nachihe ih this positioh provides it with the warnest systen returh-
water tenperature. This hot ohly inproves the absorptioh nachihe's eiciehcy
ahd capacity, but also reduces the coolihg load ahd electrical cohsunptioh o
the electric chiller.
Notice, too, that ihstead o the traditiohal 10F |5.6C] tenperature dierehtial,
the series arrahgeneht ih Figure 11 takes advahtage o a 16F |8.9C]
tenperature dierehce across the chillers. The higher tenperature dierehtial
allows the low rate to be reduced ahd results ih lower punpihg costs. Ohe
desirable capability ih a conbihatioh plaht is the ability to preerehtially load
the gas-burhihg chiller. This allows us to naxinize the use o lower cost uel
durihg periods o high electrical ehergy cost. The series arrahgeneht allows
this, whereas the traditiohal parallel arrahgeneht showh ih Figure 12 does hot.
Flow ahd pressure drop linitatiohs nake it
diicult to apply nore thah 2 chillers ih
series. As ah alterhative, use parallel
nodules o series-piped chiller pairs to
nihinize operatihg costs. Fipihg 2 chillers
ih series also neahs that the ehtire
systen-water low nust pass through
both chillers. Exercise care wheh selectihg
chillers to avoid exceedihg their naxinun
low rates.
58 F
Absorption Chiller
50 F
Electric
Centrifugal Chiller
42 F
Figure 11 Series Arrangement
Ferornahce
Flow, GFM
|Lps]
EWT
F |C]
LWT
F |C] COF
Absorptioh Chiller 1,500 |94.6] 58 |14.4] 50 |10.0] 1.16
Electric Cehtriugal Chiller 1,500 |94.6] 50 |10.0] 42 |5.6] 5.15
1999 Americah Stahdard lhc. All rights reserved
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 39
Absorption Chiller
45 F 55 F
*MKYVI 4EVEPPIP%VVERKIQIRX
Ferormahce
Flow, GFM
|Lps]
EWT
F |C]
LWT
F |C] COF
Absorptioh Chiller 1,200 |75.7] 55 |12.8] 45 |7.2] 1.04
Electric Cehtriugal Chiller 1,200 |75.7] 55 |12.8] 45 |7.2] 5.40
REV_SY13_ch3.fm Page 39 Tuesday, June 1, 1999 10:40 AM
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 40
Common Decoupled
Oteh 3 or nore chillers, usually piped ih parallel, conprise a chiller plaht.
Flacihg the chillers ahd associated punps ih a decoupled arrahgeneht as ih
Figure 13 oers several distihct advahtages over cohvehtiohal parallel pipihg
cohiguratiohs:
n Hydraulically isolates (or decouples) the chiller plaht (productioh low) ron
the systen load (distributioh low), elinihatihg nahy o the low ahd
cohtrol-related problens connoh to nultiple-chiller applicatiohs.
n Frovides a reliable, ehergy-eicieht supply o chilled water. Sihce the
ihdividual chiller loops are decoupled ron each other ahd ron the
distributioh low, they are sinple to cohtrol.
n Feadily acconnodates uture expahsioh without disturbihg the origihal
systen conpohehts, ahd adapts to all chilled-water systen variatiohs (e.g.,
thernal storage, heat recovery, ree coolihg).
A basic act o decoupled systen desigh is that all chillers nust be selected to
operate with the sane leavihg-water tenperature ahd systen-water
Absorption Chiller
Bypass Line
Production
Distribution
Figure 13 Common Decoupled Arrangement
For a discussioh o decoupled systen
desigh prihciples, reer to Chapter 12 o
the 1996 ASHFAE HVAC Systens and
Equpnent Handbk, ahd to the Tane
Engneeed Systens Cnc ehtitled
"Chilled Water Systen Desigh-Optiohs
ahd Applicatiohs" (order ho. CWS-CLC-3).
A Tane Engnees Newsette, "Chiller
Flaht Systen Ferornahce" (Vol. 18,
No. 2), exanihes the beheits o
decouplihg chillers ron the chilled-water
distributioh loop.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 41
tenperature rise (T). Cohsequehtly, sihce they also see a connoh ehterihg-
water tenperature, all chillers are loaded equally. lh eect, theh, the connoh
decoupled pipihg arrahgeneht showh ih Figure 13 oh page 40 does hot take
advahtage o the chiller's inproved eiciehcy ahd capacity at higher ehterihg-
water tenperatures.
Decoupled with Preferential Loading
Ahother systen arrahgeneht that takes advahtage o absorptioh chiller
characteristics is to place the chiller ih the systen so it cah be preerehtially
loaded. By sinply novihg the absorptioh chiller to the distributioh side o the
bypass lihe, systen hydraulics ahd tenperatures cause the chiller, wheh it is
turhed oh, to be preerehtially loaded. As showh ih Figure 14, the absorptioh
chiller always sees the warnest systen water. As previously discussed, chillers
oh the productioh side o the bypass lihe will be loaded to equal percehtages.
Ohe caveat to applyihg this arrahgeneht is that the chillers oh the productioh
side o the bypass lihe will be ruhhihg nore oteh at low part-load cohditiohs.
Older chillers, or hewer chillers that have a high cycle poiht, nay hot have this
Absorption Chiller
Bypass Line
Production
Distribution
Figure 14 Decoupled Arrangement with Preferential Loading
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 42
capability. The beheit o preerehtially loadihg the absorptioh chiller is to
reduce the systen's electric operatihg cost whehever warrahted by the utility
rates.
Sidestream with Preferential Loading
Figure 15 shows a sinple nodiicatioh o the traditiohal decoupled
arrahgeneht that guarahtees the absorptioh chiller the warnest ehterihg-water
tenperature ahd ully loads it whehever the chiller plaht operates. This
cohiguratioh also precools the systen returh water or the decoupled electric
chillers dowhstrean, reducihg their loads ahd electrical cohsunptioh, ahd
decreasihg the overall operatihg cost o the nultiple-chiller plaht.
Absorption Chiller
Bypass Line
Production
Distribution
Figure 15 Sidestream Arrangement with Preferential Loading
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 43
Sidestrean decoupled applicatiohs are usually nost ecohonical wheh the
sidestrean chiller is snaller thah those oh the productioh side o the bypass
lihe. Sihce punpihg requirenehts ahd ehergy cohsunptiohs chahge with
nodiicatiohs to the systen arrahgeneht, it is best to use a conputerized
ahalysis tool to nodel the ecohonic eects.
System Option AnaIysis
With so nahy systen optiohs available, which is best7 A connoh ehgiheerihg
ahswer is, "lt depehds!" Each optioh works very well ih various applicatiohs.
The nagic is ihdihg out wheh it applies to a particular situatioh.
While sone desighers work with a ull ehergy ahalysis progran, such as
TFACE
600 or DOE-2, there are tines wheh a ull ehergy ahalysis is hot
warrahted. Such situatiohs ihclude:
n ih very prelinihary stages wheh there is a nihinun o ihornatioh about
buildihg desigh ahd use available,
n wheh the buildihg owher or developer wahts sone ahalysis, but is hot
willihg to pay or a ull ehergy ahalysis, ahd/or,
n wheh the ehgiheer is still tryihg to secure the |ob, wahts to perorn sone
ahalysis to highlight his or her irn's capabilities, but cah ohly spehd
30 nihutes to 1 hour to perorn the ahalysis.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 44
lh these ahd sinilar situatiohs, use o a scopihg tool is warrahted. Ohe such tool
is Systen Ahalyzer, a Wihdows
-based tool that cah be used ih ah hour or

less to conpare various alterhatives. Systen Ahalyzer was used to conpare 3
alterhatives. The utility rates or all alterhatives are:
n oh-peak electric cohsunptioh charge $0.10/kWh,
n o-peak electric cohsunptioh charge $0.04/kWh,
n oh-peak denahd charge (6 nohths) $12.00/kW,
n o-peak denahd charge $5.00/kW, ahd
n gas cohsunptioh charge $0.45/thern |$0.015/kWh].
The alterhatives ahd results are showh ih Table 12, ahd the results are showh
graphically ih Figure 16 oh page 45.
lh this exanple, the hybrid plaht saved either 8.5% or 13% o ahhual chilled-
water plaht operatihg costs. lt cah be seeh that with a scopihg ahalysis, the
desigher nay be able to provide a higher-value systen to the buildihg owher.
Table 12 Table of Alternatives
2 Electric,
Farallel
Funpihg
1 DFA, 1
Electric,
Series Funpihg
2 Electric,
Farallel
Funpihg,
Decoupled
Chiller 1 Electric, 6.06
COF
DFA, 1.10 COF Electric, 6.06
COF
Chiller 2 Electric, 6.06
COF
Electric, 5.76
COF
Electric, 6.06
COF
Fipihg Arrahgeneht Farallel Series Farallel
Decoupled7 No No Yes
Evaporator Tenperature Dierehce
(F |C])
10 |5.6] 16 |8.9] 10 |5.6]
Chiller 1 Chilled-water Funp kW 24 NA 5
Chiller 2 Chilled-water Funp kW 24 NA 5
Systen Chilled-water Funp kW NA 13 42
Cohdehser Tenperature Dierehce
(F |C])
10 |5.6] 12 |6.7] 10 |5.6]
Chiller 1 Cohdehser-water Funp kW 26 24 26
Chiller 2 Cohdehser-water Funp kW 26 24 26
Total Ahhual Operatihg Cost o
Chilled-water Flaht
$108,089 $94,083 $102,771
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 45
ThermaI Storage
As previously stated, absorptioh chillers cah dranatically reduce electric
denahd charges. Thernal storage techhology also reduces electric denahd
charges. Together, a conbihatioh o thernal storage ahd absorptioh equipneht
(i |ustiiable) oers sighiicaht ehergy cost savihgs. Systen desighers
cohsiderihg thernal storage oteh rule out absorptioh equipneht, however,
because o its low tenperature linitatioh (i.e., nihinun 40F |4C] leavihg
evaporator-water tenperature). This is uhhecessary. By properly selectihg ahd
desighihg the systen, absorptioh rerigeratioh ahd thernal storage cah be
successully conbihed ih a hybrid chiller plaht.
Absorption Chillers and Chilled-water Storage
l absorptioh equipneht is used ih ah applicatioh with ah oh-peak (daytine)
load ahd ho o-peak (highttine) denahd, the absorptioh nachihe nay be able
to charge a chilled-water tahk at hight ahd theh operate ih coh|uhctioh with the
tahk durihg the day. Ecohonic |ustiicatioh or this type o systen depehds oh
the load proile o the buildihg, the cost o the chilled-water tahk, availability o
space, etc., ahd should be exanihed usihg a conputerized ahalysis progran.
Figure 16 System Analyzer Graph
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 46
Absorption Chillers and lce Storage
Sihce absorptioh chillers use water as rerigeraht, ahd sihce water is hot
allowed to reeze ih the chiller, sone desighers doh't realize that it is still
possible to conbihe ice storage ahd absorptioh equipneht. Both reduce
electrical denahd, the absorptioh chiller uses ehergy sources other thah
electricity to provide coolihg, ahd ice storage cools systen water by neltihg ice
ih lieu o ruhhihg ah electric chiller durihg oh-peak tines. Ahother chiller,
usually electric, is required ih additioh to the absorptioh nachihe to charge the
ice tahks.
At irst glahce it nay seen that such a conbihatioh is overkill, sihce use o
either absorptioh equipneht or ice storage reduces electric denahd charges.
There are, however, applicatiohs ih which the denahd charges are suiciehtly
high to warraht evaluatihg such a systen. Availability o utility rebates are
ahother actor to cohsider sihce sone electric utilities oer ihahcial ihcehtives
or ihstallihg thernal storage, as do gas utilities or ihstallihg absorptioh
equipneht. Always ask your utility represehtative about possible ihahcial
assistahce.
Figure 17 oh page 47 illustrates a conbihatioh gas-ahd-electric chiller systen
with ice storage. Notice that the absorptioh chiller is positiohed upstrean o the
storage tahks to ehhahce its eiciehcy by providihg it with the warnest returh
water. Also hote that the cohtrols or such a systen, while hot conplicated,
nust be capable o sequehcihg the chillers, i.e., tellihg the electric chiller wheh
to nake ice ahd tellihg the systen wheh to nelt ice.
The exanple buildihg load proile ih Figure 18 oh page 48 denohstrates how
these systen conpohehts-the absorptioh chiller, electric chiller, ahd ice
storage tahks-cah be strategically cohtrolled to nihinize electrical denahd
costs ahd, ih essehce, achieve the beheit o a ull ice storage systen without
buyihg a ull storage systen.
Durihg o-peak hours (Hours 1-6 ahd 21-24), the systen is isolated ahd the
electric chiller is used to charge the ice tahks. At nid-peak (Hours 7-10), the ice
tahks are dornaht ahd ohe or both chillers operate as required to neet the
load. Wheh buildihg coolihg denahd is at its peak (Hours 11-20), operatioh o
the electric chiller is elinihated ahd the absorptioh chiller assunes as nuch o
the load as it cah. Ahy renaihihg coolihg requireneht is satisied by the ice
storage tahks.
Sihce ecohonic |ustiicatioh o a hybrid
chiller systen with ice ihvolves rebates,
denahd charges, ahd several utility rate
structures, use o a conputerized ehergy
ahalysis progran is inperative.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 47
Wheh applied ih this nahher, a hybrid chiller systen with ice oers 2 sighiicaht
advahtages:
n lt nihinizes (perhaps eveh elinihates) electric chiller operatioh durihg peak
hours, ih eect providihg the beheits o a ull storage systen but at a lower
irst cost while occupyihg cohsiderably less space.
n lt nay be eligible or ihcehtives ron both electric ahd gas utilities.
DIrect-fired Absorption Chiller
Return
from Coils
Supply
to Coils
Ice Storage
Bypass Line
Production
Distribution
Figure 17 Hybrid Chiller System with lce
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 48
1,500
Tons
1,000
Tons
500
Tons
0
Tons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 15 17
Hour of the Day
Hybrid Chiller System with Ice
Electric Chiller #1
Absorption Chiller #2
Charge Ice
Use Ice
Figure 1S Example Building Load Profile
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 49
Heating AppIications
As discussed ih "Absorptioh: Ah Overview" (pages 2-8), direct-ired absorptioh
chillers are capable o producihg hot water ih lieu o, or ih additioh to, chilled
water. These nachihes cah thereore be ihstalled ih systens to suppleneht or
replace prinary heatihg equipneht as deternihed, at least ih part, by the
systen's coolihg requirenehts, ahd/or to produce donestic hot water.
Simultaneous Heating and Cooling
While coolihg, the DFA chiller cah supply a linited anouht o heat that is
depehdeht oh the preseht coolihg load. The exteht o the nachihe's heatihg
capability varies ron ohe nahuacturer's desigh to the hext. l the heatihg ahd
coolihg loads or a particular applicatioh are sinultaheous, it is best to use the
DFA chiller to suppleneht the naih heatihg systen.
Heating Only
l applied ih a chahgeover systen that provides heatihg durihg the wihter ahd
coolihg durihg the sunner, the DFA chiller nay be able to satisy all or part o
the heatihg load at all tines. lh such applicatiohs, selectioh o the DFA nachihe
should be nade to allow dowhsizihg, or perhaps eveh elinihatioh o, the
prinary heatihg equipneht ahd its attehdaht ihstallatioh ahd naihtehahce
costs.
Conbihatioh gas-ahd-electric plahts cah also exploit the heatihg capability o
direct-ired absorptioh equipneht. Both electric ahd absorptioh chillers provide
sunner coolihg. l the electric chiller(s) cah satisy the wihter coolihg load, the
DFA nachihe cah be switched to heatihg operatioh ahd either satisy the wihter
heatihg denahd or suppleneht the prinary heatihg equipneht.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 50
The conbustioh process that occurs at the uhit's burher is key to the operatioh
o direct-ired absorptioh chillers but it cahhot occur without suicieht oxygeh.
This sectioh discusses conbustioh air delivery requirenehts or the burher o a
typical direct-ired absorptioh (DFA) chiller, ahd the subsequeht vehtihg o
waste products ron the space.
Combustion Air Pequirements
Stoichiometric Air
Stoichionetric air, otherwise khowh as naxinun theoretical or ideal air, is the
exact quahtity o air required to provide |ust ehough oxygeh or conplete
conbustioh (i.e., exhaust gas does hot cohtaih excess air/oxygeh, carboh
nohoxide, or uhburhed hydrocarbohs). While a rigorous set o calculatiohs cah
be perorned to deternihe the required air volunes or the stoichionetric
conbustioh o various uels, nahy conbustioh calculatiohs require ohly ah
estinated value. lh such ihstahces, published tables such as Table 13 or
accepted rules-o-thunb as described ih the sidebar cah be used. Bear ih nihd
that these cohvehieht shortcuts are also ihexact ahd should hot be used or
critical evaluatiohs.
Excess Air: the Proper Amount
Conbustioh equipneht is desighed ahd operated to ehsure conplete, rather
thah stoichionetric, conbustioh. Why7 As hoted ih the 1997 ASHFAE
Fundanentas Handbk, "lhconplete conbustioh uses uel iheiciehtly, cah
Table 13 Fuel/Air Relationships
1
1
Fron ASHFAE's 1997 Fuhdanehtals Hahdbook: Chapter 17, p. 17.9, Table 11 excerpt, "Approxinate
Air Fequirenehts or Stoichionetric Conbustioh o Various Fuels"
Fuel Type Theoretical Air Fequired or Conbustioh
Liquid Fuels:
No. 1 Fuel Oil
No. 2 Fuel Oil
No. 5 Fuel Oil
No. 6 Fuel Oil
lb/gal Fuel |kg/l Fuel]
103 |12.34]
106 |12.70]
112 |13.42]
114 |13.66]
Gaseous Fuels:
Natural Gas
Butahe
Fropahe
cu t/cu t Fuel |n
3
/n
3
Fuel]
9.6 | 9.6]
31.1 |31.1]
24.0 |24.0]
As you read the naterial presehted here,
renenber that the prihciple elenehts
ouhd ih the conbustioh o stahdard uels
ihclude carboh (C), hydrogeh (H), oxygeh
(O), ahd hitrogeh (N), sulur (S) inpurities
nay also be preseht. The ollowihg
equatiohs represeht the chenical
reactiohs triggered by the conbustioh
process.
Nitrogeh oxide (NO
x
) conpouhds, ahother
product o conbustioh, are discussed later
ih this sectioh, see "NOx Enissiohs" oh
page 52.
C C
2
CC
2
+
2H
2
C
2
+ 2H
2
C
S C
2
+ SC
2
Fules-o-thunb or estinatihg
stoichionetric air
Fule 1 (Source: Gdn-Fatt Enegy
Gup)
Allow 1 cu t o air or every 100 Btu o
gross heatihg value, theh, ron that value,
subtract 0.5 cu t. For exanple, hatural gas
cohtaihs 1,000 Btu/cu t, thereore:
Stoichionetric Air Fequired = (1,000/100) -
0.5 = 9.5 cu t air/cu t hatural gas
Fule 2 (Source: 1997 ASHFAE
Fundanentas Handbk)
"Ahother requehtly used value or
estinatihg air requirenehts is that 0.9 cu t
|0.25 n] o air is required or 100 Btu
|1 MJ] o uel." For hatural gas, theh:
Stoichionetric Air Fequired = 1,000 x 0.9 =
9.0 cu t/cu t |9.6 n/n] hatural gas.
These exanples denohstrate the ihexact
hature o "rule-o-thunb" calculatiohs ahd
uhderscore the inportahce o applyihg
such rules ohly or hohcritical processes.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 51
be hazardous because o carboh nohoxide productioh, ahd cohtributes to air
pollutioh." Cohsequehtly, while stoichionetric conbustioh cah be achieved, it
should hot be the ob|ective o good burher desigh or ad|ustneht.
lh act, or ecohony ahd saety, sone surplus conbustioh air (excess air) is
heeded to conpehsate or uhcohtrollable variahces ih uel, air delivery, lihkage
ad|ustnehts, ahd equipneht operatihg ehvirohneht. Excess air is deihed as
the anouht o air, ih additioh to the ideal or stoichionetric quahtity, required or
conplete conbustioh. Typically it is at least 15%-30% o the stoichionetric air
value.
How nuch excess air to provide or a particular DFA ihstallatioh is deternihed
by such actors as expected variatiohs ih uel ahd air supplies, systen
applicatioh, burher desigh, ahd cohtrol requirenehts. Too little excess air cah
result ih ihconplete conbustioh, snoke, ahd the ornatioh o carboh
nohoxide (CO) ahd hitrogeh oxide (NO
x
) conpouhds, while too nuch cah
decrease burher eiciehcy.
VeriIying CompIete Combustion:
Testing FIue Gas Composition
l the burher o a direct-ired absorptioh chiller is properly desighed, ad|usted,
ahd operated, thereby eectihg conplete conbustioh, the resultihg lue gas
should cohtaih percehtages o oxygeh (O
2
), carboh dioxide (CO
2
), ahd carboh
nohoxide (CO) as showh ih Table 14.
Usually cohducted ohce every 6 nohths uhless otherwise reconnehded by the
chiller nahuacturer, lue gas ahalysis provides a neahs or veriyihg conplete
conbustioh ahd evaluatihg burher perornahce. lt cah be used to detect uhsae
cohditiohs ahd to ehsure conplete ahd proper nixihg o uel ahd air, as well as
to deternihe (ahd perhaps inprove) conbustioh eiciehcy.
Various tests cah be used to deternihe the conbustioh perornahce o uel-
burhihg equipneht. While Bacharach ahd Hays Orsat kits are connohly used
or this purpose, electrohic test gear is gaihihg popularity. All 3 ahalysis
nethods nohitor O
2
, CO
2
, ahd CO. lh additioh, electrohic gear checks stack
Table 14 Composition of Flue Gas
Fuel Type Oxygeh Carboh Dioxide Carboh Mohoxide
1
1
Feerehce the curreht ANSl stahdard or carboh nohoxide enissiohs.
Natural Gas 3%-4% 9.5%-10%
No. 2 Fuel Oil 3%-4% 12%-13%
As a rule o thunb, allot 1.2 cu t |0.34 n
3
]
o total air (stoichionetric air + excess air)
or every 100 Btu |105.5 kJ] o uel cohteht.
So, or each 1 cu t |0.028 n
3
] o hatural
gas (at 1,000 Btu/cu t|37.7 kJ/ n
3
]), about
12 cu t |0.34 n
3
] o air are heeded to
assure conplete conbustioh.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 52
tenperature, while Bacharach kits neasure stack tenperature ahd snoke
cohteht. Flue gas sanples are typically collected via a sanplihg tube port oh the
lue access duct cover.
Foor burher perornahce (i.e., ihconplete ahd/or iheicieht conbustioh) is
ihdicated i the lue gas sanple cohtaihs carboh nohoxide (CO) or too little
oxygeh or carboh dioxide. Mahy cohditiohs cah result ih poor conbustioh,
sone o the nore connoh causes are detailed ih the ollowihg list.
n ihcorrect uel-to-air ratio
n inproper atonizatioh due to either uhsteady oil or air pressure, or a
plugged atonizer tip (liquid-uel burhers ohly)
n inpihgeneht o oil spray oh cold suraces (this cohditioh also produces
snoke)
n air ihiltratioh (air that bypasses the blower cah dilute conbustioh products)
n inproperly set oil tenperature or residual uels (ad|ustneht o oil
tenperature nay elinihate snoke ahd inprove the lue gas CO
2
level)
n poorly positiohed oil drawer (read|ustihg the oil drawer cah inprove
conbustioh eiciehcy ahd perornahce)
n uheveh overire drat (high luctuatiohs betweeh hegative ahd positive
burher pressures cah result ih drastic dierehces betweeh lue-gas ahalyses
ahd, ultinately, erroheous burher ad|ustnehts)
NO
x
Emissions
As showh ih the sidebar, hitrogeh oxides (NO
x
) are the conbustioh enissiohs
cohtaihihg hitrogeh ahd oxygeh ih direct-ired absorptioh chiller applicatiohs.
To nihinize their release, nahuacturers have developed low-NO
x
burhers.
These burher desighs use various nethods or reducihg NO
x
enissiohs. A cost-
eective nethod o achievihg low NO
x
enissiohs ih connercial ihstallatiohs is
lue-gas recirculatioh (FGF). lhduced by the conbustioh-air ah, FGF recycles
lue gases to lesseh NO
x
ornatioh by reducihg the lane tenperature ahd
oxygeh available or conbustioh.
lt is inportaht to hote that lue-gas recirculatioh requires ihstallatioh o ah
additiohal duct to trahsport gas ron the lue back to the burher. Figure 19 oh
page 53 depicts a typical FGF ihduced-drat pipihg ihstallatioh ahd outlihes the
associated ihstallatioh requirenehts.
A Little NO
x
Backgrouhd
Ntgen xdes ae pduced dung the
cnbustn pcess, ethe (1) by thena
Ixatn (eactn I ntgen and xygen
at hgh cnbustn tenpeatues), (2)
In Iue ntgen (xdatn I ganc
ntgen n Iue necues). UnItunatey,
hgh excess a and hgh Iane
tenpeatue technques I ensung
cnpete Iue cnbustn and, theeIe,
w enssns I ncnpete cnbustn
pducts, tend t pnte NC
x
Inatn.
j1997 ASHFAE Fundanentas Handbk,
Chapte 17. p. 15]
NO
x
collectively describes the conbustioh
enissiohs that cohtaih hitrogeh ahd
oxygeh: hitric oxide (NO), hitrogeh dioxide
(NO
2
), ahd hitrous oxide (N
2
O). At the lue
outlet, their relative cohcehtratiohs are
approxinately 97% NO, 2% NO
2
, ahd 1%
N
2
O. The Ehvirohnehtal Frotectioh
Agehcy (EFA) believes that N
2
O is a
precursor to the ornatioh o ozohe (O
3
)
which is, ih turh, recoghized as a health
risk ahd na|or cohstitueht o air pollutioh.
While study o the eects o NO
2

enissiohs is a relatively hew ield, N
2
O is
suspected to cohtribute to the depletioh o
stratospheric ozohe (which shields agaihst
ultraviolet light), ahd nay pronote the
greehhouse eect by absorbihg ihrared
radiatioh relected ron the earth's
surace. lt is also blaned or acid raih with
its attehdaht orest degradatioh ahd crop
destructioh.
lh light o these ehvirohnehtal cohcerhs,
sone local buildihg codes how call or low
NO
x
enissiohs.
The substahces that conprise NO
x
are
classiied as tenperature-depehdeht
thernal NO
x
, which ihcreases with higher
lane tenperatures, higher oxygeh
cohteht, ahd tine, conbustioh-depehdeht
pronpt NO
x
, whose productioh is lihked to
uels with CH radicals burhed ih oxygeh-
rich ehvirohnehts, ahd conpositioh-
depehdeht uel NO
x
which is produced by
uels cohtaihihg hohnolecular hitrogeh
conpouhds ahd cah be nihinized by
burhihg these uels ih a zohe with little or
ho oxygeh.
1999 Americah Stahdard lhc. All rights reserved
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 53
Flue Gas Intake
Flue Gas Ducting
Motorized FGR
Shutoff Valve
FGR Control Valve
Burner
Figure 19 Flue-gas Recirculation (FGR)
A typical flue-gas recirculation (FGR) system includes a stack flue-gas intake and associated
piping, as well as a shutoff valve and a control valve. (The latter is modulated via linkages with
the burner air/fuel control motor and is therefore usually factory mounted.) As referenced in the
illustration, basic installation (if not supplied as part of the DFA equipment) requires that the
installer do the following.
1 Modify the burner stack to accept the flue-gas intake. Position the intake at the center of the
stack inside diameter, either 3 to 5 stack diameters from the machine outlet or upstream of
an existing stack-outlet damper.
2 Run piping from the stack outlet to the inlet of the combustion air windbox. Steel tubing with
a wall thickness of 0.125" [3.175 mm] is typically suitable. Provide adequate mounting and
bracing throughout the run.
3 Use elbows with a radius-to-diameter (R/D) ratio > 2. Minimize the number of elbows to limit
pressure drop. Sectioned elbows, if used, must consist of multiple segments.
4 Insulate the ducting to minimize surface temperature and to comply with OSHA standards
and applicable codes.
5 Design all FGR piping runs to provide adequate clearance for machine inspection and
service.
REV_SY13_ch4.fm Page 53 Tuesday, June 1, 1999 10:41 AM
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 54
Exhaust-gas Duct and FIue-stack Design
Design
The lue exhaust-gas duct ahd stack nust be desighed o naterial ih
conpliahce with nuhicipal, state, ahd ederal regulatiohs. The duct ahd stack
nust be heat-resistaht to accept tenperatures up to 675F |360C]. To avoid
eddy currehts or back pressure to the uhit, the duct, ahd the stack, sectiohal
areas should ihcrease ih dianeter ahd avoid sharp behds or steep chahges. l
behds are ihevitable due to the buildihg's cohstructioh, deternihe the height o
the stack with respect to the lehgth o the horizohtal lue gas duct usihg the
ollowihg ornula (i.e., provided the exhaust gas pressure at the stack outlet is
0 ih. to 0.2 ih. wg |0 to 50 Fa], ahd ih cohornahce with the sidebar at let).
Stack Opening
Desigh the stack outlet to preveht ehtry o raih, wihd, ahd show, ahd to
naihtaih a cohstaht drat.
Stack Location
Airlow arouhd buildihgs aects worker saety, process ahd buildihg equipneht
operatioh, protectioh o ihlets ron weather ahd pollutioh, ahd the ability to
cohtrol ihdoor air quality (i.e., tenperature, hunidity, air notioh, ahd
cohtanihahts). Wihd causes surace pressures that vary arouhd buildihgs,
chahgihg ihtake ahd exhaust systen low rates, hatural vehtilatioh, ihiltratioh
ahd exiltratioh, ahd ihterior pressure. Meah low patterhs ahd the turbulehce o
wihd passihg over a buildihg cah recirculate exhaust gases to air ihtakes.
Atnospheric cohditiohs, roo cohstructioh, ahd coolihg tower locatiohs nust
thereore be cohsidered wheh positiohihg the lue stack ahd other ihtake ahd
exhaust vehts, as showh ih Figure 20 ahd Figure 21 oh page 55.
For nore ihornatioh about low patterhs, wihd pressure estinatioh, air ihtake
cohtanihatioh, ahd problen-solvihg or wihd eects oh ihtakes, exhausts, ahd
equipneht, reer to these ASHFAE hahdbooks: 1997 Fundanentas (Chapter 15,
"Airlow Arouhd Buildihgs") ahd 1996 HVAC Systens and Equpnent
(Chapter 25, "lhdustrial Gas Cleahihg ahd Air Follutioh Cohtrol").
To assure sae ahd proper operatioh,
cohsult the chiller nahuacturer or
speciic burher pressure requirenehts ahd
stack desigh reconnehdatiohs.
Stack Heght 0.6 It pe 1 It Hznta Fun 4 It pe 90 Bend + =
0.2 n pe 0.3 n Hznta Fun 1.2 n pe 90 Bend + = [ ]
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 55
Cooling Tower
Exhaust Gas
Vent
Flue Stack
Figure 20 Avoid Recirculation of Exhaust Gas
Direct-Fired
Absorption Chiller
Cooling Tower
Flue Stack
Vent
Flue Stack
Access Duct
Exhaust Duct
Figure 21 Typical Exhaust Duct lnstallation
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 56
Construction
Sihce the duct or stack will be hot, it nust be cohstructed o heat-resistaht
naterial (i.e., cohcrete, plaster, nortar, or equivaleht hohlannable naterial) to
pernit ihstallatioh through a wall, ceilihg, or other buildihg structure. Other
cohstructioh cohsideratiohs ihclude the provisioh (ih the duct/stack) o
(a) supports that conpehsate or thernal expahsioh, (b) ihsulatioh to preveht
burhs ahd avoid elevatihg the equipneht roon tenperature, ahd (c) cleahihg
access doors or renovihg soot produced by the conbustioh process. Be sure
to conply with nuhicipal, state, ahd ederal codes. For naterial
reconnehdatiohs ahd/or proper danper positioh ahd lue pipihg, see
Chapter 30, "Chinhey, Gas Veht, ahd Fireplace Systens," ih the 1996 ASHFAE
HVAC Systens and Equpnent Handbk.
To avoid lighthihg-related problens, provide a lighthihg rod or good grouhd to
the lue stack.
MuItipIe-unit InstaIIations
l the sane lue stack is used or dischargihg exhaust ron nore thah 1 systen,
be sure to provide a danper, positiohed as ih Figure 22, to preveht exhaust
backlow ihto uhused uhit(s) ahd/or luctuatiohs ih static pressure. Always also
reerehce local codes or proper exhaust gas discharge ih your applicatioh.
Backflow Damper
Figure 22 Multiple-unit lnstallation
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 57
ImpIications oI ASHPAE Standard 15-1994
lh 1994 ANSl/ASHFAE Stahdard 15, "Saety Code or Mechahical
Ferigeratioh," was adopted. "The purpose o this stahdard is to speciy the
sae desigh, cohstructioh, ihstallatioh, ahd operatioh o rerigeratihg systens."
lh geheral, absorptioh chillers are hot aected by the stahdard due to Sectioh
2.3 o the stahdard, which states:
Ths cde des nt appy whee wate s the pnay eIgeant.
Sectioh 8.13.6 does, however, aect absorptioh chillers. lt states:
N pen Ianes that use cnbustn a In the nachney n
sha be nstaed whee any eIgeant s used. The use I natches,
ghtes, hade eak detects, and sna devces shud nt be
cnsdeed a vatn I 8.13.6. Cnbustn equpnent sha nt be
nstaed n the sane nachney n wth eIgeant-cntanng
equpnent except unde ne I the Iwng cndtns:
(a) Cnbustn a s ducted In utsde the nachney n and
seaed n such a nanne as t pevent any eIgeant eakage In
enteng the cnbustn chanbe,
(b) A eIgeant vap detect s enpyed t autnatcay shut
dwn the cnbustn pcess n the event I eIgeant eakage.
Wheh rerigerahts are preseht durihg a conbustioh process, they cah break
dowh ihto products that are both harnul to hunahs ahd corrosive to
nachihery. The ihteht o Stahdard 15-1994 is to avoid both o these hazards by
prevehtihg rerigeraht exposure to ahy conbustioh process.
Thus, use o opeh-lane devices ih nachihery roons is strictly prohibited by
this sectioh uhless either Sectioh (a) or (b) is enployed.
Wheh a nachihery roon cohtaihs a boiler as well as a rerigeratioh systen,
Sectioh (a) allows conbustioh air be ducted to the boiler ron outside the
equipneht roon. This directive also applies to direct-ired absorptioh
equipneht sihce typical orced-drat conbustioh burhers applied with these
nachihes cohstitute opeh-lane devices. Ductihg o outside conbustioh air is
hecessary to preveht air (ahd rerigerahts) preseht ih the equipneht roon ron
ehterihg the lane. Mahy nachihery roons presehtly house both rerigeratioh
systens ahd boilers or direct-ired absorptioh nachihes. Usihg Sectioh (a)
thereore requires costly nachihery roon upgrades at owher expehse.
Alterhatively, Sectioh (b) allows a rerigeraht vapor detector to nohitor
rerigeraht levels ih the nachihery roon. l the detector neasures rerigeraht
levels above those allowable, a buildihg autonatioh systen that autonatically
shuts dowh the conbustioh process allows conpliahce with
Fortiohs o ASHFAE Stahdard 15 deal with
vehtilatioh requirenehts or equipneht
roons cohtaihihg rerigeratioh equipneht
usihg rerigerahts other thah water. The
begihhihg o this sectioh ("Conbustioh Air
Fequirenehts" oh page 50) addresses
requirenehts or delivery o air to the
burher o direct-ired absorptioh chillers.
Sihce this air will be used ih the
conbustioh process, it should be supplied
ih additioh to the vehtilatioh requirenehts
o Stahdard 15. The stahdard does hot
explicitly state this.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 58
ASHFAE Stahdard 15-1994. Mahy buildihg owhers enploy Sectioh (b) ih
equipneht roons that either have direct-ired absorptioh chillers or boilers that
ire ihdirect-ired absorptioh equipneht.
InsuIation oI Hot and CoId Absorption
ChiIIer SurIaces
lt is inportaht to apply hohlannable ihsulatioh to the chiller's hot ahd cold
suraces ohce the uhit is ihstalled at the |ob site. lhsulatioh prevehts the chiller's
cold suraces ron sweatihg (which cah result ih water accunulatioh oh the
equipneht roon loor), it also reduces heat loss ahd protects operatihg
persohhel ron the chiller's hot suraces. Today, actory-ihstalled ihsulatioh o
the cold suraces is available ron sone nahuacturers. Sone nahuacturers
supply ihsulatioh or hot suraces but it nust be ield ihstalled. Conpohehts
typically requirihg either hot or cold ihsulatioh are idehtiied below.
n Hot lhsulatioh: Type ahd thickhess nust be suicieht to satisy OSHA saety
requirenehts or protectioh o operatihg persohhel. Feconnehded or
high-tenperature geherator ahd all cohhectihg pipes, ahd solutioh heat
exchahger(s).
n Cold lhsulatioh: May be warrahted to preveht sweatihg up to a dew poiht
ratihg o 74F |23.3C] ahd to withstahd a tenperature o 200F |93.3C]
durihg heatihg operatioh. Feconnehded or evaporator, evaporator water-
boxes, rerigeraht-punp housihg, rerigeraht spray-tree pipihg, evaporator
returh-pipihg, ahd evaporator storage-tahk.
The ihstaller nust nake sure that uhit cover plates ahd lahge parts are easily
detachable ater ihsulatihg ahd provide renovable ihsulatioh where speciied
by the chiller nahuacturer.
Machines Shipped DisassembIed
Sone absorptioh equipneht desighs pernit shippihg the nachihe ih 2 or nore
parts. This sinpliies riggihg the equipneht ihto linited-access buildihgs or
cohihed equipneht roons, though it nay inpact ihstallatioh costs ahd result
ih a greater potehtial or leaks thah actory-assenbled nachihes.
Typically the evaporator, absorber, cohdehser, ahd low-tenperature geherator
conpose ohe sectioh, while the high-tenperature (direct-ired) geherator
nakes up ahother. Each sectioh typically ships with a hitrogeh holdihg charge.
The sectiohs nust be ield cohhected (preerably by ah ASME-certiied welder)
ahd leak-tested beore the nachihe cah be charged with lithiun bronide.
Field ihstallatioh o the burher assenbly
nay be required whether the chiller ships
disassenbled or as a actory assenbly. l
shipped uhihstalled, the cost o burher
ihstallatioh should be actored ihto the
total ihstalled cost o the equipneht. l the
burher is gas ahd/or oil ired, reer to
Chapter 33, "Fipe Sizihg," o the 1997
ASHFAE Fundanentas Handbk or gas
ahd oil pipihg ihstallatioh cohsideratiohs.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 59
Froper ihstallatioh ahd naihtehahce are key to years o trouble-ree operatioh.
lnproper naihtehahce cohtihues to be the cause o nahy uhsatisactory
systens. lt is inportaht that owhers who nust naihtaih their systens, as well
as desighers ahd ihstallihg cohtractors, be aware o na|or cohsideratiohs ih
ihstallatioh ahd naihtehahce. Observatiohs nade ih this sectioh are typical or
absorptioh equipneht ahd are presehted or your cohvehiehce. Always cohsult
the nahuacturer or uhit-speciic ihornatioh.
ChiIIer Maintenance
Absorptioh chillers have very ew novihg parts sihce the absorptioh cycle uses
heat ehergy rather thah nechahical-conpressioh ehergy to drive the
rerigeratioh cycle. These uhits, cohsequehtly, are sub|ect to less wear ahd tear.
Ater ah absorptioh rerigeratioh systen is ihstalled ahd connissiohed, it
typically operates without the cohstaht attehtioh o ull-tine attehdahts. lh
nahy cases the nachihe starts ahd stops oh a tine clock or other exterhal
sighal, with day-to-day operator ihtervehtioh linited to loggihg preseht
operatihg cohditiohs.
Like all large rerigeratioh systens, absorptioh equipneht nust receive certaih
routihe naihtehahce ahd service to ehsure eicieht operatioh, extehd
equipneht lie, ahd nihinize dowhtine. Feer to "Frevehtive Maihtehahce
lhspectiohs or Absorptioh Chillers" oh page 63 or a suggested prevehtive
naihtehahce plah. Weekly ahd nohthly naihtehahce procedures are typically
perorned by buildihg naihtehahce persohhel, while specially traihed
techhiciahs hahdle sprihg/all chahgeovers ahd other techhical service
requirenehts, oteh as part o a chiller naihtehahce cohtract. See "Conparihg
Chiller Maihtehahce Costs" oh page 14. These procedures address the
nachihe's nechahical, heat trahser, solutioh, ahd cohtrols conpohehts.
MechanicaI Components
Absorptioh nachihes typically ihclude these nechahical conpohehts: punp(s)
to circulate rerigeraht ahd solutioh, a purge to renove hohcohdehsables ron
the systen, a burher (i directly ired), ahd ah ehergy cohtrol valve (i ihdirectly
ired).
Refrigerant and Solution Pumps
While seasohal bearihg ahd seal ihspectioh is hot required, exanihatioh o the
shat seals (i so equipped) or wear at 3-year ihtervals is usually suggested. Be
sure to cohsult the nahuacturer or speciic reconnehdatiohs.
A hunber o chiller systen optiohs (e.g.,
narihe water-boxes, tube naterial ahd
thickhess, ahd nicroelectrohic cohtrols)
are available to lower naihtehahce costs
ahd ehhahce systen eiciehcy. Exanihe
such alterhatives closely. Feducihg
naihtehahce costs (which ehhahces
systen reliability) or ihcreasihg systen
eiciehcy by eveh a snall percehtage cah
result ih a large payback over the lie o the
equipneht.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 60
Purge
Accunulatioh o air ahd other hohcohdehsable gases uhdernihes absorptioh
chiller eiciehcy ahd reliability. Fegular operatioh ahd naihtehahce o the
purge uhit is thereore required to naihtaih the chiller's desigh pressures (ahd,
thereore, tenperatures), preservihg its hernetic ihtegrity, ahd stabilizihg the
uhit vacuun. Today nost purges are ully autonatic ahd geherally require less
naihtehahce thah previous-geheratioh nahual purges.
lh Trahe absorptioh chillers, ah eductor systen noves the hohcohdehsables
ron the absorber to the cohdehser. The Furiier
purge uhit theh draws

hohcohdehsables ron the cohdehser ihto the purge collectioh tahk. Autonatic
purge operatioh occurs with the absorptioh nachihe oh or o. The hornal
node o operatioh is with the purge set to "Oh" oh the cohtrol pahel clear
lahguage display. With "Oh" purge operatioh, the purge cohdehsihg uhit ahd
vacuun punp ruh cohtihuously. The cohdehsihg uhit draws hohcohdehsables
out o the cohdehser to a hohcohdehsable collectioh tahk. The purge sehses
wheh the collectioh tahk cohtaihs hohcohdehsables ahd executes the punp-out
cycle as hecessary. A punp-out valve opehs to allow the vacuun punp to expel
the collectioh tahk o hohcohdehsables. Funp-out tine is nohitored ahd stored
or ahalysis.
Using the Purge as a Chiller Maintenance Tool
Furge activity ihdicates hohcohdehsables withih the chiller. Excessive purgihg
activity nay ihdicate ah air leak or uhusual corrosioh ihhibitor cohsunptioh. A
solutioh ahalysis nay be required. A tiner should nohitor the total punp-out
tine withih ahy 24-hour period. l it exceeds the preset tiner settihg, a ault
sighal is geherated to alert the operator that purge activity is excessive. lh nost
absorptioh chillers, the uhit cohtroller cah provide access to this data ih the
punp/purge report group.
Furge-related prevehtive naihtehahce procedures are sinple.
n Weekly: With the purge uhit operatihg, check purge tahk cohdehsihg activity
by observihg the liquid level ih the sunp sight glass. The liquid level should
be visible ih the sight glass durihg cohdehsihg uhit operatioh.
n Seniahhually: lhspect the air-cooled cohdehsihg uhit coil ahd cleah as
heeded. Cleah the coil ron the ah side usihg conpressed air or coil
cleaher. A ouled coil will reduce purge eiciehcy ahd capacity.
lh additioh, sone purge desighs use special electrically heated elenehts to
selectively renove hydrogeh gas. While these palladiun elenehts do hot
require service durihg their operatihg lie, they nust be replaced every
2 to 5 years.
Synptons o hohcohdehsables ihtererihg
with the absorptioh rerigeratioh cycle are
ihcreased leavihg evaporator-water ahd
cohcehtrated-solutioh tenperatures. The
result is deterioratioh o cohdehser-side
total heat re|ectioh, ihcreased risk o
ihterhal corrosioh, ahd possible
crystallizatioh.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 61
Burner
The burher is the heart o a direct-ired absorptioh chiller. Correct operatioh is
thereore hecessary or optinun chiller perornahce. Daily checks should be
nade ih accordahce with the nahuacturer's reconnehdatiohs, ahd each
coolihg seasoh the burher's irihg rate ahd lihkage should be checked to ehsure
proper operatioh. l a dual uel burher is beihg used, it should also be
periodically test ruh with the alterhate uel to ehsure reliable alterhate uel
operatioh.
Mahuacturers o DFA uhits provide detailed burher naihtehahce checklists,
geherally with naihtehahce requirenehts at 3-, 6-, ahd 12-nohth ihtervals. To
ehsure eiciehcy ahd ihcrease lohgevity o both the burher ahd the chiller,
cohsult nahuacturers' naihtehahce nahuals ahd ollow their ihstructiohs.
Heat TransIer Components
Selectioh o proper heat trahser naterials will reduce uture naihtehahce
costs. For exanple, sihce the high-tenperature geherator o a nultiple-eect
absorptioh chiller cah cohtaih a highly corrosive atnosphere, naterials such as
staihless steel or ahother heavier gauge steel will give greater reliability ahd
require less naihtehahce. lh less corrosive portiohs, such as the absorber ahd
low-tenperature geherator, the use o cuprohickel tubes will result ih greater
lohgevity. Use o better naterials will reduce naihtehahce costs. Thereore,
durihg chiller selectioh, both ihstallatioh ahd naihtehahce costs nust be
cohsidered wheh conparihg diereht chillers.
The accunulatioh o cohtanihahts or oulihg deposits ih the evaporator ahd
absorber-cohdehser tubes acts as ah ihsulator that ihhibits heat trahser by
ihcreasihg thernal resistahce. This reduces the operatihg eiciehcy o the
ehtire chiller systen ahd results ih ihcreased ehergy cohsunptioh.
While several kihds o oulihg exist (i.e., scalihg, sedinehtatioh, polynerizatioh,
corrosioh, ahd biological oulihg), the types nost connoh to air cohditiohihg
ahd rerigeratioh cohdehsers are scalihg ahd sedinehtatioh (sludge). Scale
deposits are best renoved by chenical cleahihg. Sludge, oh the other hahd,
nust be renoved nechahically ahd ihvolves renovihg the headers ahd
loosehihg the deposits with a sti-bristled brush. The loosehed naterial is theh
lushed ron the tubes with clear water.
A key actor ih obtaihihg high-capacity perornahce o heat trahser
conpohehts is keepihg the heat trahser suraces ree o scale deposits ahd
sludge. Eveh a very thih surace scale greatly reduces heat trahser capability.
Cohsequehtly, cleahlihess o the coolihg-water tubes renaihs a naihtehahce
cohcerh ih ahy water-cooled chiller applicatioh despite advahcenehts ih
equipneht desigh. Felated costs cah be reduced by 1 o the ollowihg 2
nethods.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 62
The irst nethod is to provide ready access to the tubes or easier cleahihg ahd
ihspectioh. To reduce the tine ahd eort associated with ihspectihg ahd
cleahihg heat exchahger tubes, narihe water-boxes are oteh speciied.
Stahdard water-boxes typically require disassenbly o the water pipihg ahd
renoval o the water box or tube access. Marihe water-boxes elinihate this
step by providihg side cohhectiohs or the water pipihg ahd a renovable cover
oh the ehd o the water box. Sinply renovihg the ehd cover oh the narihe
water-box allows ull access to the tubes or ihspectioh ahd cleahihg.
The secohd nethod is to cohsider autonatic tube cleahihg. Autonatic tube
cleahihg equipneht cah be applied ih systens where use o cohtanihated
coolihg water results ih requeht tube cleahihg or where shutdowh o the chiller
or naihtehahce is uhdesirable. Autonatic tube cleahihg equipneht cohsists o
brushes which are held ih snall baskets at the ehds o the cohdehser ahd
absorber tubes, ahd propelled through the tubes by reversihg the coolihg-water
low. The brushes nay be cycled through the tubes at ahy requehcy required to
preveht the buildup o scale ahd sludge. Autonatic tube cleahers, wheh used ih
coh|uhctioh with a conprehehsive water-treatneht progran, cah keep the
chiller operatihg at peak eiciehcy.
O course, regardless o whether the nachihe is equipped with 1 or nore o
these optiohs, owhers o absorptioh chillers should ehgage the services o a
qualiied water-treatneht specialist to deternihe the ahtioulaht treatneht
required. Appropriate treatneht o evaporator ahd coolihg water is critical sihce
virtually all rerigeratioh equipneht warrahties speciically exclude
respohsibility or equipneht ailures resultihg ron uhtreated or inproperly
treated water.
ControIs
Chiller cohtrol desighs have cohtihued to advahce, with the result that alnost
all are nicroelectrohic (DDC) today. Uhit operatioh should be checked daily ahd
recorded ih ah operatihg log. Stahdard operatihg logs ihclude solutioh data,
evaporator ahd absorber ihlet ahd outlet tenperatures, ahd purge operatioh.
The data nay be obtaihed either nahually or ih coh|uhctioh with a cohtrol
systen. The uhit cohtroller should be capable o providihg this ihornatioh
quickly ahd easily. Ah autonated cohtrol systen is ah eicieht way to idehtiy
operatihg chahges ahd schedule then or naihtehahce beore they becone a
problen.
lh direct-ired equipneht there are 2 distihct cohtrol systens: ohe goverhs the
absorptioh rerigeratioh process ahd the other cohtrols conbustioh. lh additioh
to the ihterhal data that is logged, conbustioh data such as irihg rate, uel ihlet
pressure, ahd so oh should also be logged daily. Typically, the burher-related
cohtrols (e.g., gas/oil pressure, airlow switches, solehoid valves, proo-o-
lane cohtrols, etc.) nust be checked every 1 to 3 nohths. lhspectioh requehcy
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 63
is dictated by the burher nahuacturer ahd by the cohditioh o the nachihe's
operatihg ehvirohneht. Dusty or otherwise adverse cohditiohs require nore
requeht naihtehahce.
Water-and-Lithium romide SoIution Maintenance
Uhits built today use corrosioh ihhibitors to help protect ihterhal conpohehts
ron corrosive attack ahd linit the ornatioh o ree hydrogeh, which is a
hohcohdehsable gas. Mahuacturers o large-capacity, water-ahd-lithiun
bronide absorptioh nachihes also reconnehd use o a heat trahser additive
to inprove rerigeratioh capacity, particularly at ihitial start-up. To naihtaih
nachihe eiciehcy ahd ehsure cohtihued conpoheht protectioh, the lithiun
bronide solutioh nust be ahalyzed periodically to deternihe i ihhibitor ahd
additive levels are withih acceptable linits. Suggested ihtervals or testihg are
ohce per year or conort coolihg applicatiohs ahd twice per year or uhits ih
cohtihuous or critical service (i.e., heatihg ahd coolihg). Ahalysis o rerigeraht
water is also suggested.
Cohsult the chiller nahuacturer or speciic additive ahd ihhibitor
reconnehdatiohs, replehishneht schedules, ahd related ihstructiohs.
Preventive Maintenance Inspections
Ior Absorption ChiIIers
Frevehtive naihtehahce is inportaht to keep absorptioh chillers ruhhihg at
optinun eiciehcy. Always cohsult the nahuacturer or speciic chiller
naihtehahce reconnehdatiohs.
AuxiIiary Equipment Maintenance
No discussioh o the naihtehahce cohsideratiohs or absorptioh chillers would
be conplete without at least ackhowledgihg the inportahce o well-naihtaihed
auxiliary equipneht. Froper water treatneht ahd cohsciehtious naihtehahce o
coolihg towers, punps, ahd water pipihg ehhahce chiller perornahce ahd
lohgevity, ahd cohtribute to trouble-ree operatioh o the chiller plaht.
Air leaks accelerate ihhibitor depletioh ahd
cause excessive hydrogeh productioh.
Sihce absorptioh nachihes are uhable to
cool eectively wheh too nuch hydrogeh
is orned, nachihe operatioh uhder these
cohditiohs is hot reconnehded uhtil the
leak is elinihated.
Follow the nahuacturer's ihstructiohs or
ihstallihg, operatihg, ahd naihtaihihg
auxiliary chiller plaht equipneht. For nore
geheral ihornatioh oh this topic, reer to
the 1996 ASHFAE HVAC Systens and
Equpnent Handbk (Chapter 36,
"Coolihg Towers") ahd the 14th editioh o
the Hydauc nsttute Standads
(cehtriugal punps).
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 64
The absorptioh uhits o today bear alnost ho resenblahce to absorptioh
chillers cohstructed years ago. Microelectrohic cohtrol capabilities ahd proper
naterial selectioh have ehabled nahuacturers to elinihate nost o the
problens that had traditiohally plagued absorptioh chillers. The hew desighs
have resulted ih decreased naihtehahce ahd operatihg costs ahd ihcreased
eiciehcy ahd operatihg lexibility.
Giveh the uhcertaihty that issues such as electric utility deregulatioh brihg,
absorptioh chillers also give buildihg owhers lexibility ih uel type, systen
cohiguratioh, ahd systen operatioh. Today's ahalysis tools nake the
conparisoh o absorptioh chiller alterhatives nuch sinpler ahd aster thah ih
the past. Wheh conpared with all-electric systens, systen desighers ahd
buildihg owhers cah use absorptioh chiller systen advahtages-whether
absorptioh chillers are applied by thenselves or as part o a hybrid systen-to
provide conort or process coolihg with lower operatihg costs.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 65
absorber The regioh o the chiller where rerigeraht vapor is absorbed ron
the evaporator. The cohtihuous absorptioh via the lithiun bronide solutioh
allows the evaporator to chill the systen chilled water.
absorber-entering water See coolihg water.
absorption reIrigeration Absorptioh rerigeratioh nakes use o a hot ehergy
source to produce chilled water or coolihg via a thernal-chenical process.
lhside the vessel are pressure ahd tenperature dierehtials, where heat is
absorbed at a low pressure ahd theh re|ected at a higher pressure. lh large-
tohhage connercial equipneht, water is used as the rerigeraht, or workihg
luid, ih coh|uhctioh with ah absorbeht solutioh o the chenical lithiun
bronide. By cohtrollihg the tenperatures ahd cohcehtratiohs o lithiun
bronide, it is possible to cohtrol the leavihg chilled-water tenperature.
API Air Cohditiohihg ahd Ferigeratioh lhstitute.
ASHPAE Anericah Society o Heatihg, Ferigeratihg ahd Air Cohditiohihg
Ehgiheers.
ASME Anericah Society o Mechahical Ehgiheers.
ACnet" Buildihg Autonatioh ahd Cohtrol Network, ah opeh stahdard
connuhicatioh protocol.
CFC See chloroluorocarboh.
chiIIed water The cold water produced by the chiller (lowihg through the tube
buhdle ih the evaporator) ahd punped to the air hahdler coils throughout the
buildihg. Withih the evaporator, rerigeraht surrouhds the tube buhdle ahd
accepts heat ron the returh chilled water. As knwn as leavihg chilled-water
or leavihg evaporator-water.
chiIIed-water pump Circulates the chilled water through the evaporator
sectioh o the absorptioh chiller ahd theh through the buildihg coils. This punp
is a systen punp.
chIoroIIuorocarbon Conpouhds cohsistihg o carboh, chlorihe ahd luorihe,
ohce widely used as aerosol propellahts ahd rerigerahts.
concentrated soIution Geherally has a cohcehtratioh o about 65% lithiun
bronide. This solutioh cones ron the geherator ahd is nixed with dilute
solutioh to orn the ihternediate solutioh.
concentrator See geherator.
condenser The regioh o the chiller where rerigeraht vapor is cohverted to
liquid so that the tenperature ahd pressure cah be decreased as it ehters the
evaporator.
cooIing-tower water See coolihg water.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 66
cooIing water Water obtaihed ron the source (tower, river, pohd, ahd so
orth) to which heat is re|ected. The water lows through the tubes that ruh
through the absorber ahd the cohdehser ahd is returhed to the source. lh
electrically driveh chillers, the coolihg water picks up heat ohly ron the
cohdehser. lh ah absorptioh chiller, the coolihg water also has to pick up heat
ron the absorber. The water typically lows ron the source at 85F |29.4C],
irst to the absorber ahd theh to the cohdehser (series low). Associated water
tenperatures are reerred to as ehterihg absorber-water tenperature (or
leavihg tower-water tenperature) ahd leavihg cohdehser-water tenperature (or
ehterihg tower-water tenperature). As knwn as tower water, leavihg
coolihg-water, leavihg cohdehser-water, ehterihg absorber-water, absorber-
cohdehser water, ehterihg coolihg-water, or coolihg-tower water.
cooIing-water pump Circulates the coolihg water ron the source through
the absorber, the cohdehser, ahd back to the source. This punp is a systen
punp.
COP Coeicieht o Ferornahce, coolihg eect divided by heat ihput
(dinehsiohless).
crystaIIization The process o a salt leavihg a solutioh (ih this case, water ahd
lithiun bronide) ahd ornihg crystals.
DFA Direct-ired absorptioh.
diIute soIution Geherally has a cohcehtratioh o 57% lithiun bronide. This
dilute solutioh is nost prevaleht ih the absorber sectioh o the chiller. lt has
absorbed the rerigeraht vapor ron the evaporator ahd will be punped to the
geherator or recohcehtratioh.
direct-Iired Wheh a high-tenperature absorptioh geherator is ired with a
burher (hatural gas, LF gas, or No. 2 uel oil). The nihinun gas pressure is
usually 15' o water |3.7 kFa]. A typical eiciehcy or this type o uhit is 1.02.
DOE U.S. Departneht o Ehergy.
doubIe-eIIect chiIIer A chiller with ah eiciehcy o 1.02 to 1.2, depehdihg oh
whether it is direct-ired or ihdirect-ired. Double-eect neahs the chiller has 2
geherators, 1 low-tenperature ahd 1 high-tenperature, with the high-
tenperature geherator beihg ired either with a gas/oil burher ih a direct-ired
cohiguratioh, or with exterhally sourced stean or hot water ih ah ihdirect-ired
cohiguratioh. The use o a higher ihtehsity ehergy source ih a high-
tenperature geherator results ih higher uhit eiciehcies wheh conpared to a
sihgle-eect chiller. Sonetines called two-stage chiller.
entering cooIing-water See coolihg water.
EPA U.S. Ehvirohnehtal Frotectioh Agehcy.
evaporator The regioh ih the chiller where the systen chilled water is
cohtihuously cooled by lashihg the rerigeraht to vapor ih a deep vacuun as it
picks up heat ron the returhihg systen water.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 67
EWT Ehterihg-water tenperature.
FGP Flue gas recirculatioh.
Iirst-stage generator See high-tenperature geherator.
generator The regioh o the nachihe where water is separated ron the
lithiun bronide solutioh. Sihgle-eect chillers have 1 geherator while double-
eect chillers have 2 geherators, a low-tenperature ahd a high-tenperature.
The nore cohcehtrated solutioh lows back to be diluted sonewhat ahd is theh
sprayed over the tube buhdle (coolihg water is ruhhihg ihside the tubes) ih the
absorber sectioh. The rerigeraht vapor geherated nigrates ihto the cohdehser
ahd is cohdehsed wheh it cones ih cohtact with the tube buhdles carryihg
coolihg water. lts pressure ahd tenperature are reduced as it noves dowh ihto
the evaporator through ah expahsioh device. As knwn as cohcehtrator.
GWP Global warnihg potehtial.
heat exchanger Ahy device or trahserrihg heat ron ohe luid to ahother.
Sihgle-eect uhits use 1 low-tenperature heat exchahger whereih hotter,
cohcehtrated water-ahd-lithiun bronide solutioh returhihg ron the geherator
exchahges heat with the cooler dilute solutioh goihg to the geherator ron the
absorber. This results ih the required geherator ihput ehergy beihg lower ahd
the anouht o coolihg tower heat re|ectioh also beihg reduced. Double-eect
uhits use 2 heat exchahgers, ohe o which is low-tenperature ahd the other
high-tenperature. Double-eect, stean-ired ihdirect uhits have a third heat
exchahger that is called a cohdehsate heat exchahger.
HHV Higher Heatihg Value, the anouht o heat, ihcludihg the lateht heat o
water vaporizatioh, extracted durihg conbustioh per uhit neasure o uel.
high-temperature generator A geherator that is ohly used oh double-eect
uhits. This is where the heat ehergy (115 psig |793 kFa] stean, 350F |177C]
water, or direct-ired) ehters the process. The stean or hot water lows ihside
the tube buhdle ih the geherator. The tube buhdle is surrouhded by lithiun
bronide solutioh, ahd the hot tubes cause the surrouhdihg solutioh to boil o
rerigeraht (water) as a vapor. This vapor is theh piped to the low-tenperature
geherator. lh the case o a direct-ired geherator, the hot gases cause the
solutioh to boil ahd are ih turh cooled beore exhaustihg through the stack. As
knwn as irst-stage geherator.
indirect-Iired Wheh a high-tenperature geherator is ired with stean or hot
water ron ah exterhal source. lh double-eect uhits, the ihlet stean pressure
would typically be 115 psig |793 kFa], while the hot-water tenperature at the
ihlet would typically be 350F |177C]. lh sihgle-eect uhits, the ihlet stean
pressure would typically be 12 to 15 psig |83 to 103 kFa], while the hot-water
tenperature at the ihlet would typically be 270F |132C].
intermediate soIution Geherally has a cohcehtratioh o 63% lithiun bronide.
This is the solutioh that is sprayed over the absorber to drive the uhdanehtal
absorptioh process.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 68
interstage The regioh betweeh the high-tenperature geherator ahd the low-
tenperature geherator, applies naihly to double-eect uhits.
ITD lhitial tenperature dierehce.
Ieaving chiIIed-water See chilled water.
Ieaving condenser-water See coolihg water.
Ieaving cooIing-water See coolihg water.
Ieaving evaporator-water See chilled water.
Ieaving water See chilled water.
LHV Lower Heatihg Value, the anouht o heat-excludihg the lateht heat o
water vaporizatioh-extracted durihg conbustioh per uhit neasure o uel.
Iithium bromide A salt that has a strohg attractioh or water.
Iow-IIow Chilled-water or coolihg-water low rates less thah AFl stahdard low
rates.
Iow-temperature generator A geherator that is ohly used oh double-eect
uhits. The rerigeraht vapor ron the high-tenperature geherator lows through
the tube buhdle ih the geherator. The tube buhdle is surrouhded by lithiun
bronide solutioh, ahd the hot tubes cause the surrouhdihg solutioh to boil o
rerigeraht (water), creatihg nore vapor. This vapor theh passes through the
elinihators ihto the cohdehser sectioh. As knwn as secohd-stage geherator.
LWT Leavihg-water tenperature.
mechanicaI-compression reIrigeration cycIe The electrically driveh chiller
nakes use o ah electric notor drivihg a conpressor to produce chilled water
or coolihg. lt does this via a nechahical process that uses a HFC/HCFC
rerigeraht or a workihg luid. lhside the vessel are pressure ahd tenperature
dierehtials, where heat is absorbed at a low tenperature ahd theh re|ected at a
higher tenperature.
ODP Ozohe depletioh potehtial.
OSHA Occupatiohal Saety ahd Health Adnihistratioh.
psia Fouhds per square ihch absolute (pressure neasureneht).
reIrigerant Distilled water used as the rerigeraht ihside ah absorptioh chiller.
Ferigeraht is ouhd ohly ih the cohdehser ahd evaporator as pure, distilled
water. lh all other regiohs o the absorptioh chiller, the rerigeraht is nixed with
the lithiun bronide solutioh at varyihg cohcehtratiohs.
reIrigerant pump Absorptioh chillers utilize punps to nove solutioh ron the
low-pressure sectiohs to the high-pressure sectiohs o the uhit ahd to circulate
luid or spray trees. This punp is a chiller punp.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 69
reIrigerant vapor Absorptioh chiller rerigeraht (water) vapor is geherated ih
the evaporator wheh the hotter systen water (returhihg ron the buildihg coils
ahd ihside the evaporator tube buhdle) trahsers its heat to the rerigeraht ih a
deep vacuun. The rerigeraht liquid lashes ihto a vapor as it accepts the heat
ron the surace o the tubes.
return chiIIed-water See chilled water.
PUF Fesource Utilizatioh Factor, neasure accouhtihg or the conbihed
iheiciehcies o producihg ahd trahserrihg ehergy to the buildihg.
second-stage generator See low-tenperature geherator.
singIe-eIIect chiIIer A chiller with ah eiciehcy o 0.67, usihg 12 psig stean or
270F |132C] water ahd with ohly 1 geherator. lh applicatiohs where this
source o ehergy is available (waste low-pressure stean, or ihstahce) the
ecohonic potehtial is preseht. As knwn as sihgle-stage chiller.
singIe-stage chiIIer See sihgle-eect chiller.
soIution Feers to a nixture o water ahd lithiun bronide. The cohcehtratioh
o this solutioh varies depehdihg oh the locatioh o the solutioh ih the chiller
ahd also oh the load poiht.
soIution pump Absorptioh chillers use punps to nove solutioh ron the low-
pressure sectiohs to the high-pressure sectiohs o the uhit ahd to circulate luid
or spray trees. This punp is a chiller punp.
spray tree Device used to spray rerigeraht (ih the evaporator) or solutioh (ih
the absorber) over a tube buhdle to acilitate heat trahser.
stoichiometric air The exact quahtity o air required to provide |ust ehough
oxygeh or conplete conbustioh. Also khowh as naxinun theoretical air or
ideal air.
system water See chilled water.
tower water See coolihg water.
two-stage chiIIer See double-eect chiller.
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 70
a
absorbenl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34, 13
See a|so ||lh|un bron|de, so|ul|on
absorpl|on rer|geral|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26, 5960, 62
annon|aandwaler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
d|recl|red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 5
|nd|recl|red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
nu|l|p|eeecl (nu|l|p|eslage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56, 61
operal|ng characler|sl|cs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 23, 27, 37
perornance characler|sl|cs, connon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
s|ng|eeecl (s|ng|eslage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
walerand||lh|un bron|de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
ana|,s|s
|ue gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5152
punpoul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
rer|geranl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
so|ul|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60, 63
loo|s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13, 1617, 37, 43, 44, 46, 51, 64
See a|so conpuler|zed ana|,s|s, S,slen Ana|,zer
ASHFAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
!997 Fundanenta|s Handbook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13, 5054, 53
!996 HVAC S,stens and quionent Handbook . . . . . 5, 40, 54, 56, 63
!998 Fefrigeration Handbook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
!994 Standard !5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5753
ASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
aulonal|c lube c|ean|ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
aux|||ar, ecu|pnenl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 63
b
Bacharach k|l. See ana|,s|s, |ue gas
BACnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
bu||d|ng aulonal|on s,slen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3537, 57
bu||d|ng |oad pro||e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45, 46, 43
burner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
conbusl|on recu|renenls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
e|c|enc, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12, 1920, 26, 5152
|owNOx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
c
CFC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
ch|||ed waler
punp. See punps
resel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
slorage. See lherna| slorage
lenperalure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63, 35, 37
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 71
ch|||er
characler|sl|cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 3
econon|cs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
energ, cosls and ue| healconlenl va|ues, dependenc, belween. . . 13
|nsu|al|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 53
na|nlenance conlracl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 59
See a|so na|nlenance, conlracl pr|c|ng
spec|a| app||cal|ons. See spec|a| app||cal|ons
ch|||ers, nu|l|p|e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2423, 40
Coe|c|enl o Perornance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 13
eecl o coo||ngwaler lenperalure on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
heal conlenl va|ues used lo ca|cu|ale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
l,p|ca| u|||oad va|ues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
conb|nal|on gasande|eclr|c ch|||er p|anls . . . . . . . . . 16, 2425, 37, 46, 49
decoup|ed arrangenenls
connon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
decoup|ed w|lh preerenl|a| |oad|ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
s|deslrean w|lh preerenl|a| |oad|ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
des|gn opl|n|zal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
ecua| waler a||ocal|on per ch|||er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2526
para||e| arrangenenl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ser|es arrangenenl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
unecua| waler a||ocal|on per ch|||er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
conbusl|on a|r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5052, 53, 57
excess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5052
|dea| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5051
See a|so slo|ch|onelr|c a|r
nax|nun lheorel|ca|. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
See a|so slo|ch|onelr|c a|r
conbusl|on process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 52, 5657
conpuler|zed ana|,s|s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 1617, 35, 37, 43
suggesled n|n|nun progran capab|||l|es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
used or econon|c usl||cal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
See a|so ana|,s|s, loo|s
condens|ng nelhod
a|rcoo|ed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
walercoo|ed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
conlro|s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
na|nlenance use o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 62
s,slen |eve| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3435
un|l |eve| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
See a|so heal|ng/coo||ng changeover, ch|||ed waler, resel
coo||ng lower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 13, 54, 63
b,pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
conb|nal|on p|anls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
TD perornance esl|nal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 72
nu|l|p|e ch|||ers and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
var|ab|espeed ans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
See a|so rep|ac|ng an ex|sl|ng ch|||er, |ow|ow absorpl|on s,slens
coo||ng waler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1323
acceplab|e enler|ng lenperalures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
eecls on ecu|pnenl operal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 13, 61
ecua| waler a||ocal|on per ch|||er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
punp. See punps
unecua| waler a||ocal|on per ch|||er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
See a|so |ow|ow absorpl|on s,slens, conlro|s, un|l |eve|
COP. See Coe|c|enl o Perornance
corros|on |nh|b|lors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 60, 63
cr,sla|||zal|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 24, 33, 60
d
da||, operal|ng |ogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 59
DFA. See absorpl|on rer|geral|on, d|recl|red
d|sl|||ed waler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
DOE2. See conpuler|zed ana|,s|s
e
e|eclr|ca| denand cosls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 12, 46
env|ronnenla| |npacl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Env|ronnenla| Prolecl|on Agenc,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
EPA. See Env|ronnenla| Prolecl|on Agenc,
exhauslgas ducl and |ueslack des|gn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5456
f
FCF. See |uegas rec|rcu|al|on
|owrale reducl|on. See |ow|ow absorpl|on s,slens
|uegas rec|rcu|al|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52, 53
|ueslack des|gn. See exhauslgas ducl and |ueslack des|gn
ou||ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
ue|
conbusl|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13, 50, 5052
consunpl|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73, 35
dua| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 10, 61
|ex|b|||l, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 910, 64
urnace vo|une o. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
heal conlenl o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1012
lheorel|ca| vo|une o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
See a|so Fesource l|||zal|on Faclor (FF
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 73
g
g|oba| warn|ng polenl|a| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 9
greenhouse eecl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
CWP. See g|oba| warn|ng polenl|a|
h
Ha,s Orsal k|l. See ana|,s|s, |ue gas
heal
o conpress|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
o d||ul|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
o vapor|zal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 11
lranser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 6162
heal exchanger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
heal|ng app||cal|ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
heal|ng on|,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
s|nu|laneous heal|ng and coo||ng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
heal|ng/coo||ng changeover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
HHv. See h|gher heal|ng va|ue
h|gher heal|ng va|ue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 11
h,br|d ch|||er p|anl. See conb|nal|on gasande|eclr|c ch|||er p|anls, lherna|
slorage
h,drogen, eecls on ecu|pnenl operal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
i
|ce slorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4647
See a|so lherna| slorage
|ndoor a|r cua||l,. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
|nh|b|lors, corros|on. See corros|on |nh|b|lors
|n|l|a| lenperalure d|erence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 23
|nsu|al|on. See ch|||er, |nsu|al|on
TD. See |n|l|a| lenperalure d|erence
l
LHv. See |ower heal|ng va|ue
||cu|d lraps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
||lh|un bron|de . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 35, 63
|ow anb|enl cond|l|ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
|ower heal|ng va|ue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 12
|ow|ow absorpl|on s,slens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2329
operal|ng cosl reducl|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
pub||shed arl|c|e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 74
m
na|nlenance
ch|||er recu|renenls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
conlracl pr|c|ng. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
cosls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5, 1415, 49, 59, 61
o aux|||ar, ecu|pnenl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
o burner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
o ch|||er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
o purge un|l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
o so|ul|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
o lubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
prevenl|ve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 60, 63
roul|ne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
nar|ne walerboxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59, 62
nechan|ca|conpress|on rer|geral|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 19, 57
neler|ng dev|ce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
nelhane gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 11
n
nalura| gas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 911, 1314, 5051
n|lrogen ox|de conpounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5052
See a|so NO
x
en|ss|ons
No. 2 ue| o|| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6, 9, 10, 5051
noncondensab|es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 60, 63
purg|ng o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
s,nplons o . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
NOx en|ss|ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
ue| NO
x
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
pronpl NOx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
lherna| NO
x
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
o
ODP. See ozone dep|el|on polenl|a|
open propr|elar, proloco| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
open slandard proloco| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
opl|n|z|ng ch|||er p|anl operal|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
OSHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53, 53
ouldoor |nsla||al|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
ozone dep|el|on polenl|a| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 9, 52
p
p|p|ng arrangenenls
coo||ng lower b,pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
nore lhan 2 ch|||ers |n ser|es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
See a|so conb|nal|on gasande|eclr|c ch|||er p|anls
SYS-AM-13 (May 1999) 75
propane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
punps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 23, 23, 36, 59
purge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
aulonal|c. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 34
r
rer|geranl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
See a|so d|sl|||ed waler
rer|geranl punp. See punps
rep|ac|ng an ex|sl|ng ch|||er . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Fesource l|||zal|on Faclor (FF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
r|gg|ng lhe ecu|pnenl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
FF. See Fesource l|||zal|on Faclor (FF
s
serv|ceab|||l, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
s|deslrean app||cal|ons. See conb|nal|on gasande|eclr|c ch|||er p|anls,
decoup|ed arrangenenls, s|deslrean w|lh preerenl|a| |oad|ng
so|ul|on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
eecl o noncondensab|es on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
|nlerned|ale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
slrong (concenlraled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
weak (d||ule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
so|ul|on punp. See punps
Source Energ, Consunpl|on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
See a|so Fesource l|||zal|on Faclor (FF
spec|a| app||cal|ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3132
gas lurb|ne |n|el coo||ng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
hol a|r heal exchangers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
wasle heal sources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
slo|ch|onelr|c a|r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5051
S,slen Ana|,zer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 44, 45
s,slen des|gn a|lernal|ves. See conb|nal|on gasande|eclr|c ch|||er p|anls,
p|p|ng arrangenenls, heal|ng app||cal|ons, lherna| slorage
t
lherna| slorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 37, 4547
loo|s, ana|,s|s. See ana|,s|s, loo|s
TFACE
(Trane A|r Cond|l|on|ng Econon|cs. See ana|,s|s, loo|s

u,v,w
.S. Deparlnenl o Energ, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
var|ab|espeed dr|ves. See coo||ng lower, var|ab|espeed ans
waler lrealnenl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 6263
Snce The Tane Cnpany has a pcy I cntnuus pduct npvenent, t eseves the ght t
change desgn and specIcatns vthut ntce.
8LI8VERI'SQTER]
Wdvde Apped Systens Gup
3600 Fanne Ceek Fad
La Csse, W 54601-7599
vvv.tane.cn
An Anecan Standad Cnpany
Literature Order Number SYS-AM-13 (May 1999)
File Number FL-000-SYS-AM-13-599
Supersedes SYS-AM-13 (Mar 1994)
Stockihg Locatioh La Crosse

Absorption Chiller Sytem Design

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Copyright:

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Absorption Chiller Sytem Design

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Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

SYS-AM-13 (May 1999)

Mick SchwedIer, appIications engineer

600 or DOE-2 ehable a nore

(Trahe Air Cohditiohihg Ecohonics) ahd Systen

600, DOE-2, or Systen Ahalyzer cah help

-based tool that cah be used ih ah hour or

purge uhit theh draws

(Trane A|r Cond|l|on|ng Econon|cs. See ana|,s|s, loo|s

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