Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Chiller Plant
Technology
Part THREE
In the third and final part
of our chiller technology
Skills Workshop series,
PULLOUT
we look at piping
configurations for
Parallel Parallel
COP
Chillers
6.1
System
4.6
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY
34.6oC
25 kW
COP 6.1
1100 kW
12.2oC
25 kW
29.4oC,
59 L/s
20 kW
6.7oC, 47 L/s
1100 kW
12.2oC
maximum efficiency.
29.4oC,
59 L/s
20 kW
34.6oC
34.6oC
COP 6.1
6.7oC, 47 L/s
Waterside
Lift
27.9 K
6.7oC
Note: Based on two screw chillers in parallel, sequenced at AHRI conditions. Pump heads at
400/250 kPa, cross-flow towers. System COP includes chillers, pumps & tower fans
Parallel-piped
chilled-water
plant
A conventional parallel-piped chilled-water
plant consisting of two 1,100kW chillers that run
at AHRI design temperature and flow conditions is
shown in Figure 1. Pump power and cooling tower
fan power are selected in a way typical of plants
this size.
Notice the waterside lift noted at the bottom
of Figure 1 this provides an indication of the
work that the chiller compressor needs to perform
in order to operate its vapour compression cycle.
In Figure 1, both chillers are working against a lift
of 27.9K for this design. The lower the waterside
lift, the more efficient the chillers become
for a specific load.
Note also the blue side-table where the chillers
full-load co-efficient of performance (CoP) is
nominated along with the full-load system CoP
Series-piped
chilled-water
plant
One way of reconfiguring this issue is to pipe the
chilled water in series, such as in Figure 2. This makes
use of low chilled-water design flow to save pumping
energy. Piping this way will give a higher combined
chiller efficiency (CoP 6.3) due to the much more
lightly loaded upstream chiller, where the lift is only
24.6K compared to the downstream chiller, which
has a lift of 29.2K. Furthermore, because of the lower
chilled-water flows, the pumping power is reduced,
improving the system CoP to 5.0 at full-load. A system
CoP of 5.0 at design conditions is a good minimum
benchmark for chilled-water plant designs.
Series Parallel
COP
Chillers
6.3
System
5.0
34.7oC
29.4oC,
62 L/s
21 kW
10.1oC
1080 kW
15.5oC
28 kW
COP 6.8
34.7oC
24.6 K
1020 kW
5.5oC,
52.4 L/s
COP 5.8
Waterside
Lift
29.2 K
10.1oC
29.4oC,
57 L/s
19 kW
34.7oC
5.5oC
Note: Based on two screw chillers in series evap low flow, parallel cond. Pump heads at
400/250 kPa, cross-flow towers. System COP includes chillers, pumps & tower fans
Series Counter-flow
COP
Chillers
6.4
System
5.2
36.1oC
10.1oC
1200 kW
15.5oC
28 kW
COP 6.4
36.1oC
1000 kW
5.5oC,
52.4 L/s
COP 6.3
31.7oC
26.0 K
Waterside
Lift
26.2 K
10.1oC
5.5oC
Figure
3: Series counter-flow
water
Note: Based on two screw chillers in series evap low
flow, counter-flow
cond. Pump heads
at piping
400/250 kPa, cross-flow towers. System COP includes chillers, pumps & tower fans
Parallel Configuration
Large Capacity Plants
6.6
System
5.7
30.5 K
Chillers
28.0oC,
349 L/s
116 kWp
36.0oC
COP
36.0oC
5.5oC
Waterside
Lift
28.0oC,
75.5 L/s
25 kW
31.7oC
16.5oC
4 off
2.5MW,
COP 6.59
5.5oC,
217 L/s
113 kWp
PROUDLY SPONSORED BY
Module 63
Parallel Configuration
Large Capacity Plants
Chillers
6.9
System
6.0
28.0oC,
344 L/s
115 kWp
36.0oC
COP
2 off
5.0 MW,
COP 6.91
36.0oC
26.0 K
26.0 K
16.5oC
10.0oC
5.5oC,
217 L/s
115 kWp
31.5oC
Waterside
Lift
5.5oC
Chillers
7.4
System
6.3
36.0oC
28.0oC,
340 L/s
113 kWp
31.6oC
10oC
15.5oC
127 kWp
23.8 K
36.0oC
12.7oC
Waterside
Lift
5.5oC,
238 L/s
4.5MW,
COP 7.2
5.5MW,
COP 7.5
33.8oC
31.6oC
24.3 K
COP
23.2 K
PULLOUT
10oC
7.7oC
Series-series counter-flow
To take this another step further, these SCF duplex
chillers can be piped in a series counter-flow
Conclusion
Despite the virtues of series piped chilled-water
plants, they may not be the answer to all chilledwater plants seeking the ultimate configuration for
energy efficiency. As with all options, it needs to be
evaluated against other competing configurations
specific to the project application. Factors such
as climatic conditions, building cooling load
profile, the use of economy cycles, airside system
design, and utilisation schedule all play a part in
determining the viability of an option. As such,
comprehensive evaluation of the options is
necessary to arrive at a solution that will work
for each project.
In conclusion of this three-part series in chiller
plant technology, it is evident that these concepts
could not rely on the traditional processes of
engineering specifications alone for equipment
selection and procurement. They do not go far
enough to ensure the necessary coordination of
the relevant disciplines involved in the project.
As the designs of chilled-water plants evolve
to become more holistic, the need for proper
coordination, controls, commissioning and
operator training becomes increasingly
important for such projects to be successful.
29.8oC
5.5oC
System COP
System CoP is the overall efficiency
of a chilled-water plant, measured as
the ratio of the plant cooling capacity
output to the total power input
including chillers, pumps and cooling
tower fans. The tower fan power is
substituted by condenser fan power
for air-cooled systems.
More information
The information included in this Skills Workshop was adapted and reproduced, with permission, from the presentation
High Performance Chilled Water Systems, created by Simon Ho, M.AIRAH, of Trane. Simon assisted in the adaptation
of his work, and all images, graphs and charts courtesy of Simon Ho and Trane Ingersoll-Rand.
The full presentation can be viewed by visiting the AIRAH website, and selecting
the Resources and Division meeting presentations tabs.