CoolPack – Simulation tools for refrigeration systems
Team CoolPack, Department of Energy Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
CoolPack is a collection of
programs used for energy analysis
and optimisation of refrigeration
systems. CoolPack is developed at
the Department of Energy
Engineering at the Technical
University of Denmark. The
Danish Energy Agency finances
the project. CoolPack is freeware
and can be downloaded from
www.et.dtu.dk/coolpack. Users
without access to the Internet can
contact Team CoolPack by using
the address stated in the last
paragraph.
The purpose of this article is
twofold: Introduction to the use of
CoolPack and presentation of some
of the related technical issues of
modelling and layout of user
interface.
Introduction
The overall purpose of developing
CoolPack is to assist engineers and
users of refrigeration systems in
the process of designing and
utilising refrigeration systems more
energy efficiently. Today, most
engineers do not spend much time
on energy optimisation when
designing a new refrigeration
system due to lack of efficient
methods and computational tools.
By using the programs in CoolPack
the engineer has the possibility to
evaluate different solutions and is
thereby getting an opportunity for
improving the energy-economics.
CoolPack consists of a number of
programs which all can be
accessed through a user-friendly
interface. The programs can be
divided into 3 main groups:
1. EES-CoolTools
2. Refrigeration Utilities
3. Dynamics
EES-CoolTools and Refrigeration
Utilities form the major part of the
programs while Dynamics still is in
its early stage of development.
EES-CoolTools
Overview
EES-CoolTools are developed for
end-users and not for modellers
who wants a lot of freedom to
manipulate the equation system
constituting the mathematical
model. The tools are designed to
give the user exactly the right
quantity of information with a
minimum of input information
required. This is made possible by
defining a number of specific
simulation purposes. The same
simulation model (tool) can serve
more purposes as each tool allows
flexibility in choosing specific
input-variables to describe a
certain phenomenon.
EES-CoolTools have been divided
into five subgroups: Tools for
Cycle design, for Dimensioning of
components, for System analysis
and for Evaluation of system
performance (based on
measurements). The fifth category
contains Accessory tools. The
different subgroups will be
described in the subsequent
Cycle
C-Tools Design
D-Tools Dimensioning
of System
Simulation of
S-Tools
Operation
Evaluation of
E-Tools
Operation
Figure 1. The figure shows the different phases when designing a
refrigeration system and the corresponding EES-CoolTool
supporting it.
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paragraphs. The four subgroups of
tools shown in Figure 1 are
designed to assist the engineer of a
refrigeration system right from the
phase of choosing the overall
process design to evaluating the
commissioned refrigeration
system. Currently, 8 different
Cycle design tools, one
Dimensioning tool and one System
analysis tool are implemented in
EES-CoolTools. It is the intention
that the remaining of the
Dimensioning-, System Analysis-
and Evaluation tools corresponding
to the 8 Cycle design tools will be
developed in the near future.
User interface
The user interface for all EES-
CoolTools has the same principal
layout - a main diagram window
with one or more sub diagrams.
The main diagram window
contains the main outputs and a
drawing that identifies the process.
In the process design tools the
drawing is a Log(p),h-diagram, see
Figure 2, in dimensioning, system
simulation and evaluation tools it is
a pipe diagram. In the main
diagram window the only input is
the choice of refrigerant. All other
Selection of cycle
and specification
of parameters
Use of dimensioning
criteria
Calculation of
operating conditions
with selected
components
Energy analysis
based on
measurements

Figure 2. The main diagram window for a one-stage cycle with DX
evaporator.
inputs are in sub diagram windows
- see for example Figure 3.
Process design
During the design phases of
refrigeration systems engineers
often rely on rules of thumbs, as
they do not have the necessary
time to evaluate relevant process
designs. Instead they find a similar
case they (or a colleague) have
completed previously. In many
cases the overall energy-economics
will not benefit from this approach.
Cycle design tools do not deal with
the actual components. Instead the
user can experiment with
parameters such as choice of
refrigerant, temperature levels,
pressure losses, and see how it
affects the overall energy
efficiency. The user interfaces in
all cycle design Tools have the
same general layout. The user has
to give some core parameters that
describe the cycle/system. There is
a small but fixed number of these
parameters but the user has several
choices regarding which input
variables he wants to use when
specifying a phenomenon. For
example the cycle capacity can be
specified either directly as
refrigeration capacity or indirectly
as volume or mass flow. The user
must always select one of these
input options. This is an easy way
for the user to compare process
designs having different
constraints. The input interface (all
inputs are in the same window) for
a simple one-stage cycle is shown
in Figure 3.
System
dimensioning/simulation
When engineers of refrigeration
Figure 3. Input window for one-stage cycle with DX evaporator. Numbers
in frames are input variables. Numbers without frames are output variables.
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systems have completed the phase
where choice of refrigerant,
temperature levels, and the overall
process design have been selected,
the next stage is to select the actual
components. Engineers mostly rely
on manufacturers catalogues in
paper or electronic form. But the
engineer can normally not use the
electronically catalogues to test
how the components operate
together (especially when
components from more than one
manufacturer are used). Part load
operation is also difficult to
evaluate using catalogues.
The Dimensioning tools can assist
the engineer when he is selecting
the components – dimensioning the
components. The user is defining
the refrigeration system based on
the desired temperature levels and
temperature differences. For each
main component the user specifies
test conditions according to the
manufacturers catalogues he/she
wants to use. The tool will
typically return the test-capacity
for the component and necessary
pipe diameters for the main pipes.
Based on the output from the
dimensioning tool the designer
selects the different components
from catalogues. It is seldom
possible to find a component that
matches the output from the
dimensioning tools exactly, and the
user has to choose the most
suitable.
In the System simulation tools it is
possible to test the system
operation having selected all
components forming the
refrigeration system. Before
entering model parameters from
the manufacturers catalogues it is
often required to make some
additional calculations because
manufacturers describe the
components and their performance
in different ways. Several tools
have been developed to convert the
information from the catalogues
into the information needed for
system simulation.
When the refrigeration system has
been set-up in the system
simulation tool, a series of
questions can now be answered:
Can the system obtain the desired
temperature levels? Are some of
the components too large or too
small?
Another possibility in system
simulation tools is to test how the
system is working under part load
operation or at working conditions
different from those of the
dimensioning situation.
Evaluation of operation
After the plant has been
commissioned an energy
consultant may be asked to
evaluate its operation. This task is
different from that of the design
phase and therefore different tools
are needed. These tools are called
Evaluation tools. Now the
operation conditions of the system
are known from actual
measurements.
The energy consultant will
probably know very little about the
specific components. Instead data
such as energy consumption and
pressures measured at the
compressor suction and discharge
locations will be available. The
energy consultant will typically go
through the following steps: 1. Is
the current refrigeration system
performing, as it should? 2. How
will suggested improvements of
the main components affect the
performance of the whole
refrigeration system, and what will
the effect be in terms of annual
energy savings?
Accessory tools
In addition to the already
mentioned subgroups of tools,
EES-CoolTools has a subgroup of
Accessory tools. There are tools
for simultaneous comparison of the
performance of 3 user-selectable
refrigerants. There are also tools
for pipe calculations, etc.
Development of EES-
CoolTools
Simulation tools that let you design
your refrigeration system by
selecting the different main
components and freely couple
them together are at first thought
appealing since they have a lot of
flexibility. Unfortunately these
programs are often both
cumbersome and complex to work
with. In most cases it is time
consuming to build a system model
in this way, and the information
needed and generated exceeds by
far, what most users know and
need. Furthermore, it can be
Compressor
SP
ηIS, fQ
Refrigeration
Cycle
∆TSH, ∆TS
SP
Evaporator
Figure 4. The figure shows the numerical interactions between
cycle and component models. SP: State Point.
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difficult to make the simulation
program numerically robust
without increasing both the
computing time and the time the
user has to spend struggling with
start guesses for variables.
Instead EES-CoolTools consists of
several programs each with a
predefined refrigeration cycle. As
described in Rasmussen and
Jakobsen [1], using a cycle-
oriented modelling method can
increase the numerical robustness
of a system model. This method
separates the underlying cyclic
process model (refrigeration cycle)
from the component models of
evaporators, compressors, etc. The
cycle description is implemented in
a single procedure that calculates
all refrigerant property data for
each state point. The state points
are calculated on basis of general
variables describing the different
process in a refrigeration cycle.
Separate component models or
user inputs are feeding the cycle
with general variables specifying
the cycle. These variables are all
"insensitive" to the size
(refrigeration capacity, mass flow)
of the system and numerical
problems are therefore greatly
reduced. Normally, when mass
flow, refrigeration capacity or
similar capacity variables vary
from close to zero to numbers in
the magnitude of 106 numerical
problems occur during the solving
Condenser
SP
∆TSC, ∆TS
∆xEXP
SP
Expansion
Device
process. It is also easier to give
general adequately accurate start
guesses for the size "insensitive"
variables.
Figure 4 indicates how the cycle
procedure and surrounding
component models are coupled
together.
In EES-CoolTools underlying
cycles are developed for the most
commonly used refrigeration
cycles, one-stage, two-stage with
open intercooler, etc.
All EES-CoolTools are developed
in the program EES (Engineering
Equation Solver) from F-chart
(www.f-chart.com). EES is a user-
friendly steady state Equation
Solver and allows development of
graphical user interfaces connected
to the model. Property functions
for a wide range of refrigerants are
built-in. Furthermore "ready to
run" models can be created as
executable files and freely
distributed.
Refrigeration Utilities
Refrigeration Utilities is a program
for making high quality property
plots (e.g. Log(p),h- and T,s plots)
for a wide range of refrigerants. If
you have a licensed copy of the
program Refprop 6.01 you can use
the Refprop property data instead
of the ones built into Refrigeration
Utilities. It is also possible to draw
refrigeration cycles in the property
plots. Figure 5 shows a typical
Log(p),h-plot.
Dynamics, Transient
tools
All tools in EES-CoolTools and
Refrigeration Utilities are using
static models. A static model will
in many cases provide sufficient
and accurate information about
how a refrigeration system is
behaving under different but quasi-
steady conditions. But there are
also situations where a transient
model of the system or parts of the
system is necessary. Cooling of
larger amounts of food products
from one temperature level to
another could be one example and
tuning of control parameters could
be another.
Figure 5. Log(p),h-plot of R404A. A one-stage cycle with DX evaporator
is plotted as well.
CoolPack includes a tool called
Dynamic. Dynamic can be used to
investigate the transients of the
temperature, power, etc. when
cooling an object. The underlying
cycle model is a simple one-stage
cycle. The temperature is regulated
using an on/off control of the
compressor.
CoolPack and the
future
CoolPack is developed as part of a
project called SysSim at the
Department of Energy Engineering
at the Technical University of
Denmark. The SysSim project ends
New Year 1999/2000. Further
development of CoolPack will
continue until then. The quality of
the tools in CoolPack depends very
much on user interaction. Team
CoolPack is therefore very
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interested in receiving comments,
suggestions and new ideas.
Contact team CoolPack
As mentioned in the beginning of
this article CoolPack is freeware
and it can be downloaded from the
CoolPack homepage
www.et.dtu.dk/coolpack. To help
new users getting started with
CoolPack a tutorial has been
created. It contains problems and
solutions for most of the tools in
CoolPack. The tutorial can
likewise be downloaded from the
homepage. On the homepage there
will also be information about
seminars and other events arranged
by Team CoolPack.
If you are unable to access the
Internet you can get CoolPack and
the tutorial by mailing to the
following address:
Team CoolPack
Department of Energy Engineering
Technical University of Denmark
Building 402
DK-2800 Lyngby
DENMARK
Email: coolpack@et.dtu.dk
Figure 6. Team CoolPack. From left: Simon Engedal Andersen, Morten
Skovrup, Bjarne Dindler Rasmussen and Arne Jakobsen.

References
[1] B.D. Rasmussen & A.
Jakobsen, “Simulation
model structure
nummerically robust to
changes in magnitude and
combination of input and
output variables”, to be
presented at the 20th
International Congress of
Refrigeration, IIR, IIF,
Sydney, 1999.