International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrefrig

Transient simulation of vapour-compression packaged

liquid chillers
M.W. Browne*, P.K. Bansal
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

Received 25 July 2000; received in revised form 22 June 2001; accepted 22 June 2001

Abstract
This paper presents a transient simulation model that is useful for predicting the dynamic performance of vapour-
compression liquid chillers over a wide range of operating conditions. The model employs a thermal capacitance
approach for specific state variables to account for the dynamics of the chiller and ancillaries. The model accounts for
the change in heat transfer coefficients throughout the heat exchangers thereby improving both physical realism and
the accuracy of the simulation model. The model requires only a select few initial conditions (eg. the chilled water and
condenser water temperatures). A simple compressor model based on empirical regression has been employed in the
simulation. The outputs of the model include system performance variables such as the compressor electrical work
input and the coefficient of performance (COP) as well as states of the refrigerant throughout the refrigeration cycle
with respect to time. The model is validated with data from two in -situ screw chillers. Predictions are found to be
within
10%, although for one of the chillers a degree of empiricism was employed for the evaporator tube wall mass
in order to give satisfactory results for the start-up process. # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Water chiller; Packaged; Operation; Modelling; Transient performance

Refroidisseurs de liquide compacts à compression de vapeur :

simulation de régime transitoire
Mots cle´s : Refroidisseur d’eau ; Monobloc ; Fonctionnement ; Modélisation ; Régime transitoire

1. Introduction [1–5] that for the majority of the time these machines
operate under part-load conditions (away from design
Vapour-compression packaged liquid chillers are conditions) and in an unsteady manner. This generally
often employed to provide chilled water for air-con- results in a decrease in the coefficient of performance
ditioning purposes in commercial and industrial appli- (COP) and hence electrical costs are greater than neces-
cations. It is a well-known fact in the HVAC industry sary. Most of the time data from manufacturers’ cata-
logues is not ideal to predict the performance of these
chillers [6] over the wide range of conditions they are
* Corresponding author. Fax: +64-9-373-7479. subjected to during in-situ operation. A useful tool to
E-mail address: matty_browne@hotmail.com the design engineer therefore is computer simulation.
(M.W. Browne). The applications of simulation models are varied and
0140-7007/02/$22.00 # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
PII: S0140-7007(01)00060-3
598 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610

Nomenclature Subscripts
1 Evaporator outlet/compressor inlet
A Area (m2) 2 Compressor outlet/condenser inlet
COP Coefficient of performance 3 Saturated vapour condition in condenser
C Specific heat (kJ/kg K) 4 Saturated liquid condition in condenser
D Tube diameter (m) 5 Condenser outlet/expansion valve inlet
F Forced convection multiplier 6 Expansion valve exit/evaporator inlet
h Enthalpy (kJ/kg) 7 Saturated vapour condition in evaporator
hfg Latent heat (kJ/kg) a Ambient air
k Thermal conductivity (W/m K) ao Cooling tower air outlet temperature
Lf Effective length (m) c Condenser
:
m Mass flow rate (kg/s) chw Evaporator coolant water
M Mass (kg) com Compressor
Nu Nusselt number cw Condenser coolant water
Nrpm Compressor speed (revs/min) e Evaporator
p Pressure f Fluid/fin
Pr
: Prandtl number fc Forced convection component
Q Heat transfer rate g Vapour phase
Re Reynolds number i Inside
S Nucleate boiling suppression factor in Inlet
T Temperature (K) l Liquid phase
U Overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K) load Building load
V Volume (m3) nb Nucleate boiling component
V: s Swept volume per revolution (m3) o Outside
W Rate of work input/output (W) out Outlet
x Length (m) r Refrigerant/fin root
s Isentropic
Greek sat Saturation
 Heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K) ss Steady state condition
" Heat exchanger effectiveness tower Cooling tower/cooling tower water
 Dynamic viscosity (kg/m s) v Volumetric
 Efficiency w Wall
 Void fraction
 Density (kg/m3)
 Surface tension (N/m)

range from simple annual energy prediction, to more
detailed physical models for design purposes, to real-
time performance prediction for online fault detection
and diagnostics. The latter has become increasingly
popular in the last few years.
Steady-state models are useful under many conditions
although under strongly dynamic conditions that are
often seen in real-life operation, these models can become
unacceptably inaccurate [7–9]. In order to predict the per-
formance of these chillers under all aspects of operation
dynamic simulation models must be developed. In a com-
mercial situation the two main causes of transient cooling
loads are people (i.e. building occupancy) and climatic
changes. These will vary over the course of the day and
over the space of a year. The effect of these two para-
meters may also be compounded by the control system
for the chiller(s) in a cooling system. For example, a
poorly tuned chilled water circuit may cause the chiller
to swing drastically from low-to-high loads or cause the
chiller to shut-down and start-up frequently.
In this study, a transient simulation model has been
developed employing a thermal capacitance approach
for specific state variables to account for the dynamics
of the chiller and the ancillaries. Two commercial screw
chillers are modelled and simulated using the metho-
dology described in the following sections. The objective
is to provide a basis from which the dynamics of chillers
operating under real-life conditions can be adequately
predicted. This is important as potential applications
include optimal control analysis, fault detection and
diagnosis, and the study of the ‘‘physics’’ of chillers
under transient conditions. This is a particularly difficult
task when one considers the complexity of a typical
chilling system. The dynamics of the chiller itself are
 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610
accounted for through thermal capacitance modelling of
the heat exchangers as are the dynamics of the chilled
and condenser water circuits. The model is unique for
packaged liquid chillers in three ways:
a. it employs an element of physical realism through
the use of detailed heat transfer relationships to
model the heat exchangers rather than empirical
curve-fits to manufacturer’s or experimental data,
b. it can simulate start-up, shutdown, and fluctuating
part-load operating regimes, and
c. it is applied and validated against in-situ experi-
mental data.
2. Literature review
A review of the literature reveals that there is a wealth
of information available for dynamic modelling of heat
pumps and domestic refrigerators [10–26]. Notable
studies are the lumped parameter models of Dhar and
Soedel [10] and Chi and Didion [11] and the fully dis-
tributed heat pump model of MacArthur [12]. However
less studies exist for modelling of larger scale refrigera-
tion systems, with fewer still pertaining to commercial
(packaged) liquid chillers.
Marshall and James [27] developed a dynamic model of
a quick freezing plant with a two-stage refrigeration sys-
tem with the purpose of investigating capacity control.
The model was represented by 105 algebraic and 46 dif-
ferential equations using a ‘‘lumped parameter’’ approach
for each section of the plant. Cleland [28] and Lovatt [29]
have also developed dynamic simulation models of vary-
ing complexity for food storage facilities. Wong and
James [30] briefly described the use of a dynamic model to
study the intelligent control of multiple liquid chillers.
From the simulation study it was found that the intelligent
control was significantly better than PID control in the
areas of safety, reliability, and efficiency. No comparisons
with experimental data were given. Wang [31] developed a
simulation program for a building central chilling system
and also studied on-line control strategies for the chilling
plant. Component models were developed for centrifugal
chillers, heat exchangers, chilled water networks, and the
control system. Empirical equations were employed to
model the condenser and evaporator of the chiller. The
dynamics of the chiller were accounted for by using two
thermal storage values, with one at the cooling water inlet
to the condenser and one at the chilled water inlet to the
evaporator. It was shown that dynamic simulation is a
suitable tool for evaluating the control performance of
large central chilling systems. Jian and Zaheeruddin [32]
developed a dynamic model of vapour compression
refrigeration system with cold storage where the overall
model consisted of the following basic components: a
compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an eva-
599
porator, an evaporative cooler and a cool storage unit.
Open-loop tests were carried out to study the perfor-
mance characteristics of the system under varied cooling
load and compressor speed. The model was intended to
serve as an analytical design tool and to provide a basis
for control analysis.
Climatic changes and building occupancy (both of
which alter the building load) are fairly unpredictable on a
small time scale making it extremely difficult to predict the
performance of a chilling system using physical models.
Also in chilling systems there are a great many more
complexities due to ancillary equipment and control sys-
tems (Lebrun and Bourdouxhe [33] provide a good review
of dynamic component models for HVAC equipment
such as ducts, heat exchangers, control mechanisms).
These may explain the lack of dynamic modelling research
in the area. The literature review reveals that only a few
fairly basic models have been developed and that no dis-
tributed dynamic models for packaged liquid chillers exist.
The large refrigerant mass whose distribution within the
components can greatly affect the performance of the
chiller would suggest that distributed models may well
be necessary in the future to successfully predict perfor-
mance trends.
3. Chilling-system description
In this study, the model is based around one single-
screw chiller and one twin-screw chiller. The chillers form
part of a recently commissioned commercial system of
three chillers that provides chilled water to a network of
buildings. Both chillers have flooded evaporators and
water-cooled condensers that are of the shell-and-tube
type (refrigerant on the shell-side) with a single shell
pass and two tube passes. The tubes are arranged in a
staggered layout and are made of copper with their sur-
faces having enhanced fins. They modulate their cooling
capacity based on the chilled water flow temperature and
can operate down to about 10% of their rated full load
capacity via a modulating slide valve in the compressors.
Typical design conditions are 6  C for the chilled water
flow temperature and 26–29  C for the condenser water
inlet temperature. Each chiller has dedicated chilled and
condenser water pumps. Two secondary chilled water
pumps are used to distribute the chilled water through-
out the building complex. Two cooling towers serve the
three chillers and these are controlled via variable speed
fans. The details of the two chillers are summarised in
Table 1.
The water and refrigerant temperatures were mea-
sured with T-type thermocouples probes calibrated to
an accuracy of
0.25  C. An ultrasonic (transit time)
mass flow meter with an accuracy of
1% was
employed to measure the mass flow rates of the con-
denser and chilled water for each chiller. A clamp-on
600 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610

Table 1
Details of the chillers used in validating the transient model

Chiller Compressor Cooling capacity Refrigerant Evaporator water Condenser water

type (kW) type flow rate (kg/s) flow rate (kg/s)

A Single-screw 650 HCFC-22 40.6 27

B Twin-screw 300 HFC-134a 13.7 14.1

power factor/ampere meter with an accuracy of
0.5% : Nrpm

m r ¼ v 1 V s ð1Þ
was employed to determine the compressor electrical 60
work input for each chiller. Data were taken with the
chillers operating in situ (at various time intervals) using The work input to the refrigeration cycle was found by:
a dedicated PC via a National Instruments data acqui-
sition board and LABVIEW software. : : ðh2s  h1 Þ
W ¼ mr ð2Þ
s

4. Dynamic-model description The isentropic efficiency was expressed as a biqua-

dratic function of refrigerant flow rate and system pres-
The main assumptions of the model are: sure using a regression on experimental data. The total
calculated electrical work input to the compressor was
. The mass flow rate of the refrigerant is assumed to obtained from Eq. (2) and a constant (assumed) motor
be the same throughout the system and equal to efficiency (98%) term.
the mass flow rate through the compressor.
. The temperature of the walls does not vary through 4.2. Heat-exchanger analysis
the cross-section or along the length of the tubes.
. The refrigerant properties within each component Assuming that the refrigerant is in a quasi-steady
are assumed to be homogeneous with pressure state, the evaporator load and the energy balance can be
drops being neglected. respectively given by:
. The expansion process through the EEV/orifice :
plate was assumed to be isenthalpic. Qe ¼ ei Aei ðTchw  Twe Þ ð3Þ
:
The model may consist of one or more of the follow- mr ðh1  h6 Þ ¼ eo Aeo ðTwe  Te Þ ð4Þ
ing dynamic variables depending on the desired complex-
ity of the problem: (a) average evaporator tube wall Similarly, for the condenser the load and energy bal-
temperature, (b) average condenser tube wall temperature, ance on the wall and the refrigerant are given by:
(c) average chilled water temperature, (d) average con- :
denser water temperature, (e) evaporator refrigerant tem- Qc ¼ ci Aci ðTwc  Tcw Þ ð5Þ
perature, and (f) the condenser refrigerant temperature. :
The modelling of the six dynamic variables constitutes a mr ðh2  h5 Þ ¼ co Aco ðTc  Twc Þ ð6Þ
fully lumped parameter approach. The drawback of this
‘‘thermal’’ approach is that it cannot tell how well the Assuming that all of the condenser wall material is at
heat exchangers are utilised in terms of area used for the same temperature, the following equations can be
phase transition. Instead it is implicitly described by the derived from the first law of thermodynamics. During
parameters of subcooling and superheating. the ‘‘on’’ process the rate of change of condenser wall
temperature is given by:
4.1. Compressor modelling
dTwc
ðMCÞwc ¼ co Aco ðTc  Twc Þ  ci Aci ðTwc  Tcw Þ
The dynamics of the compressor are neglected in this dt
study. Instead, the compression stage is modelled as a ð7Þ
steady-state process whereby the compressor reaches and during the ‘‘off’’ process this is given by:
operating speed instantaneously and the temperature of
the shell has no effect of the performance of the chiller. dTwc :
ðMCÞwc ¼ Qc ð8Þ
The mass flow rate of the refrigerant was found from: dt
 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610 601


If the condenser refrigerant thermal mass is neglected,  D2o  D2r
then Eq. (12) is used to update the temperature at each Lf ¼ ð15bÞ
4Do
time step. However, if the condenser refrigerant thermal
mass is taken into account, then the rate of change may A ¼ Ar þ Af ð15cÞ
be given by:
The model, however, supports the use of other correla-
dTc : tions for the condensing process [35,36]. The heat transfer
ðMCÞc ¼ mr ðh2  h5 Þ  co Aco ðTc  Twc Þ ð9Þ
dt coefficients in the boiling region of the evaporator were
calculated using the Chen [37] forced convection boiling
Similarly, for the evaporator, the time derivative for the model given by:
wall temperature during the ‘‘on’’ process is given by:
fb ¼ Snb þ Ffc ð16Þ
dTwe
ðMCÞwe ¼ ei Aei ðTchw  Twe Þ
dt The nucleate boiling component (nb) was found from
 eo Aeo ðTwe  Te Þ ð10Þ correlations for enhanced tubes as a function of the heat
flux [38–40] and the convective contribution (fc) was
found from an appropriate correlation for a single hor-
and during the ‘‘off’’ process is given by: izontal tube in crossflow [41]. The nucleate boiling sup-
pression factor and convective enhancement factor were
dTwe : used following Webb and Gupte [38]:
ðMCÞwe ¼ Qe ð11Þ
dt
   
k Ffc X
As for the condenser, Eq. (10) is used to update the S¼ 1  exp where
Fhfc X k
evaporator refrigerant temperature at each time step if  0:5 ð17Þ
the evaporator refrigerant’s thermal mass is neglected. gc
X ¼ 0:041
The following equation gives the rate of change of gðl  v Þ
evaporator temperature with time if its dynamics are
 0:744
considered: 1
F¼ ð18Þ
1
dTe :
ðMCÞe ¼ mr ðh1  h6 Þ  eo Aeo ðTwe  Te Þ ð12Þ
dt
The heat transfer coefficient of the single-phase
The inlet and outlet water temperatures for both the refrigerant in the superheated region of the evaporator
evaporator and the condenser are found using the and the subcooled region of the condenser (desu-
following equations at each time step: perheating was neglected) was found as [41]:
:
Qe

0:25
Twe;in ¼ Twe þ : Nu ¼ 0:3 þ 0:62:Re0:5 Pr1=3 = 1 þ ð0:4=PrÞ2=3 ;
2mwe C
: ð13Þ Re < 104
Qe
Twe;out ¼ Twe  : ð19aÞ
2mwe C


: Nu ¼ 0:3 þ 0:62:Re0:5 Pr1=3 =
Qc 

Twc;in ¼ Twc þ : 0:25

2mwc C 1 þ ð0:4=PrÞ2=3 1 þ ðRe=282 000Þ0:5 ; ð19bÞ
: ð14Þ
Qc 4 5
Twc;out ¼ Twc þ : 10 < Re < 4  10
2mwc C


Nu ¼ 0:3 þ 0:62:Re0:5 Pr1=3 =
The appropriate Beatty and Katz correlation [34] is 
0:25
4=5 
employed in this study for calculating the condensation 1 þ ð0:4=PrÞ2=3 1 þ ðRe=282 000Þ5=8 ; ð19cÞ
heat transfer coefficients for the outside of the finned 5 6
tubes as: 4  10 < Re < 5  10


 1=4   The relative areas for two-phase and single-phase heat

f f  g gk3f hfg Ar 0:25 f Af
 ¼ 0:689 Dr þ 1:3 Lf transfer in each of the heat exchangers are set by the
f ðTsat  Tw Þ A A
degree of subcooling in the condenser and superheating
ð15aÞ in the evaporator (i.e. directly proportional to the heat
602 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610
transfer in each phase). The heat transfer relationships
for the evaporator present a slight problem as in general
they are correlated in terms of the heat flux as follows:
: !a2
Qe
oe ¼ a1 ð20Þ
Aeo
where a1 and a2 are coefficients that depend on the fluid
and tube surface type. This can result in extremely low
values of the heat transfer coefficient at and around the
time of start-up. Therefore it was decided to calculate
both the heat transfer coefficients due to evaporation
and those due to single-phase vapour flow and use the
maximum value at any time-step within the model.
REFPROP [42] was used to calculate the refrigerant
thermophysical properties throughout the cycle.
4.3. Secondary fluid analysis and cooling-tower model
Accounting for the load of the building the following
equation can be derived for the time derivative of the
chilled water:
dTchw : :
ðMCÞchw ¼ Qload  Qe ð21Þ
dt
Similarly, for the change in temperature of the con-
denser water with time, the following equation can be
derived:
dTcw : :
ðMCÞcw ¼ Qc  Qtower ð22Þ
dt
: mass (known from manufacturer or supplier), and the
Where Qload could be simulated using a dynamic
model for the cooling coils. However, in this case, it has
been chosen as an input to the simulations. It can be
specified as a constant, or as a function of time, such as a
step or ramp, or to randomly fluctuating variable. Since
the effect of the cooling towers is quite strong, a separate
component model for the cooling tower (both cooling
towers are modelled as a single component) has been
developed. In order to maintain simplicity, the dynamics
of the cooling tower are assumed to be controlled by the
water in the sump. Therefore, the rate of change of the
water in the cooling tower sump can be given by:
dTtower : flooded evaporator is difficult. For this study, it was
ðMCÞtower ¼ "mcw Ccw ðTcw  Ttower Þ
dt
: the evaporator. These values are based on modelling
 Qtower ð23Þ
where the heat rejected by the cooling tower to the
ambient air is:
: simulation. These include the chilled water temperature,
Qtower ¼ air Atower ðTtower  0:5ðTao  Ta ÞÞ ð24Þ
where
:
"mcw Ccw ðTcw  Ttower Þ
Tao ¼ Ta þ : ð25Þ
m a Ca
4.4. Control parameters
The control of the chiller is determined primarily by
the chilled-water outlet temperature. This parameter is
responsible for providing an input to the compressor
slide valve routine that in turn alters the displacement of
the screw compressor. In the model the screw compressor
controls the chiller capacity by altering the swept volume
as a function of the leaving chilled water and building
load as follows:
 
:
Vs ¼ f Tchw ; Qload ð26Þ
There is also an anti-recycle time that prevents the
chiller from starting up for a period of 15 min after it
has shutdown. To simulate the control action of the vari-
able speed drive (VSD) fans of the cooling tower, an on/off
control strategy was employed in an attempt to maintain a
set-point (condenser inlet temperature) of 29  C. Fig. 1
highlights the general interactions of the component mod-
els in the simulation.
5. Solution methodology
The model requires geometrical parameters of the
heat exchangers and compressor, the total refrigerant
total mass of the condenser water and chilled water cir-
cuits. The latter can be either estimated from complete
pipe-work dimensions or calculated by using Eqs. (20)
and (21) with experimental data. This information is
used to calculate the thermal capacities of the refriger-
ant in each heat exchanger the tube wall mass in each
heat exchanger, and the chilled water and condenser
water circuits. As refrigerant migration is neglected, the
user must apportion a fraction of the total refrigerant to
each heat exchanger. Prediction of the refrigerant dis-
tribution within the cycle is a difficult task requiring
accurate knowledge of the void fraction in the heat
exchangers. In particular calculating void fraction in the
assumed that 60% resides in the condenser and 40% in
studies performed by MacArthur [12] and Jacobsen [13]
and, as well as calculations, using the void fraction
models of Schrage et al. [43] and Dowlati et al. [44].
Initial values are also required as a starting point for the
condenser water temperature, the mass flow rates of
 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610
Fig. 1. Schematic of the component interactions used in the dynamic simulation model.
Fig. 1. Schematic of the component interactions used in the dynamic simulation model.
chilled and condenser water, the average tube-wall tem-
peratures in the condenser and evaporator, the water
temperature in the cooling tower sump, and the ambient
temperature. Other variables are also required for the
control of the simulation. These include the building load
function and the set point temperatures for the chilled
water outlet and condenser water inlet temperatures. The
overall model requires the solution of ordinary differ-
ential equations for each of the components considered
as well as the calculation of various state variables at
each time step. To accomplish this task a Cash–Karp
fifth-order Runge–Kutta method was chosen because of
its ability to monitor truncation errors at each time-step
and hence adjust the time step as necessary [45]. This is
particularly important as the transients during the start-
up and shut down processes are much faster than those
occurring when the machine is approaching a steady-
state condition. Fig. 2 shows a flow chart of the solution
process.
6. Results and discussion
The simulation results reflect the case where the con-
denser and evaporator temperatures are taken to be
dynamic variables. Figs. 3–9 show the results of the simu-
lation during start-up processes for both chillers. Fig. 3
gives a comparison between the actual and the predicted
cooling load for Chiller A. An element of empirical
regression was employed in the modelling of Chiller A as it
603
was found that using the physical value for the eva-
porator tube wall mass resulted in the simulation
reaching steady-state conditions too quickly (approxi-
mately twice as fast). This is probably due to the control
system of the chiller not being modelled accurately in
the model. In actuality the chiller has PID control based
on the chilled water outlet temperature as well as
receiving information from the building management
system (e.g. total load and rate of change of building
load). The regression was based on tuning the model to
various start-up processes and minimising the error
(between predicted and actual) over the start-up period
for a subset of data. The results in Figs. 3 and 4 are
based on independent data not used in the regression
process. It can be seen that the simulation provides
excellent results during the initial starting period up to
200 s. After this time, although the model predicts the
majority of points to within
10% the lack of a
sophisticated model for the control algorithm prevents it
from fully predicting the modulating nature of the chil-
ler. This modulation is due in part to the compressor
slide valve modulating with respect to the chilled water
outlet temperature, and also due to the effect of the vary-
ing condenser water inlet temperature. This varies the
pressure difference between the high- and low-pressure
sides that in turn will affect the refrigerant distribution in
the heat exchangers (via varying flow through the
expansion valve). As the expansion valve is also con-
trolled by the degree of superheat in the evaporator, the
problem may be compounded under these conditions.
604 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610

Fig. 2. Flow chart showing the solution process of the dynamic model.
 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610 605

Fig. 3. Cooling capacity versus time for the start-up process for Chiller A.
Fig. 3. Cooling capacity versus time for the start-up process for Chiller A.

Fig. 4. Actual versus predicted compressor work input for Chiller A during a start-up process.
Fig. 4. Actual versus predicted compressor work input for Chiller A during a start-up process.

Fig. 4 shows the actual versus predicted compressor
work input for the start-up process in Fig. 3. It is seen
that the predicted compressor work initially rises very
rapidly (as dynamics of the compressor are neglected)
and maintains this capacity for the initial (constant)
swept volume. At time t=60 s, the simulation allows the
swept volume to be adjusted according to the leaving
chilled water temperature and the building load. From
here, the compressor work increases until a quasi-steady
operating condition is realised (where the agreement is
very good, validating the performance of the model
during steady-state conditions). This can be more
clearly seen in the predicted condenser and evaporator
temperatures shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen that the
evaporator reaches a fairly steady condition in around
200 s, whereas the condenser refrigerant temperature
606 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610

Fig. 5. Predicted refrigerant temperatures in the evaporator and condenser for Chiller A during start-up.
Fig. 5. Predicted refrigerant temperatures in the evaporator and condenser for Chiller A during start-up.

Fig. 6. Comparison of predicted and actual cooling capacity during the start-up process for Chiller B.
Fig. 6. Comparison of predicted and actual cooling capacity during start-up process for Chiller B.

oscillates due to the dynamics of the condenser water
circuit and the operation of the cooling tower (see peaks
at around t=350 and t=750 s).
Similar results can be seen for Chiller B in Fig. 6. It
can be seen that the model predicts the trends to within

10%. Also, it can be noted that due to its smaller
physical size and smaller refrigerant mass that it
responds much quicker than Chiller A during start-up.
Chiller B does not have continuous capacity control like
Chiller A but is controlled in a series of steps, namely
40, 70, and 100% capacity. This makes it somewhat
easier to model than Chiller A, as the control processes
do not have that much of influence. A comparison of
actual values versus compressor work input and con-
denser water inlet temperature are shown in Fig. 7. In
this case, Chiller B is starting up to a part-load condi-
 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610 607

Fig. 7. Results for the physical dynamic model for compressor work input and condenser water inlet temperature for Chiller B under
start-up conditions (simulation results given by solid lines, experimental data by points).
Fig. 5. Results for the physical dynamic model for compressor work input and condenser water inlet temperature for Chiller B under start-

Fig. 8. Results for the dynamic model when applied to an increase in part-load operating condition.
Fig. 8. Results for the dynamic model when applied to an increase in part-load operating condition.

tion (its lowest load condition) and hence reaches a
quasi-steady condition fairly rapidly as no adjustments
in the swept volume of the compressor is required. A
similar trend is noticed in the slight deviation between
actual and predicted values of the cooling capacity with
time (once the chiller has reached a quasi-steady oper-
ating condition; see also Fig. 3). This is evidence that the
fluctuating condenser water temperature is affecting the
performance of the evaporator by affecting the state of
the refrigerant throughout the cycle.
The simulated on/off control of the cooling towers
predicts the continuous control of the variable speed
drives fairly well as the temperature plot shows. It can
also be seen that this temperature variation has a direct
effect on both the actual and the simulated compressor
work input [43].
608 M.W. Browne, P.K. Bansal / International Journal of Refrigeration 25 (2002) 597–610
Fig. 9. Results showing actual and predicted compressor work for Chiller A during a decrease in the cooling load from 420 to 140 kW.
Fig. 9. Results showing actual and predicted compressor work for Chiller A during a decrease in the cooling load from 420 to 140 kW.
Figs. 8 and 9 show the results for the dynamic model
when applied to an increase and decrease in cooling load,
respectively. In both cases, the load increase and decrease
was represented by a ramp function over the desired
period. It can be seen that, while the dynamic model still
has discrepancies (particularly with respect to short-term
capacity modulation), it gives reasonable results with
errors being less than 10% at most time-steps.
7. Conclusions
In this paper, a new dynamic model for vapour com-
pression liquid chillers with modulating and on/off con-
trol has been presented. The model is based on physical
laws and variable heat-transfer coefficients that are
applied in a dynamic simulation model. It utilises a
regression model for the compressor and requires the
use of empiricism for the evaporator tube wall mass to
adequately predict the start-up process for Chiller A
(which has the more sophisticated capacity control sys-
tem). The model is simple but is good enough to ade-
quately predict the performance of chillers under real-
life operating conditions and provide an insight into the
direction for developing models in the future. It allows
chillers to be simulated over a wide range of initial and
operating conditions. The model predicted the electrical
work input to the compressor, the evaporator capacity,
and the water temperatures under dynamic conditions
to within
10% for the majority of operating condi-
tions. It was noted that more sophisticated control
algorithms and complex component models, in parti-
cular those that account for refrigerant migration, are
required to better predict the performance of chillers
operating under in-situ conditions and to reduce the
need for empiricism in the simulation. These more
complex models will also provide a greater insight into
the physical processes occurring within the chillers
under fluctuating conditions. These component models
for both the evaporator and condenser are currently
under development.
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