Tower Water Temperature. . . Control It How??! 1 'As cold as possible! 2 “always nun it hot — at design, possile. 3 "We always use wet bulb plus & degrees. ‘Where should you run your tower ‘sump controler? I's an often-asked ‘question that's been answered various ways, as evidenced above. With the advent of new technology, i's time to think each ofthese conclusions. 1 —As Cold As Possible Half-Tuth: "The chilis the largest ower consumer of the HVAC system..." Fallacy: "... so, one way to minimize chiller energy consumption isto supply the chiller withthe coldest tower water possible, Fact: I's commonly known that lowering condensing ternperature increases a chiler's efficiency. As long Figure 1: Chiller efficiency at various loads and tower Is temperatures. 066 KW - 5 the evaporator temperature is constant, a reduced condenser temperature wil yield a lower pressure aifference between the evaporator and condenser, and ease the burden on the ‘compressor VON ‘v2 tonsge6 However it's important to recognize that the efficiency improvements intially ‘gained through lower condense temperatures are limited. From a system perspective, improved chiler efficiency may be offset by increased tower fan and pumping costs. Consider, 100, that not every condenser temperature reduction necessary results in improved chiler efficiency, As Figure 1 ilustrate, chiler consumption (ewton) eventually “bottoms aut" and actually begins to increase as ‘condensing pressure fals, In shor, though chilers are stil a significant power consumer within the HVAC system, they are also the most efficient part of that system, Centrifugal chillers, for example, are available at (0.50 kwiton at ARI rating conditions, That's performance unheard of ust a ‘ew years ago, With that in mind, don’ ‘overlook the potential energy savings. possible in other areas ofthe system; the air handler may be a good place to start. osaKw [Ss 062 kw 0.60 KW osakw 0.56KW | Chiter Loading EB con PORE CIUC) VESEI Lal) OSH con osekw | Ml e0% 0.50 KW esr OF 15F 70F osF oF2 — Always Run It Hot. Hoalf-tth: "Fan power is proportional to the airflow rate cubed (0°), 50 when variable-speed ckves are used. Fallacy: "t's 8 good idea to produce the warmest possible tower water if ‘you want 10 obtain a considerable eduction in tower fan eneray ‘consumption. Fact I's possible to have too much of a good thing, Although the chiller may stil perform sfficienty, operating at elevated {ower water ternperetures may cause adverse effects over time. The “higher: than-normal " pressure differential, between the evaporator and condenser ‘or example, places a greater burden on the compressor. Put simply, while reducing fan consumption a worthy oa, achieving it snot without cost 3 — We Always Use Wet Bull Plus § Degrees Half-Ruth: "Maintaining the tower sump design temperature means excess chiller energy consumption, but lowering the termperature makes the fans work too hard..." Fallacy: "... therefore, since the leaving water temperature the tower can produce is a function of ambient ‘wet bulb temperature, the tower control ‘setpoint should be reduced as the wet bulb temperature fal.” Fact: Tower performance is @ function of ambiont wet bulb temperature, but it's also influenced by the amount of heat being rejected, le. the cooling load ‘So How Should Tower Water ‘Temperature Be Controlled? (EGitors note: The following aiscussion assumes that the only variable systern ‘design condition isthe tower leaving water temperature setpoint al other parameters are constant. Given that ‘scenavo, only the power consumption (of the chil and tower fans) changes) Fact: At sorne point in the tower control band, between design and "as cold as eee Figure 2: Chiller + tower energy consumption at various loads and condenser water temperatures. Loving Tower Water Temperate 0010 | — Balser Posse a Hl ovsinas asoxw | 25 Design a Hi vere ss 200 KW ssoKW ookw soKW oKw possible,” the total power consumption ofthe chile pls the tower is minimized, Fact: Crilers are rated in accordance ‘with Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute (AR) standards, simian, cooling towers are rated in accordance with Cooling Tower institute (CT standards. This practice assures dependable, repestabie performance for both types of equinrent. temperature needed to minimize the taral energy consumpion of the cooling ‘wer and chiler can be calculated using rated tower and chilsr performance data, Fact: Tracer Summit” wil soon provide the control algorithm needed to optimize tower water temperature for minimum rower/chiler energy consumption, How Much Does Tower Water Control Optimization Save? Obvious, this depends on the loads served. But here's an exarnpl, Chiller '500-ton (1758-4) capacity (058 kwiton (606 100% Fu Load 85.95 F (29.4.35 condenser water = temperature 78 F (25.6 C) design wet bulb 1600 gom (9462 \ps} condenser water fow Tower (One 25 hp (18.6 ke) fan Economics a sare fees 11% of time at 25% loadu ) Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the energy Figure 3: Excess energy purchased at various loads when compared to an ‘optimal tower leaving water temperature. ‘consumption of each control ation and the savings possible when optimized control is used instead. (As a basis for ‘comparison, the estmated cost of ‘operating the preceding system is about 4, $848,000, so savings range between four ‘and five percent) 10% While these savings aren't astronomical, ‘they are easily obtainable with a soo" to-be-avallable Tacer Summit control eS algorithm. Let’s Go A Little Further ad Suppase the cooling tower isn't just oS Contalled to provide the coldest water possibe, buts actualy designed to do Gg 0, Such a strategy isn't unheard of Some utiies even offer incentives 10 5 fenoourage this practice, but ist ‘advantageous for ether the buicing am ‘owner out? The story you are about to read s true o% Using an incentive program, ausity encourages buling sesignes 0 achieve low cooling tower approach temperatures withthe folowing resuts Shier 2000 450-10n (1582-kw) capacity 2200 (052 kwiton (6.76 COP} @ ARI ‘conditions 6 $2,100 75-85 F (239-294 C) condenser water temperature re 71 F (256 G design wet bulo samo 11295 gpm (817 ips) flow $1900 Tower ei 1700 Two 25 hp (186 kw fans Economics $0.08 / kwh $12.00 / kw 1900 equivalent ful-loed hours Lenina Tower Var Teneeaue | Hil cone rceave Bil onion 4 Hi vero 65 25% Load 0% Load 75% Load strategies. [ieeeeeeeeee 100% (Ful Laas Figure 4: Energy savings comparison of tower leaving water control Optimal ws Coldest Possible ‘pina ve Design (Optra ve Wet Bub + 5ARI Unloading Figure 5: Chiller + tower energy consumption at various loads and condenser water temperatures. 179% of time at full load 2 s0KW 39% of time at 75% load Leaving Tower Water Temporture | 33% of time at 50% load 200% |— Bh catsest Posse s optimal 114% of time at 25% load me 250 Kw f— elon ‘As Figures 5, 6 and 7 indicate, @ HH veroun +s potential eperating cost savings of 14 percent can be obtained by optimizing "00 KW ‘ the tower water control instead of ‘making the coldest water possible. More gow a intriguing is this: Even at ful-ioad design y fe conditions, power can be saved by resetting the tower water control 1oKW eee temperature upward! At ful load, the ‘ower can produce 75 F water and the tower and chiler, together, consume soKw Pat 264 ko I, nstead, the tower control i E temperature is 8! F, the tower and qo dl chiler consume only 240 kw (While this aaa ay eee eee teas the questo, “Should he seem igned at this higher temperature?” ‘we won't attempt to answer it here) Caveats It's important to remember thatthe ‘optimal tower control temperatures. shown here are appliation-specific and are not meant for general use. Load, ambient conditions and the part load operating characteristics of the chiller and tower ultimately determine the optimum tower contro! temperatures for a given instalation. Note, too, that helcabrotary (screw) compressor energy consumption drops quickly wity reduce head press (condenser water temperature), so the ‘optimal tower water setpoint control for these compressors may be lower than for centefugal compressors. 20% 25% 20% 15% 10% Leaving Towor Water Temperature Hi Coldest Posstie BB Dosen Mi vers +5 Figure 6: Excess energy purchased at various loads when compared to an ‘optimal tower leaving water temperature. 25% Load ‘0% Load 75% Load |__| | | | | i 100% (Ful LoadFigure 7: Energy savings comparison of tower leaving water control strategies, 7000 +8000 $5000 $4000 ‘Optimaivs ColdestPossbie Optinalve Design Optmalvs Wet ub +5 So... {0 obtain the greatest possible {energy cost savings through HVAC system optimization, each subsystem ot ust the chiller... must be operated in the mast efficient manner possible while continuing to satisfy the current buiding load. Key to successful ‘optimization are inforrnation-sharing controls capable of monitoring and governing all areas of the HVAC system. Equaly important, however, is an awareness... .and periodic re-examination... -of our design paradigms if we're to provide building owners with added value, @ By Mick Schwedler, applications ‘engineer, and Brenda Bradley, information designer, The Tane Company.