Efficient Cooling in Hot Climates

A Thermodynamic Systems Approach to Quadrupling Average Efficiency

Peter Armstronga, Les Norfordb, Leon Glicksmanb
aMasdar Institute of Science and Technology, bMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Project Objectives were to identify complementary cooling technologies and associated controls, Thermal Energy Storage (TES): Several technical options (right) exist for a Common TES Options:
Develop component and subsystem models including optimal control algorithms, TES sub-system to enable load-shifting schemes such as night pre-cooling. For the Water in stratified tank
Prepare MatLab scripts for simulating and comparing baseline and several advanced HVAC configurations, scoping task at hand, an idealized room-temperature phase-change material applied to all Ice (not suitable for low-lift)
Estimate savings over a representative grid of building, climate and HVAC configuration: room surfaces, is postulated. This idealized model has the intrinsic TES properties of low Building mass (intrinsic TES)
·Basic-, Medium- and High-Performance building (efficient envelope, lighting, and user-equipment) transport energy and low losses, but is limited to one-day storage. PCM floor, ceiling, walls
·Five climates from hot-and-humid (Houston) to northern-temperate (Chicago), and for PCM in tank (discrete TES)
·All combinations of the identified efficient cooling technologies The peak-shifting algorithm for an Peak-Shifting Controls:
Minimize J =∑
24
Q(t )
Extrapolate simulated energy use and savings to estimate national energy savings potential based on application of the
t =1 η chiller (t )
idealized TES determines the 24-hourly chiller loadings that satisfy the total
best-performing combination of technologies and controls to all new construction projects. daily load (sensible plus latent plus DOAS compressor heat) with minimum subject to the daily load requirement:
input energy, J (right). This type of advanced control requires a 24-hour-
System Integration: Chiller · Ventilation · Control
24 24
ahead cooling load forecast and an embedded chiller-distribution system
performance model. Building-specific transient thermal response models, one t =1
QLoad (t ) = Q(t )
t =1
∑ ∑
Envelope Measures: Efficient cooling in any climate means first minimizing sensible and latent cooling loads… of the objects of ongoing research, will be incorporated into next-generation and to the capacity constraints:
peak-shifting algorithms to prevent unnecessary overcooling or undercooling
sensible loads by insulation, by reflective wall and roof surfaces, by control of solar gains to just what is needed for 0 ≤ Q(t ) ≤ QCap (TX (t ), TZ (t )) t = 1 : 24
of building mass. Chicago---baseline where
daylighting, and by use of efficient office (or other user) equipment and efficient lighting…latent loads by preventing
ηchiller = chiller efficiency (kW/kBtuh or kW/ton)
infiltration, by conditioning only as much ventilation air as is needed, and by using exhaust enthalpy recovery. In short, TX = outdoor dry- or wet-bulb temperature,
investment in an efficient cooling system should not outpace investment in the building envelope, lighting, and other 80 TZ = zone temperature,
efficiency measures--cost-effective performance is achieved by balanced investment. Q = evaporator heat rate (positive for cooling),
HVAC Measures: Even in hot climates, there is ample room for improving mechanical cooling and distribution 60 QLoad = building cooling load, and
performance by approaching the building and equipment as an integrated system. The main targets, transport energy QCap = chiller cooling capacity.

FLEOH
40 1.4
and compressor energy, must both be addressed. The systems approach combines several existing R22 efficient cooling Outdoor Temperature (F)
110
and distribution technologies that are particularly complementary: 90
20
1.2 100
90
•Peak-Shifting by precooling the building mass at night

C hiller System Specific Power (kW/Ton)

80
80
70
•Radiant Cooling Panels (RCP) for sensible cooling load 70
0
1.0
60
0
•Dedicated Outside Air Supply (DOAS) and conditioning o u tdo
or d 0 0.8
50 Chicago---variable-speed chiller with RCP/DOAS
60 ry -b
•Low-Lift vapor compression cooling equipment. u lb
tem 50
pe ra 0.5 o
What is Low-Lift? Vapor-compression and absorption devices 50
ture dr
ati 0.6
T (C)

(de loa 80
gF 100 1 pa rt
move heat against a temperature difference…which can be reduced by: 40 )
0.4
Tx
•Using RCP & DOAS to increase evaporator temperature 30 work polygon in low-lift operation 60
•Cooling at night to decrease condensing temperature and average load 20 Tz 0.2

•Using variable speed fans and pumps to reduce transport energy

FLEOH
work polygon in conventional 40
system and operating mode
•Using a variable speed compressor to reduce flow losses and… 10
System (chiller, condenser, 0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
•Achieve closer condenser and evaporator approach temperatures 0 radiant slab) performance map Chiller Part Load Percent 20

Compressor work (blue area) for given cooling effect is thus greatly reduced 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 (center) informs the cost function (top right) to optimally
s (kJ/kg-K) 0
shift load (initial distribution shown at left) from day to ou td 0

Chiller Component and System Models night (lower outdoor temperature→higher efficiency) and o or 0
dry
-bu
lb te
to shave peaks and fill valleys (transformed distribution mp
e ra
50
0.5
o
ture rati
shown at right) when thermal energy storage is used. (de
g 100 1 pa rt
load
F)
Optimal Control of Chiller-Distribution
Chiller and distribution components to be modeled include:
Compressor Evaluation Schema and Results
Evaporator
Condenser Case/Building/Climate Evaluation Grid: The base Technology Subset Combinations(TSC)
Transport (fan and pump) power HVAC system is modeled as a variable-air-volume (VAV) no-reheat Base Case: VAV with 2-Speed Chiller
Radiant Cooling Panel system fed by a central chiller to condition the occupied spaces. Technology Elements Applied One at a Time
CV and VAV Fan-Coils Hourly building cooling loads from DOE-2.2 simulation are input to a 2000 m2
Office prototype
• VAV with Variable-Speed Chiller
Compressor performance must be accurately character- separate simulation model of the chiller and distribution system. The
• Radiant Cooling and 2-Speed Chiller
ized at very low pressure ratios (1:1 to 1:1.5) and low displacement rates (to 25% or less of rated speed). This is previously described system performance maps ensure an apples-to- • VAV, 2-speed Chiller, and Thermal Storage
accomplished by fitting a semi-physical model that reliably extrapolates below the regions covered by available apples comparison by using identical chiller components for the Two-Element Combinations
performance data (above right). The model reflects: baseline, partial, and full TSC configurations. In addition to the basic
\chimodel\20070320\map5.xls EER|x

Polytropic Compression
Suction gas heating decreases with speed
Flow and Friction Losses increase with speed
1.2 HVAC system (Case 1, right), seven alternative HVAC systems (six • Radiant Cooling and Variable-Speed Chiller
110F partial and the full TSC configuration) were analyzed. The evaluation
110
100
• Variable-Speed Chiller and Thermal Storage
1 90 100F
grid also covers three building energy performance levels (below) and • Thermal Storage and Radiant Cooling
five climates.
Chiller Specific Power (kW/Ton)

Volumetric Efficiency = f (ρ, Pd/Ps, rpm) 80F

90F
All Three Elements
Compressor Performance Map (right) 0.8
70F
• Radiant Cooling, Variable-Spd Chiller, TES
is based on Effectiveness-NTU models of 60F 80F

Evaporator (assume zero superheat) 0.6

50F
70F
Non-HVAC Energy Performance Levels
Desuperheater (Hiller effectiveness model) Component Standard Mid-Performance High-Performance
Condenser (assume zero subcooling) 60F
Wall-Roof U-Factor(a) 90.1-2004 2/3 of 90.1-2004 4/9 of 90.1-2004
0.4
Chiller Solver: given load and conditions 50F Window U-Factor and SHGC(a) 90.1-2004 2/3 of 90.1-2004 4/9 of 90.1-2004
must determine the maximum-COP operating point: 0.2 Window-to-Wall-Ratio 40% 20% 20% + Shading(b)
Tsource = 52F
Compressor, fan and pump shaft speeds Tsource = 72F Light and Plug Loads (W/m2) 0.121+0.059 0.081+0.039 0.054+0.020
Suction and Discharge pressures Fan Power (W/(m2/s)) 0.471 0.314 0.210
0
Refrigerant mass flow rate 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
(a)
(b)
ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 prescribed U-factor varies by climate
Condenser fraction for desuperheating To completely shade the solar direct beam at all times
Part Load Percent 90000
2-Speed Chiller, VAV
A bicubic response surface of COP is fit to data computed on a grid of part-load fraction and outdoor temperature. The bicubic Var-Speed Chiller, VAV
form, which evaluates very fast, is critical to the peak shifting control algorithm within which chiller performance is evaluated 80000 Baseline
millions of times. The response surfaces for load-side temperatures of 22°C (radiant panel case) and 11°C (fan coil case) are
Standard Building: Annual energy savings for 2-Speed Chiller, VAV, TES
Var-Speed Chiller, VAV, TES
Chiller, Fan and DOAS Input Energy (kWh/yr)

shown above. Note the inflections at low part-load fraction for 22°C load-side temperature on the 10°C and 15.6°C outdoor the RCP system with variable-speed chiller and TES 70000 Full TOS 2-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS

temperature lines; the compressor is bypassed and refrigerant-side economizer mode is invoked below these inflection points. compared to the VAV system with two-speed chiller Var-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS
2-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS, TES
range from 74% for a hot climate (represented by 60000
Var-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS, TES

Special Subsystem and Control Models Houston) to 70% for milder cooling climates (represented
by Los Angeles and Chicago). Note, moreover, that the
50000

savings for the full TSC compared to the next best partial 40000
Refrigerant-Side Economizer: All-air systems use Outdoor
Air TSC–in which the chiller operates in 2-speed in-stead of
cool outside air for “free cooling” when conditions permit; this is Condenser Sight full variable-speed mode–are significant ranging from 30000

not possible with RCP systems. Connecting to a maintenance- T6

P2
Glass
27% (Houston) to over 32% (Los Angeles). Note also that
20000
intensive cooling tower is costly. An alternative--which may make E2
RCP/DOAS performs the best of partial TSC systems
RCP-based cooling more attractive to building owners--is to use Bypass
Outdoor
Air involving one element, and TES with RCP/DOAS 10000
air-cooled chillers with refrigerant-side economizers. This E1
H3, T7
T5
performs the best of systems involving two elements.
approach is illustrated to the right. Our model solves condenser Compressor Bypass TXV 0
Houston Memphis Los Angeles Baltimore Chicago
fan and chilled water pump speeds that satisfy a given load
E3
P1
Climate (Represented by City)
with minimum transport energy. Separate bicubic response T4 High-Performance Building: Savings for 2-Speed Chiller, VAV
surface is fit to the performance data computed on a grid of part- Evaporator the full TSC are 71% for Houston, 57% for Chicago, and 30000 Var-Speed Chiller, VAV

load fraction and outdoor temperature. When outdoor temperature 34.5% for Los Angeles. The percent savings for the full
2-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS
2-Speed Chiller, VAV, TES
Chiller, Fan and DOAS Input Energy (kWh/yr)

is above room temperature the vapor-compression chiller map T3

Chilled Water T2
TSC compared to the next best partial TSC are Var-Speed Chiller, VAV, TES
25000
applies; when outdoor temperature is below room temperature
F3
Var-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS
significantly better than those of the standard and mid- 2-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS, TES
both are evaluated and the less power intensive result is applied. performance buildings, ranging from 30% (Chicago) to Var-Speed Chiller, RCP/DOAS, TES
20000
DOAS Conditioning: A dedicated outdoor air system 35% (Houston). The RCP/DOAS configuration again
circulates about 15% of the air required by an all-air system—just Exhaust Return performs best of the partial TSC systems involving one
Air Air
enough to remove and maintain acceptably low air contaminant element, and TES with RCP/DOAS still performs the best 15000

concentrations. 100% of this reduced air flow is outside air. of systems involving two elements. For Los Angeles,
Enthalpy recovery equipment has been shown capable, in tight however, VAV is retained in the best-performing one- and 10000

buildings, of saving 50-80% of the heating and cooling energy two-element configurations. This reflects the reduced
Compressor

needed to condition outside air. In cooling mode the DOAS must specific-fan-power design of the high-performance
Condenser
Evaporator

5000
satisfy any remaining latent cooling (dehumidification) load. A Outdoor Supply
building, which benefits the air-side economizer (VAV
variable-speed vapor-compression machine—as shown at right
Air Air
cases), while refrigerant-side economizer (RCP/DOAS)
downstream of the supply-air-conditioning enthalpy wheel—can be EXV performance is unchanged. Thus the best partial TSC 0
Houston Memphis Los Angeles Baltimore Chicago
used to convert the latent load to sensible load by cooling the involving one element in Los Angeles is the TES system. Climate (Represented by City)

supply air to the required dew point and then reheating the air by rejecting all of the heat produced in the Sponsors. MIT work funded by Masdar Institute of Science and Technology; initial work funded by U.S. Dept. of Energy.
dehumidification process. Thermally regenerated desiccant dehumidification will also be evaluated. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Wei Jiang, S. Katipamula and Dave Winiarski made substantial contributions.