Energy Consumption Reduction of a Chiller Plant by Adding Evaporative Pads to Decrease Condensation Temperature

The high energy consumption of cooling systems justifies the need for strategies to increase the efficiency of the facilities, in order to reduce the related CO2 emissions. This study aims to improve the performance and reduce the energy consumption of an 8.6 MW air cooled chiller. This installed ca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2020-05, Vol.13 (9), p.2218
Main Authors: Rey Martínez, Francisco J., San José Alonso, Julio F., Velasco Gómez, Eloy, Tejero González, Ana, Esquivias, Paula M, Rey Hernández, Javier M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adiabatic condenser
air cooled chiller
Buildings
Carbon dioxide
Case studies
Cellulose
Compressors
Condensation
Condensers
Cooling
Cooling systems
Efficiency
Energy conservation
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
energy savings
equivalent carbon dioxide emissions
Evaporative cooling
evaporative cooling pad
Full load
Heat
Humidity
Indoor air quality
Total equivalent warming impact analysis
Ventilation
Water shortages
Water supply
Water temperature
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Summary:The high energy consumption of cooling systems justifies the need for strategies to increase the efficiency of the facilities, in order to reduce the related CO2 emissions. This study aims to improve the performance and reduce the energy consumption of an 8.6 MW air cooled chiller. This installed capacity is biased due to the screw compressors, of 2.98 Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) at full load (characteristics provided by the manufacturer). The chiller unit has been modified by placing evaporating cooling pads before the condensing coils. The chiller has been monitored for three months, recording over 544,322 measurements (5 min-step data), with and without the evaporative cooling pads, to assess the performance. Data comparison has been done by selecting two days (with and without evaporative panels) with the same health care load and temperatures. Implementing the proposed strategy yields an improvement in the European Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ESEER) from 3.69 to 4.83, while the Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) decreases about 1000 tCO2. Energy savings of up to 32.6 MWh result into a payback period lower than 2 years.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en13092218