Energy analysis for retrofit of chilled water plants
Owners and engineers attempting to computer model large existing central chilled water plants the traditional way face high costs because of the large amount of input required by computer modeling software such as floor areas, wall areas, window areas, roof areas, interior lights, people occupancy, and miscellaneous equipment for each thermal zone in every building fed by the plant. As a result many owners that plan to embark on retrofit projects and need their central chilled water plants computer modeled in order to calculate before hand the energy savings of the different types of equipment or plants under consideration cannot afford it. They opt not to have this valuable service performed by their engineers. A method is hereby proposed that in the cases where there is an Energy Management System in operation that provides the hourly plant load in tons and where the energy conservation measures under consideration concern only the plant will produce better accuracy than traditional computer modeling and at a much lower cost. A case study is presented of an 2,500 ton ultra high efficiency chilled water plant and underground chilled water loop with a state of the art Energy Management System at the University of Miami (UM) that supplies chilled water to about 23 buildings on its Coral Gables Campus.
- OSTI ID:
- 238007
- Journal Information:
- Energy Engineering, Vol. 93, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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