abdali

area
JORDAN DISTRICT COOLING
CASE STUDY

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1 ABOUT ABDALI AREA

Abdali is Amman’s new downtown district that provides

the Jordanian capital with the central business, social and
residential destination it needs as a regional business and
tourism hub.

An ample investment for the creation of modern and

luxury buildings, towers, residences, business centers and
commercial areas have been developed with a total value of
more than 5 billion USD. A lot of green areas, parks and a
central Boulevard have also been included in the projects for
the people to get around on foot and enjoy the scenery.

This iconic project is projected to be a reference in the Middle

East for similar developments not only because of its aesthetics
but also because of its sustainability: all the buildings within
the complex will be LEED certified. To achieve this certification
a lot of measures have been implemented for energy efficiency
including a state-of-the-art District Cooling plant.

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2 WHAT DID ABDALI NEED?

The weather in Amman is quite extreme; incredibly high

temperatures during summer and freezing night-time
temperatures in winter make it difficult to live indoors without
heating and air conditioning.

District cooling was selected as the most efficient and reliable

solution for the chilled and hot water supply of the new
development. The total cooling capacity was calculated to be
52,000 TR.

Efficiency is a crucial parameter for these kinds of plants as

the amounts of energy consumed throughout the year is very
high. Any improvement in efficiency results in huge savings in Water Resources per capita
any developer’s running costs. Reliability is also a must as so
6.8500 - 339.5 5,992 - 8,881
many residences, hotels, people and businesses depend on it.
339.5 - 1,099 8,881 - 14,957

1,099 - 1,791 14,957 - 28,777

Those requirements are typical of any district cooling plant
1,791 - 2,506 28,777 - 61,165
worldwide. However, Amman has an extra handicap which
2,506 - 3,401 61,165 - 609,091
introduced further challenges to this project: water availability
is scarce. Typically a 52,000 TR cooling plant water consumption 3,401 - 5,992 No data
in m3/in habitant/year*
is out of the range that Amman can afford to supply. Source: FAO of the United Nations 2012, AQUASTAT online database, Total renewable water resources,
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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3 ARANER’S SOLUTION
The original solution considered in the early design stages
was a district cooling plant with centrifugal chillers and
cooling towers. Cooling towers are the traditional solution
implemented in District Cooling plants in order to increase
the chiller's efficiency.
The disadvantage of cooling towers is that they have a very
high water consumption. The original design concept would
have implemented a grey water supply from the municipality
that would be treated in a water treatment plant inside the
District Cooling Plant. The problems with this solution were
threefold:
• The capital cost of the water treatment plant
• The operation and maintenance cost of the plant, mainly
due to the extensive chemical treatment required and the
cost of the waste management.
• Water treatment plants usually emit undesirable odors
which are not compatible with the level of luxury desired
for these new developments.
In order to avoid the problems of water consumption and a
water treatment plant, ARANER proposed a design based on
air cooled chillers with zero water consumption.
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It is commonly understood that air cooled chillers are less
efficient than chillers with cooling towers, and this is true
for most design conditions. However, out of the design
conditions, the benefit of a cooling tower when compared
with an air cooled chiller is not that high and may not really
compensate for the additional water consumption. This is the
case in Amman where the temperature at night
decreases drastically and it is close to the wet bulb
temperature.
ARANER’s air cooled chillers are able to achieve almost the
same yearly average COP than a system based on cooling
towers but with zero water consumption. These incredible
results were achieved by implementing three products in
which ARANER has a high level of expertise.

1. Direct Condensation Chillers which are more efficient than

the traditional indirect condensation chillers (which is the
case of centrifugal chillers with cooling towers).

2. The implementation of long-term thermal energy stora-

ge tank which allows the chillers to work mainly at night
with low ambient temperatures for more than 70% of the
hours per year.

3. R-717 refrigerant which is more efficient that typical Freon

refrigerants. In addition it is much more environmentally
friendly.

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4 PROJECT EXECUTION

The relationship between Araner and the Abdali District Heating and Cooling started in 2009 with the installation of a temporary
plant with a capacity of 2,500 Tons supplied by 2 chillers of 1,125 Tons each and 1 boiler of 5,000 KW. They could easily satisfy
the demand that the developers had at the early stages of the District.

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5 years later, at the end of 2014, when most of the buildings had been occupied and the demands could no longer be satisfied
with temporary chillers, the construction of the final plant started. In order to be able to provide cooling and heating at the right
time, the project was defined by two key milestones:

DESCRIPTION AND TIME FOR

MILESTONES
CAPACITY COMPLETION

MILESTONE 1:
• 2 New Chillers (2,500 Tons each)
• 2 Temporary Chillers (1,125 Tons each) 7,500 Ton Cooling
274 Calendar days
• 1 New Boiler (16MW) 21 MW Heating
• 1 Temporary Boiler (5MW)

MILESTONE 2:
• 4 Chillers (2,500 Tons each) 30,500 Ton Cooling
53 MW Heating 486 Calendar days
• TES Tank (20,500 Tons)
• 4 Boilers (3x16MW + 1x5 MW)

The main challenge of the project execution was to achieve these two deadlines within a tight framework, bearing in mind
that within 274 calendar days (9 months), only the skeleton of the building and half of the tank, where the electrical rooms
should be placed, would be erected.

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In order to reach these targets, close coordination between
civil, mechanical, electrical and control departments was
undertaken to install all of the equipment with the required
quality and within a very tight schedule.
Araner’s experts from different departments were mobilized
to the site to supervise the installation and commissioning of
the main equipment.
For milestone 2, the chillers installed in the temporary
plant were dismantled and delivered to Araner’s workshop
in Spain in order to carry out maintenance and install all
the improvements that have been developed by Araner’s
Engineering team during the last years.
Changes to the discharge line, modifications in the oil
separator supports, rearrangement of the interior piping or
oil separator filters are just some of the modifications that
were applied in the compressor units in order to improve
their performance.
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Thanks of the good quality of the different equipment installed
in the compressor units and the good maintenance performed
by Araner’s O&M team; the components were still in perfect
condition after 6 years working.
Once we have all the equipment installed at site and due
to the pre-installation being carried out to a high degree of
precision, it took just 30 days from the plant being energized
by the Local Electricity Authority (JEPCO) before we were able
to start supplying chilled water to the Network.
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The following tests were performed; only with a professional
and multidisciplinary team like Araner would be possible to
reach these targets:

• 33/11 Oil Transformers Energizing and Commissioning

• MV Panels Energizing and Commissioning

• 11/0.4 kV Dry type Transformers Energizing and

Commissioning

• LV Panels Energizing and Hot Commissioning

• Heat Rejection Devices Commissioning

• Production Pumps Commissioning

• Consumption Pumps Commissioning

• Chilled water system Flushing

• MV Motors Commissioning

• Compressor Units Commissioning

• Safety and Emergency systems commissioning

• FF & FA Commissioning

• Control System Tests

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5 ARANER RESULTS

SOLUTION WITH ARANER’S PRODUCTS

CHARACTERISTICS TRADITIONAL SOLUTION
(AIR COOLED)

Peak Cooling Demand 52,000 TR 52,000 TR

Chillers Capacity (Installed Capacity) 52,000 TR 21,000 TR

Energy Storage NO Long-Term Thermal Energy Storage Tank with 80,000 m3

Electrical Peak Demand 62,000 kW 24,000 kW

Condensation Cooling Towers Dry Condensers

Refrigerant R134 a R717

Water Consumption 500 m3/h No water consumption

Special Requirements Sewage Treatment Plant -

Yearly Energy Consumption 30,978,219 kW·h 31,520,536 kW·h

Yearly Average Efficiency 0.62 kW/TR 0.63 kW/TR

Yearly Water Consumption 497,204 m3 ZERO

• No Water Consumption • Low Manteinance Cost

ADVANTAGES Standard solution • Environmentally Friendly • Visual Integration in
• Low Operation Cost Urban Areas

With ARANER products, the energy consumption all around the year is very similar to a system with cooling towers but the water
needs are eliminated. The high performance results of the final cooling plant with ARANER products have been certified by several
international consultants and by the Jordanian Royal Scientific Society.

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6 ABOUT ARANER

ARANER is an Engineering Group specialized in state-of-the-

art solutions in the fields of Refrigeration, Cooling and Heating.

The company has a wide range of capabilities: design,

engineering, manufacturing & procurement of equipment
and construction management that allow us to take full
responsibility of the overall project. Contact us for
further information
ARANER is a leading company in the implementation of
pioneer refrigeration systems such as innovative District
Cooling Plants, among others. ARANER technologies for CONTACT
District Cooling are a sustainable, reliable, cost-effective and
highly profitable solution.

As reference in the district energy sector, we have also

designed and implemented the World Largest Thermal
Energy Storage with stratified water for a District Cooling
application (80,000 m3) in Middle East. ARANER has also
developed multiple engineered - solutions for Oil & Gas,
Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Food & Beverage Markets,
which increase efficiency and maximize the client’s cost-
effectiveness.

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www.araner.com info@araner.com

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