TECHNOLOGIES

Chiller selection and

control strategies,
particularly in
California, with its
volatile deregulated
electricity
marketplace requires
a more pro-active
approach when
making choices
among multiple Original chilled water Revised chilled water
system piping flow diagram system piping flow diagram
chillers. Functionally
integrated hybrid
chiller plants with
or without thermal
storage can offer
Chiller Plant
26 significant benefits
for our clients when optimization strategies
ZEROsottoZERO - Refrigeration & Air Conditioning • october 2006

a real-time pricing
(RTP) approach O Milton Meckler Managing Uncertainty Method 1 – Simplified Approach
Only by taking full advantage of a more One must first examine the relevant building
– as opposed to a ne way of dealing with responsive control system integration can

O
more traditional life- California pricing uncertainty is to HVAC designers and owners evaluate the
use RTP as the integral driver in availability – and profitability – of thermal
cycle cost analysis chiller sequencing and control. In energy at their sites. The solution lies in an
this way, building operators can integrated system design, which combines a
– is employed as meet foreseeable needs for variety of chiller types, each designated for a
an operational flexibility in the purchase of electricity on a specific purpose. Taken together, they result
real-time basis, and natural gas at released in an overall chiller plant that takes full
control strategy capacity prices. advantage of the unique characteristics of
each separate chiller for the flexible
exchange of chilled water among chillers on
a real-time basis, thus reducing overall
energy consumption and related emissions.
In the real world, the major factor in chiller
energy consumption is efficiency at off-
design conditions, where chillers typically
spend 99% of their operating hours. Energy
simulations of the conventional type often do
not allow one accurately to determine a
prescribed sequence of operation for
staging chillers in hybrid plants if based on
the stable or predictable utility rates. In
recent years, California has experienced
substantial fluctuation in both gas and
electric prices. Today we will explore two
alternative methods of sequencing chillers in
a gas-electric hybrid chiller plant utilizing
both projected (i.e. simplified bin method) or
real time (RTP algorithm method) utility rates
to automatically control individual chiller
sequencing for cost-effective operation.
loads, electric rates and their relationship to
latest published weather data given by ASHRAE
to understand the benefit of employing bin
weather data vs. conventional computer
simulation methods on sequencing individual
chillers in multiple chiller plants. Although the
assumption of a straight-line relationship
between building loads and weather data is not
always accurate for some industrial and
commercial cooling applications, it can be used
to represent a simplified approach utilized for
purposes of the comparative chiller sequencing
case studies that follow. Fortunately, ASHRAE
has already organized operating hours for both
domestic and international microclimates into
five-degree temperature bins. Chiller operating
costs therefore, can be analyzed by estimating
the load in each of the ASHRAE temperature
bins and assigning a cost to the power sold
during each hour in that bin from and estimated
hourly gas/electric rate schedules. The first step
in this simplified analysis is to obtain bin-weather
data for the given city or area to determine the
total number of (annual) hours spent in each
temperature bin. The second step is to
determine typical entering condenser-water
temperatures (ECWTs) available for each of the
listed bins. For purposes of overall air-
conditioning analysis in the three (3) chiller case
studies which follow, it is also assumed that air-
side economizers are used below 55° F outdoor

TABLE 1 – PLANT CONFIGURATION: TWO 500-TON ELECTRIC CENTRIFUGAL

CHILLERS (BASE CASE)
Load: 800 tons
Plant configuration: Two 500-ton Electric Centrifugal Chillers
Temp bin Hrs Tons load ECWT Kw/ton Kwh RTP $/kwh Operation cost
95-99 20 800 82 0.527 8.432 $ 0.45 $ 3.794
90-94 84 742 81 0.517 32.224 $ 0.40 $ 12.889
85-89 216 687 79 0.504 74.790 $ 0.35 $ 26.176
80-84 393 632 76 0.487 120.959 $ 0.15 $ 18.144
75-79 585 577 74 0.479 161.684 $ 0.10 $16.168
70-74 775 522 72 0.476 192.566 $ 0.03 $ 5.777
65-69 784 467 68 0.468 171.348 $ 0.03 $ 5.140
60-64 706 412 63 0.475 138.164 $ 0.03 $ 4.145
55-59 670 357 59 0.497 118.877 $ 0.03 $ 3.566
$ 95.799
Chiller Equipment Operating
Cost Cost
CH-1 $126.000
CH- $126.000
Total $ 252.000 $ 95.799 Base case
 TABLE 2 – PLANT CONFIGURATION: TWO 500-TON TWO-STAGE DIRECT-FIRED TABLE 3 – PLANT CONFIGURATION: 500-TON TWO-STAGE DIRECT-FIRED
ABSORPTION CHILLERS (OPTION 1) ABSORPTION CHILLER AND 500-TON ELECTRIC CENTRIFUGAL (OPTION2)
Load: 800 tons Load: 800 tons
Plant configuration: Two 500-ton two-stage direct-fired absorption chillers Plant configuration: Two 500-ton two-stage direct-fired absorption chiller (CH-1)
and 500-ton electric centrifugal (CH-2)
Temp bin Hrs Tons load ECWT Kw/ton Kwh RTP $/kwh Operation cost
95-99 20 800 82 8.700 1.740 $ 0.35 $ 609 Temp Hrs Tons ECWT Gas Gas Kw Kwh RTP $/ Operation
bin load ton price ton kwh cost
90-94 84 742 81 8.042 6.755 $ 0.35 $ 2.364
95-99 20 800 82 500 $ 0.35 0.560 1,740 $ 0.45 $ 1,862
85-89 216 687 79 7.202 15.556 $ 0.35 $ 5.445
90-94 84 742 81 500 $ 0.35 0.054 6,755 $ 0.40 $ 5,802
80-84 393 632 76 6.828 26.834 $ 0.35 $ 9.392
85-89 216 687 79 500 $ 0.35 0.590 15,556 $ 0.35 $ 11,819
75-79 585 577 74 5.990 35.042 $ 0.35 $12.265
80-84 393 632 76 500 $ 0.35 0.620 26,834 $ 0.15 $ 10,877
70-74 775 522 72 5.279 40.912 $ 0.35 $ 14.319
75-79 585 577 74 500 $ 0.35 0.690 35,042 $ 0.10 $ 11,708
65-69 784 467 68 4.713 36.950 $ 0.35 $ 12.932
70-74 775 522 72 0 $ 0.35 0.475 40,912 $ 0.03 $ 5.765
60-64 706 412 63 4.318 30.485 $ 0.35 $ 10.670
65-69 784 467 68 0 $ 0.35 0.464 36,950 $ 0.03 $ 5,097
55-59 670 357 59 3.821 25.601 $ 0.35 $ 8.960
60-64 706 412 63 0 $ 0.35 0.455 30,485 $ 0.03 $ 3,970
$ 76.956
55-59 670 357 59 0 $ 0.35 0.456 25,601 $ 0.03 $ 3,272
Equipment Operating $ 60.172
Cost Cost Equipment Operating Cost
Total $ 429.000 $ 76.956 Total $ 340,500 $ 60,172
Base Plant $ 252.000 $ 95.799 Base Plant $ 252,000 $ 95,799
Delta $ 177.000 $ 18.843 Simple Payback: 9.39 years Delta $ 88,500 $ 35,627 Simple Payback: 2.48 years

dry-bulb temperature to satisfy the cooling load.
While most chiller plant operating hours fall within
lower loads and lower electricity costs, there are
significant hours of operation when electric
prices are high. Thus the conventional wisdom is
for facilities to benefit economically in a
methodology given above, one arrives at an
annual operating cost of $95,799 and equipment
cost of $252,000 as indicated in Table 1. After
reviewing Table 1, let us next compare the listed
installed equipment and annual operating costs
with those for the following all gas or hybrid
payback for each option, as will be seen.
Additionally, at the preliminary design
development/schematic phase of a project,
equipment costs (not total installed costs) can be
used as a first approximation. Although the latter
alternative absorption units require exhaust
dual nominal 500 ton two-stage direct-fired
absorption chillers are represented as $18,843
per year less than the electric-only chiller plant.
With the price premium for these chillers at
27
$177,000, yielding a simple payback of 9+ years
results. For example, for the case of the hybrid

ZEROsottoZERO - Refrigeration & Air Conditioning • october 2006

deregulated environment, electric chillers should
operate primarily during low-load, low cost
periods of operation, while gas chillers run during
high-load, high electric demand cost hours.
Typical Application
First, lets take a look at an electric-only multiple
chiller plant in comparison with (2) comparable
but different alternative fuel plants. Let us
assume, for example, that the base case chiller
plant consists of (2) nominal 500-ton electric
centrifugal chillers and that the design day load
is 800 tons. When applying the ASHRAE data
alternative-drive chiller plants, respectively
comprising Option 1) two nominal two-stage
direct-fired absorption chillers, or Option 2) same
as Option 1) above except that one of the two-
stage absorption chiller is replaced by a nominal
500 ton electric-driven centrifugal chiller. Assume
a gas price of $0.35 per therm for the above all
gas and hybrid chiller plants. Now by ratioing the
installed equipment cost differential for each of
the above referenced Option 1 and 2 chiller
alternates to the estimated annual operating-cost
differential above base-case electric centrifugal
chiller plants (Table 1) one can establish a simple
systems, steam piping or larger cooling towers in
most early-stage analysis, these details, while
needed subsequently for a more accurate
comparative analysis, will often not be the
determining factor in establishing the proper
chiller operating mix for a minimum annual
owning and operating cost. However, a
maintenance premium should be included in the
projected operating cost of the gas engine-
driven centrifugal units, where used since it can
have greater cost impact and requires an annual
run time estimate. Referring next to Table 2
notice that the operating cost of the Option 1)
chiller plant incorporating both a nominal 500 ton
centrifugal and a nominal 500 ton 2-stage
absorption chiller, the simple payback drops
significantly as can be seen from Table 3 to 2.48
years. Therefore, the latter hybrid plant would
appear to be a better choice than either the all
gas or all electric chiller plant alternatives
described above. By definition, the traditional
hybrid plants incorporate at least two chillers,
comprising 1) an electric reciprocating,
centrifugal or screw chiller, in combination with
either an absorption or gas engine driven chiller
equipped with any one of the above referenced
 TECHNOLOGIES
(3) compressor types. In summary, conventional
industry practice has been to adopt an operating
scheme that employs a base-loaded alternative
gas or gas drive chiller during hours of high
electric cost, with the electric chiller handling only
the remaining load.
Method 2 – Use of RTP Chiller
Control Algorithms
RTP based chiller sequencing can replace the
more traditional off-peak, mid-peak, and on-
peak electric rate schedules since alternative-
drive chillers can operate during all hours when
the hourly electricity to gas cost portion of the
total cost of cooling delivered (adjusted for
associated parasitic loads e.g., tower fans,
pumps, ecc.) is high and therefore, switch to
operate only electric chillers when hourly
electricity to gas cost is low. A further benefit of
RTP based chiller sequencing is that building
operating schedules can be made to change
daily in response to real-time electric and gas
rates. For RTP based operations, the chiller
operating strategy now becomes: Base load that
combination of gas and/or electric chillers that
projects the lowest operating costs at any given
hour. In this way, building automation systems
28 that monitor the hourly electric and gas rates
can determine the most cost-effective operating
ZEROsottoZERO - Refrigeration & Air Conditioning • october 2006
chiller sequence to help building owners operate
plants at their lowest possible costs. To describe
use of the second method, let us now follow the
actual evolving case history of a large chiller
plant originally designed in 1986 to serve a
major hotel complex It was initially comprised of
two nominal 1000 ton electrical centrifugal
chillers and located near Palm Springs,
California. The original chiller plant was
subsequently modified years later to incorporate
two additional nominal 500 ton 2-stage
absorption chillers following an extensive study
of alternative energy conservation measures
undertaken to reduce then spiraling operating
costs. Adding the gas-fired absorption 2-stage
chillers allowed our clients to reduce peak
(growth) demand and/or to permit transferring
loads during on-peak and/or mid-peak periods
to gas or vice versa back to electric during off-
peak and/or mid-peak depending on crossover
utility rate opportunities. The two (2) nominal 500
ton chillers also provided some redundancy
benefits for the expanded chiller plant which
was then experiencing loads above 70-100% of
peak for more than 50% of the summer months.
The original chiller plant with two 1,000 ton
electric centrifugal chillers was configured as
shown in FIGURE 1. Not shown, however, are
chiller isolation valves (one for each chiller)
which were activated open whenever each
respective chiller was operating requiring a
automatic differential pressure CV to operate as
needed for maintaining flow balance through by
pass (where shown) for the constant volume,
primary chilled water pumps to serve all air
handling units equipped with either 2 or 3-way
valves at their respective cooling coils, ecc.
Referring next to Figure 2, the subsequently
revised chiller plant served an income
generating property located in the Southern
California desert near Palm Springs, which
would otherwise experience large losses in
revenue in the event one of the chillers were to
fail. Our firm originally recommended adding
two 500-ton direct-fired absorption chillers since
the natural gas chillers could produce each ton-
hour at a lower cost during the electrical on-
peak period at that point in time. The renovated
chilled water distribution system configuration
shown in Figure 2 now corresponds to a primary
secondary (with VFD’S) pump configuration.
The differential pressure CV was also removed
since it was no longer needed. Energy
simulations were performed utilizing the utility
rates when the plant was retrofitted. At that time,
electric and gas rates were fairly stable. The
latter energy simulation results were used to
determine a prescribed sequence of operation
for staging the chillers. These simulations
indicated it was more cost-effective to operate
the gas chillers as lead during the higher
summer on-peak period only. In the past year,
for example, California has experienced large
fluctuations in the price of electricity and gas.
Accordingly, we were recently asked by our
client to explore a means of using varying gas
and electric rates as inputs for giving better
real-time decision capability to the control
system operating the chiller plant. This would
allow the operator to provide more cost effective
utilization of the existing gas and electric chillers
in order to maximize savings. During the course
of analyzing a better control strategy for the
hybrid plant we recognized that the following
additional elements could be implemented into
the control algorithm:
• Electrical cost ($/KWh)
• Gas cost ($/Therm)
• Measured plant load (tons)
• Chiller parasitic loads (KW)
• Chiller efficiency data for part load
conditions (KW/ton or COP)
We also recognized the utility rate schedules
need to be updated in the control system as the
rates change. We then proceeded to develop a
better control algorithm that utilizes this data.
The first step in developing the RTP algorithm
referred to earlier, is to define the potential
chiller operation combinations. Since the
expanded chiller plant now had four chillers
operating in parallel, i.e., two 1,000-ton electric
centrifugal chillers and two 500-ton direct-fired
double-effect gas absorption chillers, ecc., the
range of foreseeable potential chiller
combinations would be:
TABLE 4 – HYBRID CHILLER OPERATING COMBINATIONS AND CAPACITIES
Chiller Combination Chillers Operating
1 (1) 500-ton gas
2 (1) 1,000-ton electric
3 (2) 500-ton gas
4 (1) 500-ton gas & (1) 1,000-ton
5 (2) 1,000-ton electric
6 (1) 1,000-ton electric & (2) 500-ton
7 (2) 1,000-ton electric & (1) 500-ton
8 (2) 1,000-ton electric & (2) 500-ton
Electric
Chiller
efficiency
curve fit
Once the various possible chiller operating
combinations are defined, the chiller loading for
each option can then be determined for a given
plant load. Since the chillers in this plant are
configured in parallel, all operating chillers will
load to the same percentage of chiller load. For
example, Chiller Combination #4 with a load of
1,200-tons would load each chiller to 80% (800-
tons on the electric chiller and 400-tons on the
gas chiller). The electric centrifugal chiller
efficiencies can be estimated from
manufacturers test in the form of published ARI
550 NPLV values, which can then be easily
curve fitted as shown in Figure 3. Direct-fired
TABLE 5 – CONVENTIONAL AND ALTERNATIVE CHILLER SEQUENCING OPTIONS
CONVENTIONAL APPROACH
Prescribed sequencing based on:
• Time-of-day schedule
• CHWS temperature
• CHWR temperature
gas absorption chiller efficiencies can also be
estimated from manufacturers tests yielding full
load and part load Coefficient of Performance
(COP) values in the form of published ARI 560
IPLV values. For example, the electric
centrifugal chiller manufacturer’s data shown
above in Figure 3 indicated a concave shaped
efficiency trend ranging from 0.534 KW/ton at
100% load dropping to 0.416 KW/ton at 50%
load at part load and through increasing to
0.565 KW/ton at 20% load. Similarly, as can be
seen from Figure 4, the two-stage absorption
chillers are characterized by a convex shape
trend ranging from a COP of 1.0 at 100% load
rising to a COP of 1.154 at 50% part load and
there after falling to a COP value of 1.136 at
25% part load as shown. Readily available
software can be used to determine respectively
the polynomial equation and coefficients that
provides the best curve-fit for the above
published ILPV or NLPL manufacturer’s data.
Parasitic electrical loads can be accounted for
as a fixed electrical load when the chiller is
operating. The electric and gas chiller parasitic
loads included associated primary chilled water
pumps and condenser water pumps (not
shown). Gas chiller parasitic loads also
included the electrical load for the burner
blower, solution pumps and purge pump. The
comparative total parasitic loads are 79.3 KW
for the 1,000-ton electric centrifugal and 62.5
Capacity (tons)
500
1,000
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,000
2,500
3,000
KW for the 500-ton direct-fired absorption chiller.
The chiller plant control system program logic
controller (PLC) can, however, be programmed
to determine the optimum chiller combinations
to use for a given load by estimating the
operating cost/ton-hour for each feasible
combination. The RTP algorithm however, must
have limits to recognize when a chiller
combination is not feasible due to chiller loads
being below the lower practical chiller load
limits or when the load exceeds the capacity of
the chiller combination. To contrast both the
Conventional and Alternative approaches, refer
to Table 5, below:
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH
Dynamic sequencing accounting for:
Time-of-day schedule
Plant load (tons)
Chiller efficiencies
Chiller parasitic loads
Current utility costs
Table 6 shows the results of the control
algorithm using three different electrical rates
with a constant $0.35/Therm gas rate.
The algorithm determines the chiller
combination with the lowest predicted
operating cost to automatically determine
the best chiller sequencing strategy based
on the utility cost data. Note that at
$0.05/KWh, it is more cost-effective to use
only the electric chillers when using a
$0.35/Therm gas rate. The electric parasitic
loads on the gas absorbers accounted for
26-30% of the operating costs (cost/ton-hr),
showing why parasitic loads should be
considered in the control logic.
The results also shows a dramatic increase in
operating cost for the plant at recent on-peak
electric costs of $0.18/KWh when the plant
has more than a 1,000-ton load due to the
1,000-ton capacity limit of the installed gas
absorption chillers.
As can be seen from Table 6 above, one can
better utilize current PLC control system
technology to implement more complex
calculation logic for optimizing hybrid plant
operation. This optimization allows plant
operators to minimize operating costs many
years after the design team has left the project.
Chiller plant system designers must, however,
be willing to detail and describe the necessary
control logic in the sequence of operations in
order for control system programmers to
effectively implement them.
RTP electric costs reflect many hours of
operation with very low electric rates,
particularly when low ECWTs also are available
as can be seen in Figure 5.
One of the factors that can be used to hold
down equipment cost is ECWT: For example,
the nominal 500 ton electric centrifugal chiller
can be selected for the off-design ECWT of
74°F maximum, rather than the 85°F maximum
required in the all-electric or traditional hybrid
Gas
absorber
Chiller
efficiency
curve
 TABLE 6 – CHILLER SEQUENCING CONTROL ALGORITHM OUTPUT
Gas Cost ($/Therm) $0.35 $0.35 $0.35
Electrical Cost ($/kwh) $0.05 $ 0.12 $ 0.18

Cost / Ton-Hr

Cost / Ton-Hr

Cost / Ton-Hr
Combination

Combination
Combination
Best Chiller

Best Chiller
Best Chiller
Plant Load (Tons)

400 2 $ 0.031 1 $ 0.066 1 $ 0.075

500 2 $ 0.029 1 $ 0.057 1 $ 0.065
600 2 $ 0.028 2 $ 0.068 3 $ 0.089
700 2 $ 0.028 2 $ 0.068 3 $ 0.082
800 2 $ 0.028 3 $ 0.066 3 $ 0.075
900 2 $ 0.029 3 $ 0.061 3 $ 0.075
900 2 $ 0.029 3 $ 0.061 3 $ 0.069
1,000 5 $ 0.029 3 $ 0.057 3 $ 0.065
1,100 5 $ 0.029 4 $ 0.068 4 $ 0.094
1,200 5 $ 0.028 4 $ 0.067 4 $ 0.093
Gas absorber Chiller curve fit with ECWT adjustment efficiency
1,300 5 $ 0.028 4 $ 0.066 4 $ 0.092
1,400 5 $ 0.028 4 $ 0.067 6 $ 0.092
plants. Thus, the same size unit can handle fitting actual data adjusted for the effects on
more tons with less energy, making COP with percent (%) part load for varying 1,500 5 $ 0.028 6 $ 0.068 6 $ 0.090
nontraditional hybrids less expensive to EWCT values. If we now compare the latter 1,600 5 $ 0.028 6 $ 0.067 6 $ 0.088
operate while providing more redundancy in values with earlier presented COP values with 1,700 5 $ 0.028 6 $ 0.066 6 $ 0.087
capacity. Chiller operating costs at various percent (%) part load developed from 1,800 5 $ 0.029 6 $ 0.065 6 $ 0.086
29
load points and at corresponding ECWTs can published 1PLV values for the same gas fired 1,900 5 $ 0.030 6 $ 0.065 6 $ 0.087
also be used where information of real time absorption chiller one will note some 2,000 5 $ 0.031 6 $ 0.066 6 $ 0.088

ZEROsottoZERO - Refrigeration & Air Conditioning • october 2006

values is also available to determine more
accurately (than using NLPV or ILPV values)
to achieve proper chiller sequencing. For
example consider the hybrid plant illustrated
in Table 1, an 850-ton, single-stage steam
absorption chiller could handle the entire load
above 79°F ECWT, when electric costs are
highest, while a, 650-ton electric centrifugal
chiller could take over below a 79°F ECWT.
The operating cost would be $27,019 less
than the equivalent all-electric plant, and the
payback would be a very attractive 1.5 years.
Refer next to Figure 5 developed from curve
significant deviations in projected COP values,
not only at ECWT design conditions as
reflected in Figure 4, but at other part load
conditions as well.
Summary and Conclusions
In summary, if we again to Figure 4, at a 50%
part load condition one would conclude that
with an estimated COP of approximately 1.24
at an 85 ºF ECWT. If we then compare that
result extrapolated from chiller manufacturer
published ILPV values to that obtained
directly by curve fitting actually chiller
manufacturers test data already adjusted for
the effect of EWCT we will see a rather large
variation in the result.
For example, at a 50% part load condition a
design day ECWT of 85 ºF, the COP found is
significantly less at 1.01 (by approximately
19%), than that obtained from earlier
referenced ILPV values illustrated in
Figure 4. Furthermore such ILPV values are
published only at limited number of part load
conditions corresponding to 25%, 50%, 75%
and 100%, for example.
If we allow the ECWT to drop to a permissible
67.5 ºF, the estimated COP rises to 1.31 or an
increase of 30% above that available at a 85 º
F ECWT. In the absence of actual chiller
manufacturers performance data of the type
illustrated in Figure 5, however one can still
use IPLV or NPLV data, but its use is advised
only as a first approximation recognizing that
some underestimation of operating
performance will result if EWCT is allowed to
drop to levels approved by the respective gas
or electric chiller manufacturer(s).

IKK 2006
Nürnberg
18-20 October 2006
Hall 9 - Stand 9-219

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