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Low Delta-T Syndrome in

chilled water systems
July 25, 2021 by Guest Author

Delta-T or ΔT in centralised air conditioning systems

refers to the numerical difference between chilled water
supply and chilled water return temperatures. If actual
delta T at the site is less than design delta T of the
chillers, this condition is called low delta-T syndrome.
Low delta T syndrome can be detrimental to overall
energy efficiency of the chiller plant as well as
equipment life.

Cause

Low Delta T syndrome is typically caused by lowering of

return chilled water temperature due to inefficient
transfer of heat.
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 Effect

Low ΔT can lead to improper sequencing of chillers

(operating more chillers than necessary) and pumps,
and consequently increased energy expenditures.

Typical triggers of low delta T syndrome

1. Oversized equipment

If coils and vales are not sized properly, appropriate

transfer of heat will not take place, resulting in lower
return chilled water temperatures.

2. Scaling and fouling of coils due to improper

maintenance

If maintenance is not carried out properly, heat transfer

surfaces can get damaged which in turn affects the
exchange of heat.

3. Improper balancing

Incorrect hydronic balancing can result in wasted

pumping efforts during partial load conditions. This can
cause lower return temperatures.

4. Increased pumping of water

Improper flow values can also lead to low delta t

syndrome.

Explanation for the effect

The quantitative relationship between heat transfer and

temperature change is governed by the formula:

Q= mc ΔT
:
 Where:

Q= Chiller load in kW
m= Mass flow rate of chilled water in kg/s
C or Cp= Specific heat capacity of water= 4.186 kJ/kgK
ΔT= Temperature difference between chilled water
supply and return

Consider the example of a theoretical building chilled

water system of the following type:

Total Design Load= 1000 TR

No. of chillers= 4 (250 TR each)
CHWS= 6°C (Chilled water supply temperature)
CHWR= 12°C (Chilled water return temperature)
Design ΔT= 12-6=6

The building has 8 floors, each with a cooling

requirement of 125 TR.

Flow rate calculation:

M=Q/ (Cp* ΔT)

;M= Mass flow rate of chilled water

:
 ;Q= Heat load or in this case, total chiller plant
capacity=1000TR

;Cp=4.186

; ΔT=6

Thus,

M=1000/ (4.186*6)
=39.82 kg/s

Convert mass flow rate to volume flow rate:

VFR=MFR/Density
=39.82/998.2
=.039 m3/s=.039*60 m3/min=2.39 m3/min = 2.39*264
GPM=631.37 ~ 632 GPM.

Therefore, chilled water flow rate required = 632 GPM.

Flow rate for each floor= 632/8=79 GPM

Consider 2 cases:

1. Operation at full load

At full load condition, 6°C water that enters the terminal

equipment (AHU, FCU, etc.) or ‘load’ will absorb heat
from the load and increase its temperature to 12°C.
Therefore all 79 GPM of chilled water supply will flow
through the coil without bypassing across the 3-way
valve. In this case, delta T across chiller will be 6.

2. Operation at partial load

At partial load, when the requirement drops to half, the

3-way valves allow bypass of the chilled water and
thereby limit flow through cooling coil. This bypass lets
:
 6°C water mix directly with 12°C return line. Consider
50% of chilled water supply is bypassed at 50% load
(This figure is taken for simplicity of calculation. In actual
practice more than 50% of chilled water is bypassed for
meeting a 50% partial load.). In this case, around 39.5
GPM of water is bypassed.

Thus, temperature of return chilled water line reduces

to

(39.5*6+39.5*12)/79=9

Actual ΔT=9-6= 3

This new ΔT of 3 has an important implication as it has

now changed the loaded capacity of the chillers.

Chiller loading= ΔTA/ ΔTD

; ΔTA= Actual Delta T

; ΔTD= Design Delta T

Chiller Loading= 9/12= 0.75

The typical chiller which has a tonnage rating of 250 TR

now has a usable capacity of only 75% of its original
rating which is (.75*250) 187.5 TR.

If 4 out of 8 floors are vacant with 0 load, the total

cooling requirement reduces to 500 TR. This
requirement of 500 TR can be met with 2 chillers ideally
(250*2), but due to low delta T syndrome, chiller
capacities are reduced and hence 3 chillers need to be
operated to meet the load. This results in increased
energy usage and consequently greater operational
costs.

Discover more from Stout Energy- Energy Efficiency for Buildings

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