Variable Primary Flow Systems

An alternative
chilled water system solution

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Variable Primary Flow (VPF)
systems -- Overview

 Compare primary-secondary and

VPF systems
 Why now?
 Discuss challenges of VPF systems
 Understand sequencing
 Plant configuration considerations
 Review design, installation and operation
© American Standard Inc. 2003
Primary-secondary system

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Variable Primary Flow (VPF)
System

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Primary-secondary and VPF
comparison

 Primary-secondary  VPF
 Primary pumps  No primary pumps
 Chiller and primary  Chiller and pump staging
pumps staged in not necessarily
pairs connected
 Bypass line (no  Bypass line and valve for
valve) allows minimum flow control
constant evaporator
water flow  Reduced installed cost
 Reduced operating cost

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Why consider VPF now?
 Chiller control sophistication
 First cost savings
 Pump space
 Pump wiring
 Piping and connection
 Operating cost savings
 Pumps
 Be wary of chiller claims
© American Standard Inc. 2003
VPF System
Challenges
 Limits (consult manufacturer)
 Absolute flows - Minimum and
maximum
 Flow rate changes
 Pressure drops across chiller
evaporators

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System Challenges
Minimum flow rates - selection
 Select chiller with as
low a minimum as
possible
 60% is normal for
packaged chillers
 40% or lower for
configured chillers
 Examine more passes
 Consider allowing higher
pressure drop at design
flow rate

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System Challenges
Minimum flow rates - bypass
 Method to ensure
minimum flow
 Flow measurement
 Separate bypass line
and control
 Other means

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Minimum flow and control

Either flow meter

P or
P Sensor

P

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Flow sensors
 Meter
 P Sensor

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Minimum flow and bypass control
 Control valve
 Actuator
 Flow and position proportional
 Accurate and repeatable flow
sensing devices
 Minimize control lag between the
flow sensing device and valve
 Proper bypass line sizing
 Accurate proof-of-flow device

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Minimum flow and bypass control
 Single chiller
 Retrofit

Controller

P
P

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Bypass and “value engineering”
 Don’t let anyone “value engineer”
the bypass line out of the job
 You can’t control your way out of a poor
design
 If you have problems,
it is “devalue de-engineering”

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Transition flow rate changes

off

on

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Transition flow rate changes

Variable Primary Flow System

1000
Chiller Flow

800
Rate

600
Chiller 1
400 Chiller 2

200

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000

System Flow rate

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Flow rate and
temperature difference

 Tons = gpm x T / 24
 When gpm drops by 50%, T doubles
 Until the chiller controller unloads the chiller, or…
 Until the chiller safeties unload the chiller --
by turning the chiller off

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Transition flow rate changes
Number of Flow rate
chillers operating reduction*
1 50%
2 33%
3 25%
4 20%1
5 17%
*When isolation valve opens
% Flow rate reduction = 1 – (number of chillers operating) / ((number of chillers operating + 1)

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Allowable flow rate changes
Best practices
 The higher, the better
 Transitioning from 1-2 chillers takes:
 30 minutes with a 2% allowable change
 5 minutes with a 10% allowable change
 1.6 minutes with a 30% allowable change

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Sequencing
 Transitions
 Today
 Unload operating chiller(s) prior to
starting next chiller
 Open isolation valves slowly (Kreutzmann
suggests 50-60% reduction in 3 minutes)
 Linear relationship between valve position
and flow rate
 Tomorrow
 Keep abreast of chiller control
developments

© American Standard Inc. 2003

CH530 with flow compensation
Example 2

The higher allowable change, the better

© American Standard Inc. 2003
Flow fluctuations
Outside the chiller plant
 Slow-acting valves at coils
 Stagger start/stop times

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Sequencing
 Allow chillers to load almost fully
before starting the next chiller
 Keep chillers from short-cycling

%Remaining   %RLA(operatingchillers)
NumberOperatingChillers 1

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Sequencing
Can we turn a chiller off?

Example
 3 chillers operating at 60% RLA
 Want to turn chiller off when the remaining
chillers will be 80% or less RLA
 Can we turn one off?
80%  60%  60%  60% ?
3 1

80%  90%? No
© American Standard Inc. 2003
Plant’s sequence of operation

 Written and detailed

 Full and part-load operation
 Minimum and maximum flow-
rate management
 Transient flow rate changes
 Starting and stopping chillers

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Effect of dissimilar evaporator
pressure drops
 Select evaporator pressure drops as close as
possible to one another

Flow rate Pressure drop Change

Capacity (gpm) (ft H20) %
(tons) Selection Actual Selection Actual
Chiller 1 500 750 819 12 14.3 +9.2
Chiller 2 300 450 381 20 14.3 -15.3

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF system configurations
Series arrangement
 Simple loading of
either chiller
 More efficient
 Absorption capacity
increases in
upstream position

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF system configurations
Manifolded pumps
 Redundancy
 Reduced energy
 VFD on all pumps
 Allows “overpumping”
for “Low T Syndrome”

© American Standard Inc. 2003

“Overpumping” example

Mode Flow rate Inlet Temp Outlet Temp Capacity

(gpm) (deg F) (deg F) (tons)
Design 750 56 40 500
Actual Load 1000 50 40 417
“Normal” 750 50 40 313
“Overpumped” 1000 50 40 416
Chiller

*Chiller maximum flow rate is 1400 gpm in this example

© American Standard Inc. 2003

Shift in thinking
 The pump’s job is to pump
enough water
 The chiller’s job is to make
that water cold
 Pump and chiller control can
be separated!
 Number of pumps 
Number of chillers (option)

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF system
Acceptance

 ASHRAE Technology  Others

Awards (March 2001)
 University of San Diego
 Denver, CO -
JD Edwards
 University of Arizona

 Columbus, OH -
 Las Vegas Fashion Mall
Capital University  Scores of others, large
and small

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
More information
 Http:/trane.com/commercial
/library/newsletters.asp. (1999 and 2002)
 “Don’t Ignore Variable Flow,” Waltz, Contracting Business,
July 1997
 “Primary-Only vs. Primary-Secondary Variable Flow
Systems,” Taylor, ASHRAE Journal, February 2002
 “Comparative Analysis of Variable and Constant Primary-
Flow Chilled-Water-Plant Performance,” Bahnfleth and
Peyer, HPAC Engineering, April 2001
 “Campus Cooling: Retrofitting Systems,” Kreutzmann,
HPAC Engineering, July 2002
© American Standard Inc. 2003
VPF System
Design
 Write a detailed control
sequence of operation
 Determine return on
investment
 Reduction in first costs
 Additions to first costs
 Remember the bypass
 Select good partners

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF System
Installation and operation
 Integrate system control
 Determine flow accurately
 Stay within limits
 Absolute flow rates
 Flow rate changes
 Train - and retrain -
operators

© American Standard Inc. 2003

VPF system
Summary
 Select the right components
 Chillers
 Valves and actuators
 Flow sensing devices
 Install them properly
 Define the control strategies
 Operate the plant that way

© American Standard Inc. 2003