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Improved condenser design and condenser-fan operation for air-cooled chillers

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  • Yu, F.W.
  • Chan, K.T.

Abstract

Air-cooled chillers traditionally operate under head pressure control via staging constant-speed condenser fans. This causes a significant drop in their coefficient of performance (COP) at part load or low outdoor temperatures. This paper describes how the COP of these chillers can be improved by a new condenser design, using evaporative pre-coolers and variable-speed fans. A thermodynamic model for an air-cooled screw-chiller was developed, within which the condenser component considers empirical equations showing the effectiveness of an evaporative pre-cooler in lowering the outdoor temperature in the heat-rejection process. The condenser component also contains an algorithm to determine the number and speed of the condenser fans staged at any given set point of condensing temperature. It is found that the chiller's COP can be maximized by adjusting the set point based on any given chiller load and wet-bulb temperature of the outdoor air. A 5.6-113.4% increase in chiller COP can be achieved from the new condenser design and condenser fan operation. This provides important insights into how to develop more energy-efficient air-cooled chillers.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, F.W. & Chan, K.T., 2006. "Improved condenser design and condenser-fan operation for air-cooled chillers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(6), pages 628-648, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:83:y:2006:i:6:p:628-648
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chan, K. T. & Yu, F. W., 2002. "Applying condensing-temperature control in air-cooled reciprocating water chillers for energy efficiency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(3-4), pages 565-581, July.
    2. Yu, F.W. & Chan, K.T., 2005. "Experimental determination of the energy efficiency of an air-cooled chiller under part load conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1747-1758.
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    Cited by:

    1. Piacentino, Antonio & Cardona, Ennio, 2010. "Scope Oriented Thermoeconomic analysis of energy systems. Part II: Formation Structure of Optimality for robust design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 957-970, March.
    2. Yang, L.J. & Wang, M.H. & Du, X.Z. & Yang, Y.P., 2012. "Trapezoidal array of air-cooled condensers to restrain the adverse impacts of ambient winds in a power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 402-413.
    3. Harby, K. & Gebaly, Doaa R. & Koura, Nader S. & Hassan, Mohamed S., 2016. "Performance improvement of vapor compression cooling systems using evaporative condenser: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 347-360.
    4. Yu, F.W. & Chan, K.T., 2007. "Modelling of a condenser-fan control for an air-cooled centrifugal chiller," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(11), pages 1117-1135, November.
    5. Chang, Chun-Cheng & Shieh, Shyan-Shu & Jang, Shi-Shang & Wu, Chan-Wei & Tsou, Ying, 2015. "Energy conservation improvement and ON–OFF switch times reduction for an existing VFD-fan-based cooling tower," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 491-499.

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