Making Big Cuts in Cooling
Costs in Big Buildings:
A Revolution. Or Not?
You choose.
FMA
Weston, FL May 2011
Roger Richmond-Smith Chairman
Smardt Chiller Group Inc
PRESENTER BIASES
• Turbocor oil-free centrifugal (OFC) compressor technology.
- founded 1992
- six prototype generations
- launched 2003
- now more than 16,000 compressors in the field worldwide
• Smardt Chiller Group
- founded 1999 to optimize the Turbocor OFC technology in chillers
- 2300 chillers in the field (6000 compressors)
- water cooled chillers 60 TR through 1200 TR
- air cooled chillers 60 TR through 400 TR
- condenserless chillers 60 TR through 800 TR
- Kiltech chiller plant optimization systems– 82 installed
Turbocor TT300
First oil-free centrifugal compressor 60-200 TR with magnetic
bearings
Smardt oil-free centrifugal
chillers
Evaporatively
cooled
60-255tonR
Water cooled
60-1200 tonR
Air cooled
60-400 tonR
Outline this morning
• How big is the problem
• Big advances in technology
• Chiller EE a heroic opportunity
• Traditional chiller business model
• New chiller technology
• New paradigm
• Whole chiller plant EE
• Next steps
An increasingly fragile planet.
Global warming, climate instability. Kids blame us.
.
Climate change is highly visible, and human
connection beyond reasonable doubt
IPCC Third Assessment Report
April 2001
Summary For Policymakers
natural
levels
Global energy consumption
Source: EIA /IEO 2007 &
Frank Verrastro, CSIS
Liquids
Natural Gas Coal
Nuclear
Hydro/Renewables
23%
7%
26%
38%
6%
2005: 447 Quad Btu
24%
34%
28%
8% 6%
2030: 702 Quad Btu
Growing energy demand is unsustainable
Global demand grows by more than half over the next quarter of a century, with coal use rising most in absolute terms
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
billi
on to
nnes
of o
il eq
uiva
lent
Other renewables
Biomass
Hydro
Nuclear
Gas
Oil
Coal
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030
billi
on to
nnes
of o
il eq
uiva
lent
Other renewables
Biomass
Hydro
Nuclear
Gas
Oil
Coal
Imperatives for Energy Efficiency:
National and International Security
Geopolitical changes threaten energy stability.
Worldwide.
Russia
Policy Canada
Oil sands
concerns
Europe
Politics &
Pipelines
Europe
Oil & Gas
Cut Off
Iran
Nuclear
Threats
Iraq:
Unstable
North Africa
Revolutions
Latin America
Anti-US
policies
N-Korea
Nuclear
Threats
US
Disasters
China
Demand
explosion
Strait of Malacca
Piracy
Pakistan
Political
Turmoil
Source: Frank Verrastro, CSIS
Energy Efficiency at the
Nexus Economic
Objectives
Environmental
Objectives
Security &
Foreign
Policy
Objectives
Energy
Efficiency
Renewable
Energy
Nuclear
Oil
Coal
Natural
Gas
Carbon
Capture and
Storage
Affordable/Accessible
Promotes/Supports
Economic Growth &
Employment
Environmentally
Benign
Low/no
emissions
Promotes/Support
s Sustainable
Environment
Defensible
Reliable and Secure
Source: Frank Verrastro, CSIS
EE much less glamorous than renewables
but far easier and far more cost-effective
• McKinsey study: annual world-wide investment of
$170 billion in energy efficiency through 2020 can:
– cut global growth in energy demand by ½
– save $900 billion a year in avoided energy costs
– dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Source: The McKinsey Global Institute
Energy efficiency results 1970-2010
Per Capita Electricity Sales (not including self-generation)
(kWh/person)
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
19
60
19
62
19
64
19
66
19
68
19
70
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
United States
California
EE in Buildings a major opportunity for
the planet
Share of Global Energy-Related CO2 Emissions by Country (2005)
China, 19%
Russia, 6%
Japan, 4%
India, 4%
Western Europe,
13%,
Others, 32%
US Other Sectors,
13%
US Buildings, 8%
Source: Energy Information Administration
US built environment – very large energy consumer
• 40% total US energy consumption
• HVAC is biggest contributor – uses 30% of total US energy consumption
• Major user (>40%) in this category is chillers over 50 TR
• Over 50% of the total energy consumed by this sector, primarily in HVAC, is wasted (Laurence Berkeley Lab, 1998)
How to unlock the EE potential of
large chiller plants?
Chiller business model: problem
• Traditional “iceberg” model stresses lowest first cost for chillers
• Major ownership costs start after warranty expires
• Chiller companies harvest high margins from after-market parts and labor pricing
• ENERGY COST the major component
Key aspects of the problem
• Traditional chiller efficiencies calculated at 100% load (only relevant less than 4% of annual operating hours)
• Traditional capacity over-sized by 20%, as safety margin
• Traditional chiller condemned to operate inefficiently 100% of the time
• Net result: traditional chiller specification and business model is obsolete
• New chiller business model required
Key aspects of the problem
Paradigm shift imminent: driven by change in climate, energy and technology
• Increased comprehension that chiller plants in the US operate at part-load at least 96% of the time
• Increased uptake of variable-speed drives
• Oil-free centrifugal chillers (with inbuilt VSD and PFC electronics) offer annual chiller energy savings well over 30%
• Annual maintenance costs well over 50% lower
• Total cost of ownership of new-technology chillers much lower than traditional business model
Whole of life costing model: lower lifetime costs mean higher first costs
first costs
first costs
maintenance maintenance
soft start kit noise reduction
operating costs operating costs
Leading screw chiller Oil-free VFD chiller
To
tal costs
in 2
years
of opera
tion,
S. D
iego
a disadvantage
turns into
a benefit
Moves to new market paradigm
• Strong move to IPLV rather than full load as comparative chiller metric (IPLV standard is 1% @ 100%, 42% @ 75%, 45% @ 50%, 12% @ 25% load)
• Noticeable movement away from first cost to whole of life costing of chiller purchase, not only among younger engineers
Whole life cost analysis – chiller plant. Comparing the icebergs
• Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) 1998
• US DOE, ASHRAE models very similar
• 25 year lifespan is assumed
Office building: lifetime energy and
operating costs 400% of first cost
New paradigm pays back chiller cost differential 8 times. Simple
payback 4.5 years at 10c/kWh.
School 1-12: lifetime energy and operating
costs 600% of first cost
New paradigm pays back chiller cost differential 12 times. Simple
payback 3 years.
Hospital: lifetime energy and operating
costs 1200% of first cost
New paradigm pays back chiller cost differential 20 times. Simple
payback 1.5 years.
Whole life cost analysis – chiller plants
Cost elements include:
• Equipment economic life
• Energy consumption
• Utility costs
• Maintenance program
• Occupation patterns
• Taxation, tax credits, borrowing costs
• M&V
Ref: New York, McGraw-Hill 1995. Kirk & Dell’Isola. Life cycle costing for design professionals.
Whole life cost analysis – barriers to adoption
• Developer greed
• Owner ignorance
• Tenant masochism
• Competition between building stakeholders
• Artificial separation of capex and opex – planning, management and reporting
• Lack of framework and GAAP standards
• Building and systems complexity
Performance standards start to reflect the new market paradigm
• ASHRAE 90.1 – 2010: finally shifts some emphasis away from the traditional “full load” paradigm with Path A (full load) and Path B (slightly lower full load with substantially higher IPLV) – at minimum level delivers 30% energy savings over 90-1-2004.
• BUT strong resistance from numerous old-school engineers.
• New whole-building standard ASHRAE 189 – in public draft Sep 2009 – reflects design approach aligned with LEED. But process is slow.
New technology paradigm
• Oil-free variable-speed chillers offer 30+% saving on annual energy costs
• Lifetime maintenance costs cut by 50+%
• Higher first cost (around 20%)
• New focus on lifetime ownership cost
• BUT, oil-free chillers still a disruptive new technology, so market flux and uncertainty to be expected
New technology: oil-free VSD compressors move up- industry consensus
• Turbocor – first oil-free patent 1993
• Carrier/UTRC/USAF/SBIR project with hydrostatic
bearings 1995
• York series with mag bearings from 1998, new launch
now rolling out
• Trane oil-free with ceramic bearings 2002
• Mitsubishi Heavy with mag bearings in lab 2002
• Turbocor takes market lead with launch of TT300 at AHR
Expo Chicago 2003
• Daikin follows 2009
Revolutionary oil-free technology unveiled 2003, accelerating growth since then
• WC chiller IPLV .375 kW/tr
• 2 amp starting current – soft start
• 60 to 190 TR capacity range
• Homopolar magnetic bearings
• 48,000 RPM synchronous permanent
magnet direct drive motor
• fully integrated control system including
bearing and inverter (VFD) control , with
PFC
• Turbocor 2003
• McQuay 2007
• York 2010
Magnetic bearings mean no oil system
Typical IPLV comparison
• Recips:
– 0.9-1.2kw/TR (2-3 COP)
• Screws:
– 0.6-0.7kw/TR (5 COP)
• Turbocors:
– 0.4kw/TR (9 COP)
Sustainable energy efficiency with oil degradation (ASHRAE study 2002)
300 kWR (85 tR) flooded chiller
with 3% oil in refrigerant
-
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
900,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Time Period
kW
h c
on
su
mp
tio
n
Turbocor TT300 McQuay Frame 4 Screw McQuay 050K Centrifugal Trane RTUA80 Screw
Removing compressor oil removes major chiller maintenance costs
• Copeland and AHRI report that over 70% of chiller failures in the field are due to problems with compressor oil return
• Oil-free design removes 70% of conventional field service risks and costs
• Current US field reports confirm maintenance cost reduction by at least 50%
• Traditional chiller business model challenged
Oil-free centrifugal chillers now well-proven in market worldwide
• Water cooled: often use flooded shell and tube evaporator and condenser e.g. Smardt, McQuay, York
• Air cooled: e.g. Smardt
• Modular product increasing in difficult retrofit sites e.g. Smardt, Multistack
• Some markets now showing oil-free centrifugals at over 30% chiller market share by value e.g. Australia, UK, German industrial
First Turbocor beta units, California. March 2001.
Still running reliably. 41% energy savings.
AXA Insurance, Melbourne. 38%
savings
First Australian installation 2002
Sears Mall, Halifax 2005 35% year-on-year energy savings: first Canadian installation
Juvenile Hall, San Diego
.
Next steps in chiller paradigm
shift • 1. Start with oil-free centrifugal chiller
• 2. Expand variable-frequency concept to embrace whole chiller plant
Add VFD’s to pumps and tower fans
Optimize efficiency of whole chiller plant as an integrated
system
Measure and verify with calibrated instruments
Example: integration of Smardt chillers with the Kiltech
CPECS (Central Plant Energy Control System)
CPECS algorithms optimize the combination of VFD operating
speeds to deliver lowest energy consumption for the system
VFD’s save energy at part load
• ASHRAE confirms most HVAC systems run at part load more than
96% of the time; load profiles vary with type of building, function and
location. Below is a Phoenix school:
VFD’s save energy at part load
• VFD-driven centrifugal machines like pumps, centrifugal chillers &
fans offer large energy reductions when operating at part load.
• Power input is proportional to the cube of the shaft speed
• 80% of design speed means only 50% of full speed energy
• VFD chilled water plants can save energy approx 99% of the year
Power is proportional to the cube of the
shaft speed
Typical efficiency – 10yr old centrifugal
chiller plant
• typically use fixed speed chilled water pumps, chillers and tower
fans and have very little ability to reduce energy at part load.
– Chiller .8 kW/TR
– Pumps .35
– Tower fans .05
– Total: 1.24 kW/TR Chiller = 0.80 kW/Ton
Pumps = 0.35 kW/Ton
Tower Fans = 0.05 kW/Ton
Total = 1.24 kW/Ton
Typical efficiency – 2010 optimized VFD
chiller plant
• New plants operating with VFD driven chillers and cooling tower
fans, constant speed chiller pumps and VFD driven building pumps
– Chiller .40 kW/TR
– Pumps .23 kW/TR
– Tower fans .03 kW/TR
– Total plant .71 kW/TR
Chiller = 0.40 kW/Ton 0.51 kW/Ton
Pumps = 0.23 kW/Ton 0.30 kW/Ton
Tower Fans = 0.03 kW/Ton 0.04 kW/Ton
Total = 0.71 kW/Ton 0.85 kW/Ton
Premium Equipment / Standard Equipment
Optimized chiller plant – empirical data
CPECS Off
Mean =
0.79kW/Ton
CPECS On
Mean =
0.36kW/Ton
Energy comparison A
• 2010 screw plant vs 2010 CPECS & Smardt oil free
centrifugal
– 45% to 60% energy reduction based on location and type of
occupancy.
Energy comparison B
• VFD centrifugal plant vs CPECS & Smardt oil free
centrifugal
– 35% to 47% energy reduction based on location and type of
occupancy.
Summary
• The planet’s in trouble
• EE can help in a big way: investment is increasing
• Chiller plant EE can be a win of heroic proportions, but
start with the new life-cycle-costing business model
• EE-optimized chiller plants have arrived. 2300+ Smardt
oil-free centrifugal chillers, 80+ CPECS optimized plants.
• Many older HVAC engineers and building owners don’t
yet understand that the world has changed. Irreversibly.
They need help.
Revolutionary chiller technology is here. The
lifetime-costing paradigm shift has started.
The revolution
needs leaders: is
your building a
candidate?