CHILLED WATER SYSTEMS – YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW

Peter Phillips, F.AIRAH, M.ASHRAE

Principal, PCES Consulting Pty Ltd
Email: [email protected]

About the Author

Peter Phillips has over 40 years’ experience consulting and contracting in the
HVAC industry. Currently, he works as an engineering consultant,
providing investigative master-planning documents for an array of clients
and situations.

Abstract
When invited to investigate opportunities for rejuvenation of chilled-water systems, how far do we
look into yesterday? And, how many opportunities are there for tomorrow?
The paper presents an overview of technical capacity engagement, encountered defects, intuative
assessment, engineering validation tools and simple expressions of lifecycle modelling to prepare
customers for their commitment to the future of their building’s chilled water system.
There are several options for the engagement of engineering resources. Identifying which delivery
methodology best suits a property owner will set the potential for successful engagement.
Employing skill sets able to identify issues potentially affecting perceptions of past system
performance, and capable of identifying future responsibilities and opportunities of viable options,
should provide a confident basis for adoption of a fulfilling chilled water system rejuvenation
strategy.

Introduction
When invited to investigate opportunities for refurbishment of chilled water systems, how far do we
look into yesterday and how many opportunities do we present for tomorrow? As a building owner
there are several options for engagement of engineering services to identify potential solutions.
Some delivery methodologies pass the immediate test but many fail to realize their full potential to
deliver tomorrow’s needs.
This paper will present an overview of engagement practices and potential consequences. Issues to
be discussed will include identification of yesterday’s mistakes, intuative engineering assessment
and tomorrow’s balance of capital expenditure recurrent costs. An overview of engineering
validation tools and simple expressions of life cycle modelling will be included. Reporting options
based on a balance of information, should prepare the client for their commitment to the future of
their building’s chilled water system.
The paper does not seek to provide answers, only questions for self evaluation. Whether you have
an intimate knowledge of some or all of the issues, or not, perhaps the questions raised, may assist
you in determining a better solution for your next chilled water system rejuventaiton evaluation.

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Is now the right time?
There have been and will continue to be several potential methods of customer engagement with
industry to provide a solution for rejuvenation of chilled water systems. We could simply consider
that any of the following could drive a chiller replacement strategy; the chiller is old, inefficient,
outdated, becoming unreliable, too costly to repair, has an outdated refrigerant.
Each issue can have relevance, but what should be in our customer’s mind is that today’s
contemplation will have to deliver performance for potentially another 15 to 25 years.
Should it be just as simple as to ring up your local chiller agent and ask them to come out and
provide an old for new replacement?
If we cast our minds back 25 years, many considerations then, were different to today’s
opportunities. New compressors, refrigerants, methods of heat rejection, energy recovery, capacity
control, part load opportunities, responsibilities to tenants for energy efficiency ratings, all need to
enter into our review process.
As an engineer, in my mind, the most important issue is the long term viability of the advice about
to be offered.

Tasking the brief

The customer can engage expertise in any of the following fashions; to ask the current service
contractor to provide a quote to replace the chiller, to ask the existing chiller manufacturer to
provide a quote, to contact an installation contractor experienced in this type of work, to invite the
original designer back, to enlist the facility manager, to communicate with a professional
engineering consultant.
Any of the following could typify a concern for a customer’s engagement of expertise:
- Does the current service contractor have sufficient expertise and experience to step
into a role to identify solutions needed to remedy a perception of issues hampering
the system?
- Does the chiller manufacturer have a cost effective industry leading product?
- Would the contractor look far enough into what may be presented?
- Would the original designer admit that there are compromises within the design?
- Does the facility manager have a depth of knowledge for chiller plant design to
propose the most advantageous solution?
- Will the professional engineering consultant place somebody with the level of
expertise required to sift through aspects of operation to determine all issues
needing to be rectified?
We can consider,‘how well has the chilled water system operated to provide conditioning expected
for the building’s purpose?’ We should also consider, ‘will the expectation of the system or
purpose for the building change through the anticipated life of the chilled water system?’ Answers
to these questions should lead the customer or the customer’s agent toward the level of expertise
required and potentially where the expertise may be found.
Constructing a brief for engagement of expertise for rejuvenation of the chilled water plant should
provide a customer perspective of specific issues to be investigated and resolved. Setting tasks
within a brief should establish a ‘must have’ attitude to investigation and report findings.

Expectation of expertise
It should not really matter which path the customer takes if we ignore potential consequences of
sole sourcing. What is important is engagement professionalism of the engineer involved. If we

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consider Engineers Australia’s code of ethics (https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/resource-
centre/resource/code-ethics-199472-a5-brochure-4-pg) there are four core attitudes to exhibit
professional conduct; to demonstrate integrity, to practise competently, to exercise leadership, to
promote sustainability. AIRAH’s code of ethics extends these qualities and includes the obligation
to act as faithful agents or trustees. Whether you are member of an association governed by a code
or not, when assessing a strategy for a chiller replacement, employing a level of expertise and
commitment to customer’s needs should expand knowledge of the system’s past performance and
future opportunities. Potentially many more questions need to be asked about the system other than
the initial engagement discussion with the customer.

Expertise engagement
There are several options for the engagement of engineering intellectual responsibility to determine
a strategy for refurbishment of a customer’s chilled water systems. Identifying which delivery
methodology best suits the property owner’s needs will set the tone for success potential. Should
we rely upon direct engagement practices or do disconnected delivery methodologies with abstract
engineering objectives provide the right solution?
Many chilled water system have inconsistencies within their operational responsibility. A common
theme for causes of inconsistencies (potentially defects) identified is a perceived urgency to reduce
cost. Whether it to be to win a fee or tender, to maximize contractor of consultant profit, or a lack
of expertise of a past customer off loading responsibility, it behoves our professionalism to
investigate, consider, express and counsel our customers to make the correct informed decision.
Life cycle expectations of our rejeventation strategy may not be realized if latent defects within an
existing design, continue to affect operation of the chilled water system and associated air handling
systems.
There have been changes to the methods for engaging expertise. In the past, industry has generally
adopted a direct engagement approach. More recently there has been an abbreviated and somewhat
disconnected approach to development of outcome. In the past, customers retained ‘in house’
intellectual resources attuned to the ‘whole of life’ needs of assets held. More recently customers
have divested their asset responsibility to ‘out of reach’ resources. Collectively we have become
abstract in our definition of performance objectives, potentially exposing risk in the establishment
of fulfilling an expectation of value.
How much value do we bring to a system predicament with a design and construct engagement
model? Can a lowest cost fee proposal, or contractor tender, with any certainty, be the most
advantageous in pursuit of a satisfying conclusion? Can a contractor with profitability in mind,
search far enough, to remedy all potential defects and opportunities that may arise?
To achieve any potential for task fulfilment, a customer should provide an informative brief,
targeted, to engage with appropriate technical skill sets. Engagement with expertise may be staged,
but for a satisfying conclusion, engagement should never be abbreviated.

Review of existing systems

A keen sense of observation is required when assessing operational characteristics of an existing
chiller system toward developing a rejuvenation strategy.
I have observed many defective concepts and consequences of plant design, construction,
commissioning, operation and maintenance that affect how the chilled water system is operating.
The following and potentially many other considerations, should be part of the initial customer
contact;

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  Does the chiller have sufficient capacity to offset load?
 Does the chiller selection cope with part load performance?
 Are there any repeated chiller or supplementary plant failures?
 Is there sufficient heat rejection potential?
 Are there part load energy efficiency strategies associated with the chilled water system?

Common issues encountered include;

 small volume recirculating loops causing unstable capacity delivery

 capacity gaps within chiller selections
 unstable field capacity delivery strategies causing fluctuating return chilled water temperature
conditions
 poorly constructed bypass valve control strategies
 poorly constructed chiller stage energize and de-energize sequences
 poor primary and secondary header construction causing preferential feeding
 poorly designed COP splitting configurations
 unstable part load energy efficiency strategies
 disconnected external control, interlock signals and safeties
 manual mode automatic control sequences
 undersized pumps
 fouled heat exchangers
 cooling tower airflow recirculation
 cooling tower fill degradation, and the list goes on.

If issues of a potentially defective nature are not exposed during investigation, we are collectively at
risk of only committing to a partial rejuvenation of the system.
A discussion with our incumbent stakeholders should be an early tool used by our investigating
engineer. Our plant operators, equipment service technicians, BMS service technicians, plant
managers and others should be sought out to assist with our investigation. Site documents in the
form of operating and maintenance instructions, maintenance log books, breakdown and call out
vouchers, BMS event and trend logs and other means of potential issue identification should be
reviewed.
We should also discuss the customer’s expectations of the system and any anticipated changes of
responsibility the system may need to support in the future.
Establishing existing system condition and responsibility for the future, will provide guidance for
the construciton of options for chilled water system rejuvenation.

Potential remedies
The following generalisms, presented in brief, represent potential deficiencies and remedies
commonly encountered when assessing chilled water systems.
Small volume recirculating loops that cause unstable capacity delivery: Too often within large
central air handling systems with local plantrooms, small volume systems exhibit unstable operating
characteristics. This is especially true where leaving air temperature control underscores VAV
thermal delivery. There has been a tendency to abandon the use of three way AHU chilled water

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control valves , this increases reliance on field bypass valves. Short circulation volumes and ‘fast’
acting control loops and control valves can place the chilled water circulation system into
abbreviated loop mass flow hysteresis. Swinging load returning to the chiller can cycle compressor
capacity response placing chilled water flow temperature into erratic load tracking creating chaos.
Compressors can cycle off and the situation results in unreliable performance. Generally the
solution is to slow the system down to let it find a response time frame. Replacing some existing
two way valves with three way valves will expand the effective system volume to increase response
volume.
Capacity gaps within chiller selections: Perhaps the system has already had a chiller replaced. A
new high load chiller with increased capacity without an improved low load capability, may result
in a staging capacity gap. Inadequate overlap of chiller capacity delivery capability will invoke
chiller staging cycling, this leads to system instability. This in turn aggravates space thermal
control strategies which results in chaotic behaviour within the chilled water system. A solution
could be to introduce active thermal inertia. Energy can be stored within an expanded system
volume to shift load and capacity. Appropriately sized, active thermal inertia can supplement low
load chiller capacity prior to staging up and extend high load chiller capacity utilization prior to
staging down.
Chiller water system staging scenarios: Often systems only utilize a single initiator to stage up or
down the plant. Many issues can occur within systems that should trigger a requirement for
additional capacity. A compressor may be off line through fault or maintenance lock out, this will
not invoke an electrical or thermal load, next stage signal. Nor will a chiller operating with head
pressure stress, its full load current may not be achieved preventing the next staging signal. Other
forms of staging initiation that should be considered include; chilled water flow temperature set
point not achieved, reverse flow within a primary/secondary system de-coupler. Each next stage
condition initiator will require a complimentary step back initiator. Stability of staging sequence is
essential. Staging sequences should incorporate timers to permit establishment of hydraulic and
chiller loading stability.
Hydraulic design or installation, irregular flow characteristics, inadequate thermal mixing: These
issues can have dire consequences on flow paths. Preferential feeding can deprive field connections
of temperature related capacity capability and prevent chillers from realizing load balance.
Characteristic of errors within the hydraulic construct may be intermittent and not obvious.
However the results of these errors can explain other system defects. Our solutions should include,
keep flow within headers in a single direction, keep sufficient length within mixing sections and add
turbulators. We should remember that a header has purpose and is not just a bigger pipe to connect
other pipes.
Chiller capacity temperature splitting, COP splitting: This is a beneficial concept, however, care
should be taken with series and parallel path designs, particularly with unequal capacity chillers.
Part load energy efficiency strategies: There are many part load efficiency strategies supported by
modern chiller manufacturers and advocated by designers. However cascading safeties, control
ranges and control stability need to be atuned to chiller internal strategies. Too often, focus of
instability of operation, is directed toward the chiller manufacturer. However, the actual cause of
chiller instability, can often be energy efficiency strategies. I have seen many instances where
strategies attempting to exact the last small opportunity for efficiency, fall short of achieving stable
operation of the system. The chiller is the ‘big dog’ of the system, treat it with respect, slow down
those efficiency strategies that should be subservient to chiller internal strategies. This should
ensure the chiller tracks actual load and not fluctuating loads that control hysteresis can impose.
Operator or service technician intervention: When a system is failing to meet the operator or
service technician’s performance expectations, there is a temptation to drive an element of the plant
manually. In the worst extreme of this, safeties are removed from their intervention effectiveness.

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Also, a seemingly innocent manual operation of a plant item can remove the system’s most
important energy efficiency strategy. ‘Tagging off’ any potentially defective elements of operation
without care, identification and approval from the customer, can have dire consequences for system
performance and energy efficiency.
Hydraulic capacity: Often a lack of hydraulic capacity finds its way into systems. We have a
chilled water plant that is relatively easy to tap into. We also have set points that are not always
adequately understood. Blaming a lack of chiller capacity should be tempered with a review of
potential rogue situations that are driving the inference.
Condensed volume heat exchangers: We have embraced cost effectiveness of condensed
volume/high surface area heat exchangers (plate heat exchangers). These space beneficial items of
plant incorporate multiple small orifice traps for unwanted debris, they can easily become fouled.
Heat rejection or refrigeration effect heat transfer can be impaired, sometimes suddenly, without
apparent cause. Strainers and water treatment practices need to be reviewed to ensure appropriate
particulate screening and water quality is being maintained.
Cooling tower effectiveness: Cooling towers are often the least item of importance considered
within a chilled water system evaluation, where in reality, they are potentially the most important.
Inadequate sizing, poor water distribution, a lack of airflow, recirculating airflow and deteriorating
fill, will starve the chiller of its opportunity to perform. Modern chillers combat high head pressure
with capacity trimming. The chiller may be in a self protection mode, still operating, but not
fulfilling its strategized responsibility. Halting chiller operation with HP safety intervention,
generally, now requires a more substantial set of circumstances. The solution is, keep cooling
towers operating effectively, monitor flows and temperature differentials.

Capital or recurrent expenditure

Understanding a customer’s attitudes toward capital and recurrent expenditure is an important part
of our engineering responsibility. Often our customer’s present tenants are paying the building’s
recurrent expenses. But what is our responsibility to future tenants? We have energy efficiency
rating systems in place to alert tenants to their potential utility costs. However, when our customer
places little regard for recurrent expenditure and focuses only on immediate remedial action costs,
where do we find ourselves as engineers? How much guidance from AS4183, Value Management,
can we determine?
We can identify the project’s obvious and potential stakeholders, they are organizations and
individuals influencing the situation at hand, and, our potential predicaments for the future life of a
chilled water system. As engineers we are tasked to provide solutions. We generally evaluate the
immediate issues with relative ease, but what about future needs, reliability, serviceability,
manufacturer support, market acceptance and recurrent costs?
How much effort do we place in our abilities to not presenting the easy solution?
How far will you go to repeatedly and reiteratively recommend or endorse the lowest capital spend,
potentially venturing toward defective design?
But what tools can we employ to justify our recommendations?
Energy modelling of chilled water systems needs to be informative for the designer by way of
yesterday’s operational characteristics, today’s engineering solutions and tomorrow’s rewards on
financial investment.
Presentation of information, within an engineering depiction of opportunities, to clients, who often
have only a capital cost view of opportunities, is a challenge. The better the tool, the better the
presentation, the better the potential to achieve the desired outcome.
The following examples of tools, and many others, can share the justification journey to assist with
our self assessed options and customer assessed options.

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Figure 1 indicates modelling feed in information from a chiller manufacturer. There are recognized
information presentation standards that assist in evaluating how chillers could be expected to
perform. Understanding how a chiller will perform at full load and at part load will suggest its
potential for incorporation into option development.

Figure 1. Chiller Manufacturer Energy Efficiency Profiles

Figure 2 indicates an expression of manufacturer information as it could be applied to anticipated

operating scenarios for the installed chiller. Developing manufacturer information into probable
load profiles and operational profiles will add relevance to the potential for incorporation into
option consideration.

Figure 2. Applied Chiller Energy Efficiency Profiles

Figure 3 indicates how energy efficiency strategies effect system performance potential.
Combining supplementary plant and potential operational characteristics will assist with the
determination of whether the option has a balanced approach to energy efficiency through the
anticipated ambient profile.

Figure 3. Applied System Energy Efficiency Profiles

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Figure 4 indicates an annualized anticipated plant energy consmption profile. Combining plant
efficiency profiles with ambient frequency profiles will indicate whether additional focus could be
required to address particular ambient based efficiency strategies to further effect minimization of
annual energy consumption.

Figure 4. Plant Energy Consumption Profiles

Figure 5 indicates anticipated recurrent costs over the course of an anticipated plant life.
Establising relevance of projected utility costs and routine and overhaul costs, will assist in option
evaluation.

Figure 5. Recurrent Cost Comparisons

Figure 6 indicates a cumulative cost comparison of two options explored. In this example,
additional capital cost expenditure of the reduce recurrent cost option, is anticipated to be returned
within the third to fourth year of operation. This provides the customer with an indication how
whole of life expenditure may effect an alterate approach to capital expenditure.

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 Figure 6. Cumulative Cost Comparisons

Fugure 7 indicates a tabulated representation of potential life costs for options explored.
Summarizing potential options should provide a susinct review of information to aid in the
assessment of options.

System System COP Potential Life Cycle Cost

MEPS Air Cooled 2.8 $11.3M
Air Cooled Chillers 2.5 $12.1M
Water Cooled Chillers 3.9 $8.5M
Water Cooled Chillers with Energy Efficiency Strategies 4.1 $6.9M
Figure 7. Tabulated Options Data

Potentially defective self assessed options, should not be incorporated into submissions to our
customer. Only opportunities that can be both justified and endorsed by ‘you, the engineer’ with a
stamp of confidence and a signature of responsibility, should be presented to your customer.

Engineering recommendation
How broad should the options for presentation be? How narrow do we confine our options to
satisfy our individual preference? How far should our report position the customer to make the
right choice?
These are all questions for your relationship with the customer.
Each option should have purpose, presenting the best option toward the purpose identified will
provide confidence toward an informed customer decision.
What is certain, if engagement is ineffective within the opportunity situation, potentially a naïve
unilateral presentation of assumed facts may result in somebody else fixing up an abbreviated
assessment.

Characteristics of chiller and system operation

If we now ask ourselves, ‘what is the existing chiller performance scenario?’ Simplistically we
consider it as a coolth generation machine with a thermal capacity rating. But what other factors
have been contemplated through the life of the machine?
Many hands have had an influence over the design and installation. The designer may have
considered its cycle off capability and the design peak heat load. The sales team may have

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considered its name plate selection. The commissioning technicians, BMS programmers and
service technicians may have limited the chilled water system’s performance potential. And then
we have a chiller’s present operating capability. We can then generally ask the facility manager,
‘does the chiller do what you need it to do?’
Figure 8 indicates potential chiller selection and operating characteristics. Where a chiller sits with
its performance characteristics is a consideration for its potential replacement.

Figure 8. Chiller Selection and Operating Considerations

This simplistic representation of capacity delivery potential indicates a stable operation cycle off
capacity at one extreme, and a limited performance potential at the other extreme, relative to
ambient dry bulb temperature. The colour bar suggests ease of operation in the blue zone
graduating to a machine at stress in the red zone.
Dry bulb temperature is not the only operating criteria, particularly for water cooled machines.
Ambient wet bulb affects cooling tower heat rejection potential and moisture content affects AHU
thermal load presented to the chiller.
Figure 9 indicates how ambient and conditioned space moisture content may affect a chiller plant’s
potential performance. The green to red scale indicates a progression of potential additional latent
cooling demand from air handling units on chiller capacity, and wet bulb stress on the heat rejection
capability of cooling towers.

Figure 9. Potential Moisture Content Effect on Chiller Preformance

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Ambient loads and space loads on air handling units, chillers and cooling towers are dynamic.
Control systems put into practice what is difficult to depict graphically. System performance does
have operational limitations.
We do expect the chiller and its supportive plant to establish an equilibrium relationship of load to
capacity. This is often a challenge for the commissioning and service technicians, potentially in
association with guidance from an experienced plant engineer. However, it is not uncommon to
witness instability within chilled water mass flow control valves and chilled water reset strategies
that results in load/capacity hysteresis. The extreme manifestation of this is, chillers cycling on
internal compressor shut down and restart routines, which in turn exaggerates control hysteresis.
If we consider load presentation, air handling unit heat exchangers utilize chilled water mass flow
and approach differential to absorb heat load. Cold cooling is common practice, we deliver a
chilled water temperature below the desired condition space dew point and latent cooling is
afforded to the space, generally however, through a space dry bulb temperature control strategy.
Figure 10 attempts to depict AHU heat exchanger performance. The purple graduation indicates an
increasing sensible capacity performance of the heat exchanger relative to increasing dry bulb
temperature stress. The orange graduation depicts a potential latent cooling responsibility the space
may require as a result of ambient related moisture content stress. The red curve indicates the
potential heat exchanger operational characteristic to achieve both sensible and latent cooling.
Ambient related moisture content stress above the red curve suggests that occupants may
experience discomfort.

Figure 10. AHU Heat Exchanger Performance

Generally discomfort associated with a lack of performance from our air handling unit heat
exchangers results in a service technician’s most common remedy, to ‘lower the set point’. This
consequentially employs additional energy to simulate an alternate comfort scenario. This will
generally continue until the next discomfort complaint or system review.
Chilled water reset is an energy efficiency strategy commonly used to create chiller energy
efficiency. However the consequence of this, particularly if there is no relevance in the strategy to
potential ambient latent load, is a diminishment of heat exchanger latent cooling performance,
particularly during instances of low sensible load. Chilled water reset typically pulls the red heat
exchanger performance curve in Figure 10 closer to the purple sensible cooling capacity profile.
What becomes evident, within this mode of performance representation, is the depiction of latent
cooling demand continuing to exist whilst the dry bulb temperature driven cooling strategy is
satisfying only deviation of dry bulb from set point. This under satisfied cooling demand is one

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cause for discomfort within our conventional dry bulb only simulation of presumed occupant
comfort.
If we now turn our thoughts to how this overlays onto our more traditional representation, our
psychrometric plot. Figure 11 attempts to indicate AHU chilled water coil performance relative to
its potential approach to saturation.

Figure 11. AHU Chilled Water Coil Performance - Air On, Stress Capacity Balance

Higher air on coil conditions to the right and above set point depict an increase in ambient related
sensible and latent loads. As ambient dry bulb temperature load reduces, our chilled water coil’s
ability to satisfy latent loads reduces, resulting in moisture content stress for occupants.
Our AHU chilled water coils generally experience impairment through their operational life. Over
time, if there is ineffective maintenance, heat exchangers become fouled. Too often, a lack of
particulate filtration efficiency and cleaning and replacement rigor, fouls the coil, thereby
progressively diminishing heat transfer potential. Our under maintained cooling coils will fall short
of their peak load performance expectation. Often, as designers we have not fully appreciated the
design life of our plant selection. As an industry we select plant to a ‘limitation of performance’.
There are many systems that are experiencing not only lack of maintenance performance
degradation, but also a lack of vision from the designer.
We also, through economic imperative and engineering expertise, ‘abbreviate our opportunity’ for
one of the most critical aspects of design, the heat exchanger potential of our chilled water coils.
We have a practice of under-sizing and incorrectly evaluating performance expectations of our heat
exchangers, particularly our cold cooling chilled water coils.
We pay for copper and aluminium within heat exchangers, only once, in their substantial life role
within the system, however, poorly selected heat exchangers drive our through life coolth
generation energy efficiency.
Figure 12 indicates a looming expectation that our heat exchangers should preform beyond their
anticipated responsibility.

Figure 12. Increasing Expectation on Chilled Water Coil Performance

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Increasing ambient dry bulb and moisture content loads are becoming more relevant within our
assessment of load stress upon chilled water systems.
The potential for climate change to exaggerate the frequency and duration of load stress on our
systems is a topical issue. Increasing heat loads and reducing heat rejection potential exacerbate
anxiety of our occupants, maintenance crews, facility managers and corporate executives to varying
degrees.
We must ask ourselves, whilst reviewing an opportunity to renew a plant, ‘what pressure does the
system endure’ and ‘do I have the responsibility to simply replace like for like, or to drive a future
based solution?’
Figure 13 indicates the potential future perfomance expectations on chilled water coils. An
expansion of operating durations with higher energy content (enthalpy) air on coil conditions will
exacerbate load stress.

Figure 13. Potential Future Performance Expectations on Chilled Water Coils

When assessing a replacement strategy, there is potentially marginal value in just ‘throwing
additional chiller capacity at it’. Although potentially easing stresses on the new chiller, additional
capacity, unable to be effectively delivered through air handling units, may not achieve the
advocated need for additional capital investment.
Replacing all the AHU chilled water coils to deliver additional capacity may not be cost effective
and may not effect a substantial improvement. Our design supply airflows may become our
limiting factor. Often our supply air flows are based on a psychrometric solution limitation and not
an air change effectiveness scenario. There is a potential solution to offset additional fabric load
through lowering chilled water temperature and ‘pulling’ the supply air temperature down with it to
satisfy space condition set points. This however reduces energy efficiency potential of the chiller
plant.
An alternate solution could be to install additional heat exchangers to precondition the now ‘hotter
than expected’ outdoor air stream. Dedicated outdoor air systems are becoming commonplace in
recent new construction projects. The benefits of dew point control is discussed within industry
journals and design guides with increasing frequency and urgency.
Rejuvenating chilled water systems with supportive outdoor air preconditioning heat exchangers
will deliver needed capacity, satisfy cooling loads and potentially relieve load stress for occupants.
Figure 14 indicates the potential benefit of installation of an outdoor air preconditioner selected and
operated to satisfy latent load stress. The orange graduated zone indicates potential control of
moisture content through installation of an outdoor air pre-conditioner responding to a dew point
motivated capacity control strategy.

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 Figure 14. Potential Outdoor Air Preconditioning

This method of capacity support will, not only provide additional cooling capacity in response to
exaggerated and prolonged high ambient exposure, but will also improve part load energy
efficiency strategies, and, improve occupant comfort through the range of AHU heat chilled water
coil response to sensible and latent load.

Summary
When invited to investigate opportunities for rejuvenation of chilled water systems, we should
adopt a responsibility commensurate with potential difficulties existing within the system
encountered. We should also engage with a stated and implied responsibility to the system’s future
role.
Our customers can engage with industry expertise through a variety of means, from chiller
manufacturers, to installing contractors, to consulting engineers, but what is important for our
customer, is to engage with a competent person who is committed to execute obligations acting as
faithful agents for customer and as intellectual trustees of the plant.
Existing chilled water systems and chillers may be operating in a defective manner. A common
theme for defective work is a perceived urgency to reduce cost. Cost reductions have short and
long term effects on system performance.
It behoves our professional imperatives to investigate, consider, express and counsel our customers
to make the correct, informed decision. Our customers share in this responsibility and should
provide an informative brief, targeted to engage engineering skill sets appropriate to task
complexity.
Our engaged engineers should have observational and communication skills commensurate with the
perceived complexity of issues potentially affecting system operation. Active communication with
stakeholders including technicians, facility managers and decision makers should lead our engineers
to issues for consideration and solution recommendation.
There are common issues to be encountered with recent system design. Many issues stem from our
previous collective ‘cost effective’ attitude to decision making and engagement with appropriate
expertise.
If issues of potential defect are not exposed, our system investigation may result in a continuance of
operating difficulties, thereby rendering an opportunity for a fulfilling system rejuvenation
potentially impotent.
We should express options that identify purpose to permit confident endorsement. We can offer
options for effectiveness with capital, or, recurrent bias, or a mix thereof. Identifying capital
expenditure efficient options may satisfy immediate customer needs, identifying recurrent
expenditure efficient options may satisfy tenant needs. What is important, is identifying options
that can justified, incorporating needs of reliability, serviceability, manufacturer support and

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downstream acceptance. Identifying criteria for a ‘value’ assessment of design opportunities should
lead us to construct viable options. Use of evaluation tools including engineering and economic
modelling and charting, aid option development, evaluation and determination.
System and chiller evaluation needs an appreciation of other factors, potentially more intuitive than
obvious. How chilled water systems deliver capacity to variable load scenarios may lead us to
resolving understated system perceptions. The effects of prolonged ambient extremes on air
handling systems and chiller capacity, and potential part load comfort shortcomings, may lead us to
recommend supplementing air handling systems to achieve desirable system enhancements.

Conclusion
When embarking upon a path toward a chilled water system rejuvenation, there are several options
for the engagement of engineering resources. Identifying which delivery methodology best suits a
property owner will set the potential for a successful engagement.
Employing skill sets able to identify issues potentially affecting perceptions of past system
performance, and capable of identifying future responsibilities and opportunities of viable options,
should provide a confident basis for adoption of a fulfilling chilled water system rejuvenation
strategy.

AIRAH’s Pre-Loved Buildings Forum 2017, Sydney, August 3. 15