Cu0117 An Industrial Cooling v2 PDF
Cu0117 An Industrial Cooling v2 PDF
Cu0117 An Industrial Cooling v2 PDF
APPLICATION NOTE
INDUSTRIAL COOLING
Nico Vanden Broeck, Laborelec
October 2011
Issue: 02
Document History
Disclaimer
While this publication has been prepared with care, European Copper Institute and other contributors provide
no warranty with regards to the content and shall not be liable for any direct, incidental or consequential
damages that may result from the use of the information or the data contained.
Reproduction is authorised providing the material is unabridged and the source is acknowledged.
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................... 2
Conclusions................................................................................................................................................... 15
References .................................................................................................................................................... 15
Cooling is very expensive, so it is important that it is used only where necessary, and that only the most
efficient technology is used. For thermodynamic reasons, the energy efficiency of a cooling system increases
with decreasing temperature differential. It is therefore crucial to keep this differential as low as possible.
Three main types of cooling systems prevail in industrial environments: dry cooling, evaporative cooling, and
compression cooling. This paper explains their main working principles and characteristics. Other types, such
as absorption cooling, gas expansion, and thermo-electric cooling, are not treated in this application guide
because of their limited presence in industry.
Each system has its own application domain. The choice of the right cooling system is one of the important
initial decisions that must be taken in order to achieve maximum energy efficiency. Furthermore, this paper
discusses several specific energy saving actions for each of the three cooling systems.
Significant energy savings can be made by installing variable frequency drives on fans (dry cooling, evaporative
cooling), pumps (evaporative cooling, compression cooling), and compressors (compression cooling).
The following rules of thumb are the basis for any industrial cooling concept:
Three main types of cooling plant satisfy 90% of the industrial market: dry cooling, evaporative cooling, and
compression cooling (chiller). The useful temperature ranges of the three main types of cooling are illustrated
in Figure 1.
T (°C)
DRY COOLING
40
35
EVAPORATIVE COOLING
(open, closed, hybrid,…)
25
20
COMPRESSION COOLING
(CHILLER)
(aircooled, watercooled)
Figure 1: Main types of cooling and their usual operating temperature ranges.
This type of cooling is used when the required low temperature is above the ambient air temperature, even if
only a few degrees.
Typical applications include the cooling system of compressors and condensers in chiller installations.
The lowest attainable temperature depends on the dry temperature of the ambient air. The dry air
temperature is the temperature of the air measured with a thermometer freely exposed to the air but
shielded from radiation and moisture.
A large heat exchanging surface between the ambient air and the intermediate cooling medium is
needed.
The fans have a relatively high electrical energy consumption compared to those of a cooling tower
Relative humidity is measured using wet and dry bulb thermometers. The wet bulb thermometer is covered
with a sock and kept wet—that is, at a 100% relative humidity—by means of a wick and a water reservoir. The
dry bulb thermometer measures the temperature while freely exposed to the air, but shielded from radiation
and moisture. The relative humidity of the air can be derived from the difference between the wet bulb and
dry bulb temperatures using standard thermodynamic charts.
On dry summer days when the dry bulb temperature is above 25 °C, the fluid can be cooled typically to
temperatures around 21 °C.
A disadvantage is the additional water cost. It consists of a water treatment cost and a cost for replacing water
losses. The latter can be substantial with large cooling towers.
The water that needs to be cooled is sprayed in at the top of the cooling tower and falls due to gravity. Air,
drawn upwards by the fan, makes contact with the falling water. The water partially evaporates absorbing heat
from the remaining droplets. The cooled water is collected in a water reservoir under the cooling tower, ready
to be returned to the process.
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Issue Date: October 2011
Figure 3: Schematic diagram of an open cooling tower.
Evaporative condensers are integrated into many types of systems. The vapour to be condensed is circulated
through a coil, which is continually wetted on the outside by a recirculation water system, similar to that of an
The closed cooling tower has working principles similar to those of the evaporative condenser. The only
difference is that the medium cooled in the coil is simply water, instead of a particular gaseous refrigerant.
Due to the high initial price of the installation (roughly 5 times higher than an open cooling tower), hybrid
cooling towers become interesting if the water price exceeds 1.5 EUR/m³. Hybrid cooling towers are mostly
used when plume abatement is required.
The emphasis for this technology is on saving of water rather than energy.
For fans (as well as for pumps, etc.), the fluid flow is proportional to fan speed but energy consumption is
proportional to the cube of fan speed. For those machines, the following formula is true:
where
For example, by reducing the fan speed to 80% of the nominal flow, the power consumption will halve (i.e.
3
0.8 ). This can be accomplished by lowering the frequency from 50 Hz to 40 Hz. To accomplish the same flow
(80% of nominal) using on/off controls would require an average power of 80% of nominal power. This means
that in this situation, the variable frequency drive will consume 37.5% (3/8) less than a simple on/off control.
The average saving potential of a variable frequency drive depends on the load pattern and the settings of the
cooling tower. The more variation in the load, the more advantageous a variable frequency drive becomes.
Pumps need to be properly sized and controlled by variable frequency drives. The use of throttling devices
should be avoided.
As previously explained, cooling becomes more expensive as the required temperature reduces. Every degree
of unnecessary cooling consumes more energy and water. For this reason, the required end-temperature
should be regularly reassessed.
Control systems that use bypasses to control the cooling demand are in no cases energy efficient.
The boiling point of a liquid decreased with reducing ambient pressure. By using compression and expansion, it
is possible to vaporize a liquid refrigerant at a low temperature and condense it at a higher temperature. At
the low temperature (evaporation temperature Tev), heat will be absorbed from the fluid which is to be cooled.
At the high temperature (condensing temperature Tcd), heat will be emitted to the surroundings.
Figure 5 shows a Mollier diagram representing the various states of the refrigerant during the cooling cycle.
The compressor
The condenser
The expansion valve
The evaporator
The most common type of compressor is the piston compressor, but other types have won acceptance, e.g.
centrifugal and screw compressors. The piston compressor covers a very large capacity range, from small
single cylinder models for household refrigerators up to 8 to 10 cylinder models with large swept volumes for
industrial applications.
The smallest applications make use of a hermetic compressor, in which compressor and motor are built
together as a complete unit.
Still larger are Freon compressors and ammonia compressors, which are designed as ‘open’ compressors,
meaning with the motor outside the crankcase. The power can be transmitted to the crankshaft directly or
through a V-belt drive.
THE CONDENSER
The purpose of the condenser is to remove both the heat absorbed in the evaporator and the heat produced
by compression. If the condenser cools the refrigerant further than necessary, this is called sub-cooling.
One major advantage of sub-cooling is that the cooling capacity of the installation increases, as more heat can
be absorbed in the evaporator. Moreover, sub-cooling prevents the formation of flash gas. This phenomenon
takes place when the expansion valve is not fed with 100% liquid, but rather with a mixture of liquid and gas.
This can be caused by:
Flash gas is a problem because it increases the volume of the mixture so that insufficient liquid can pass
through the orifice of the expansion valve. Hence, not all the available surface of the evaporator is used and
this causes instability of the cooling system. The presence of flash gas bubbles in the refrigerant can be
observed through a glass eyelet placed ahead of the expansion valve.
The capacity of the evaporator starts to decrease again from a certain level of sub-cooling
The evaporation pressure will decrease when the installation is lacking a proper regulator
The expansion valve operation becomes unstable.
Many different kinds of condensers are available on the market. The shell and tube condenser is used in
applications where sufficient cooling water is available. It consists of a horizontal cylinder with welded-on flat
end caps that support the cooling tubes. End covers are bolted to the end plates. The refrigerant condensate
flows through the cylinder, the cooling water through the tubes. The end covers are divided into sections by
ribs. The sections act as reversing chambers for the water so that it circulates several times through the
condenser. As a rule of thumb, the water heats up 5-10 °C with each passage through the condenser. A variant
of this is the plate heat exchanger. If it is desirable or necessary to cut down on the amount of water, an
evaporating condenser can be used. If no water at all is available for the condensing process, an air-cooled
condenser must be used. Both types of condenser were explained in the previous chapter.
Thermostatic expansion valves are the most common type utilized in direct-expansion refrigeration systems. It
regulates the refrigerant flow rate to the evaporator according to the degree of superheating of the gaseous
refrigerant leaving the evaporator. A thermostatic expansion valve consists of a valve body, a valve spring,
diaphragm, and a sensing bulb. The sensing bulb is placed at the outlet of the evaporator and is connected to
the upper part of the diaphragm by means of a capillary tube. If the temperature before the compressor is too
high, it means there is not enough flow through the evaporator to satisfy the cooling demand. In this case, the
orifice in the valve is enlarged to allow more refrigerant liquid to flow into the evaporator.
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Electronic expansion valves can provide more sophisticated, effective, and energy-efficient flow control than
thermostatic expansion valves. Currently, three types of electronic expansion valves are widely available: step
motor valves, pulse-width-modulated valves, and analogue valves.
Compared to the thermostatic expansion valves, the advantages of electronic expansion valves are the
following:
EVAPORATION SYSTEMS
Many types of evaporators are available on the market, as various application-dependent requirements are
imposed upon them.
Evaporators for natural air circulation are used less and less because of the relatively poor heat transfer from
the air to the cooling tubes. Earlier versions were fitted with plain tubes, but it is now common to use ribbed
tubes or finned elements.
Evaporator efficiency increases significantly with the use of forced air circulation evaporators. With an increase
of air velocity, the heat transfer from air to tube is improved. As a result, a smaller evaporator surface can be
used for a given cold yield.
As the name implies, a liquid cooled heat exchanger cools liquid. The simplest method is to immerse a coil of
tube in an open tank. Closed systems in which tube cooler designs similar to shell and tube condensers are
employed, are increasingly common.
With a multiple stage compression system, bigger temperature differences (i.e. pressure ratios) can be
achieved with reduced energy consumption. As an example, a cooling machine with a condensing temperature
of 38 °C and an evaporating temperature of -40 °C, gives following results:
Because the initial investment cost increases with the number of stages, a careful analysis of all costs should
be carried out.
Parallel compressors, with one of them equipped with a variable frequency drive:
One of the compressors can be equipped with a variable frequency drive. This compressor should be twice the
size of the smallest compressor in the group, as it can only reduce its capacity to 50%.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
The compressor with capacity control will run most of the time
Higher initial investment cost (which pays itself back through lower energy consumption).
EFFICIENCY—COP
The efficiency of a chiller can be represented as the ratio between the thermal cooling capacity of the
installation and the electrical power used by the compressor. The efficiency is expressed as the Coefficient Of
Performance or COP. If an installation has a COP of 4, it means that for every unit of electrical energy, 4 units
of cooling energy are produced.
Because in reality there are several losses (heat and pressure), we have to multiply the COP of the theoretical
Carnot compression cycle with a factor . This factor varies between 0.5 and 0.6 for a well-proportioned
installation, but can go down to 0.2 in certain cases.
From the previous formula, we can draw an important conclusion: the efficiency is higher when the
condensing temperature is lower and the evaporation temperature is higher.
The following table presents some indications for the COP for cooling systems used to cool liquids. The
calculations are mostly based on the use of piston or screw compressors, but the values can also be applied to
chillers with centrifugal compressors. For better comparison, the condensing temperature is held stable at 40
°C. Temperature In/Out describes the temperatures of the fluid to be cooled at the evaporator inlet and outlet.
COPsystem takes into account all electrical power necessary to produce cooling (including fans and pumps), while
COPcompressor only calculates using the electrical power consumption of the compressor.
Ammonia can be found in nature, but it is also synthesized in large quantities by the chemical industry. As a
refrigerant, it has the following advantages:
Good thermodynamic properties (heat/mass transfer) resulting in machines with leading performance
coefficients
A higher vaporization enthalpy, making it possible to produce temperatures as low as –60 °C
Chemical neutrality against components of the refrigeration system, excluding copper and its alloys,
as well as reliability in the presence of humid air and water
Better stability against oil
Easy leak detection, even small leaks (olfactive detection at 5 ppm)
No emissions that affect the atmospheric ozone layer and no Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The lowest purchase price of all refrigerants, namely 5 to 8 times cheaper as halogenated fluid (but
the installation cost will be higher because of the need for stainless steel)
Reduced pumping cost (embedded systems) and reduced piping dimensions for the same
refrigerating power
The restrictions associated with its use are due to the related hazards, in particular:
The first and most important energy saving action is proper maintenance of the installation, including a regular
cleaning of the condensers, a regular replacement of the compressor oil, and adequate defrosting of the
evaporators.
Regularly checking the set point for the evaporation temperature. Efficiency increases with increasing
evaporation temperature.
Regularly checking the set point for the condensation temperature. Efficiency increases with
decreasing condensation temperature.
Opting for a centralized cooling system instead of several separate units. Bigger cooling installations
run at higher efficiency than smaller ones (amongst other things because of higher performance of
the individual parts).
Using evaporative cooling instead of compression cooling during wintertime. During the coldest
months of the year, evaporative cooling can often achieve very low water temperatures (down to 5
°C).
Using cold storage to avoid or compensate for peaks in cooling load.
Equipping all pumps and compressors that have a reduced or variable load with a variable frequency
drive.
In particular, installing a variable frequency drive on screw compressors. Screw compressors use a
capacity slide that can reduce the capacity of the compressor down to 10%. This capacity reduction
will be more efficient using variable frequency drives, as shown in the graph below.
60
50
40 capacity slide
30 frequency drive
20 Linear
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Figure 7: The influence of varying cooling capacity on the power consumption, with and without variable
frequency drive.
Dry cooling
o A large number of small fans are more energy efficient than a small number of large fans, but
has a higher purchasing cost. An optimum can be calculated to achieve the lowest life cycle
cost.
o As dry cooling systems are generally located outside, a regular cleaning of the heat
exchanger and the filters is necessary to maintain efficiency.
Evaporative cooling
o The energy efficiency of the heat exchange will increase with decreasing contamination of
the process water; best practice water treatment is therefore a crucial consideration.
o Control systems that make use of a bypass to control cooling demand are in no cases energy
efficient.
Compression cooling
o One centralized cooling system will be more energy efficient than a number of smaller
systems.
o In some cases, the use of cold storage to compensate for peaks in the cooling load will be
cost-efficient.
REFERENCES
[1] www.cti.org (Cooling Technology Institute), accessed October 2011
[2] American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers Inc., Ashrae Handbook:
Refrigeration (SI Edition), Atlanta (USA), 2002
[3] S.K. Wang, Handbook of air conditioning and refrigeration, McGraw-Hill (Second Edition), New York
(USA), 2000
[4] European Commission, Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control (IPPC), Reference Document on
the application of Best Available Techniques to Industrial Cooling Systems, 2001