Water cooled

chiller plant
(cp/vs)

Design Envelope
application guide

File No: 9.562

Date: november 14, 2014
Supersedes: 9.562
Date: september 19, 2014
design envelope
application guides
erformance improvements are among the top priorities of many building

p professionals today. Whether you are a developer, design consultant, engineer,

contractor, facility manager or owner, chances are that you face increasing
demands to not only reduce costs, but also deliver performance improvements. Public
awareness on multiple levels – from the individual all the way through to government
bodies – has grown to the point that energy conservation, carbon reduction, tenant
comfort, and other health and environment-driven practices are key objectives for any
prominent, sizeable building project.

To support and sustain this paradigm shift, Armstrong has developed a suite of ad-
vanced fluid flow and HVAC offerings that we call ‘Design Envelope solutions’. Design
Envelope solutions integrating intelligent demand-based control to deliver optimal
performance and the lowest possible cost, both at commissioning and throughout their
full operating life.

This document is one of our Design Envelope Application Guides, a set of booklets that
discuss a broad range of real-world HVAC scenarios. In each scenario the use of Design
Envelope technology can result in tremendous improvements in performance of your
HVAC installation (compared to standard industry practice) and ultimately your building
- technically, financially, and environmentally.

The intent of this Application Guide is to present HVAC System designers with an
alternative to standard practices for design layout, configuration, and design calculations
and help you leverage the full potential of Armstrong Design Envelope solutions. Each
Application Guide addresses a specific system configuration for HVAC or data center
applications. The system configurations cover heating and cooling scenarios, including
circuit configurations ranging from all constant flow, to full variable flow and variable
speed plant configurations. The Application Guides will present piping arrangements,
valving requirements, de-coupler configurations, instrumentation locations, control
system options, and the associated impact on first cost and life-cycle costs. The full
series of application guides is available for download from Armstrong’s website at www.
armstrongfluidtechnology.com
 application directory
hvac
cooling
9.561 – Water cooled chiller plant (all-variable)

This guide covers: 9.562 – Water cooled chiller plant (cp/vs)
9.563 – Water cooled chiller plant with economizer
9.564 – Ground source heat pump system (vp)
heating
9.565 – Condensing boiler plant (vp)
9.566 – Condensing boiler plant (cp/vs)
9.567 – Closed circuit heat pump system (vp)
district cooling
9.568 – Water cooled central plant (all-variable)
9.569 – Water cooled central plant (cp/vs)
9.570 – Water cooled central plant (vp/vs)
data centres
cooling
9.571 – Water cooled chiller plant with economizer (vp)
9.572 – Water cooled chiller plant (all-variable)
9.573 – Water cooled chiller plant (cp/vs)

VP = Variable primary flow

CP/VS = Constant primary flow / variable secondary flow

VP/VS = Variable primary flow / variable secondary flow

All-variable = A
 ll variable chiller plant, variable primary flow, variable secondary flow, variable condenser flow
desi g n en v e lope Water cooled chiller plant
a p p li c at ion guid e (cp/vs)

This application guide discusses hvac chilled water plants with design envelope benefits summary
1-5 chillers, and a constant primary-variable secondary-constant
cooling tower chiller plant configuration. It is recommended for Design Envelope benefit Design Envelope savings
chiller plants with cooling loads of 100 tons and greater. over conventional plant
Lowest installed cost 39%
application details Lowest operating cost 6%
Lowest environmental Annual reduction in greenhouse
Equipment Water-cooled chillers 1-5
cost/impact gas emissions (tonnes): 480
Use HVAC •
Configuration Const. primary flow •
Total Design Envelope
1st year savings
34%
Var. secondary flow •
Const. condenser flow •

fig . 1
design envelope plant layout.

fig . 2
conventional plant layout.
 Water cooled chiller plant desi g n env e lo p e
(cp/vs) applic a ti o n g ui de

plant layout
design envelope vs. conventional

Design Envelope plant Conventional plant

Chiller & control Constant speed chillers controlled by building Constant speed chillers controlled by building automation
automation system (bas). Typically staged on system (bas). Typically staged on and off by speed
and off by speed
Primary water • Vertical inline Design Envelope pumps with • Horizontal base-mounted pumps operating constant
pump & control integrated control speed with soft-starts
OR • Separate flow meter to protect chiller from minimum flow
• ips 4000 pump controller
Secondary water • Vertical inline Design Envelope pumps with • Horizontal base-mounted variable speed pumps operat-
pump & control integrated control and Sensorless technology ing with wall-mounted drives
OR • Differential pressure sensors across the building load for
• ips 4000 pump controller each zone

OR
• Parallel Sensorless Pump Controller (pspc)
Cooling tower, • Constant speed cooling towers • Horizontal base-mounted pumps operating constant
condenser water • V ertical inline Design Envelope pumps with speed. Cooling tower operating in constant speed
pump & control integrated control • Temperature sensor to control condenser water valve and
OR cooling tower staging

• ips 4000 pump controller

A constant primary-variable secondary-constant cooling tower can be serviced without having to move the motor or disturb
chiller plant configuration typically uses variable speed drives the pump or piping. Furthermore the vil pump has only one seal
on the secondary pumps only. A building load profile shows to replace. This gives the vertical pump a significant advantage
that most of its time is spent at part load cooling, well below over base mounted pumps. A horizontal (double suction) split
its design day conditions. Optimized control of the secondary case pump, for example, requires two sets of pump bearings
pumps through staging and variable speed operation ensures and two sets of seals for a typical service call - the vertical
that the pumps consume only the energy required, based on pump only requires one seal. The coupling is also rigid in design
current system demand. The pumping energy savings can be so initial site alignment is eliminated and re-attachment of the
very attractive to building owners for chilled water plants. coupling following maintenance brings the unit back to fac-
Design Envelope solutions use best-in-class design to provide tory alignment specifications. The vertical nature of the pump
lowest first cost, lowest life cycle cost, provide redundancy and provides inherent stability and vibration-free operation. Much
reliability, and reduce project risk and complexity. as the stability of a spinning top increases with speed, the vil
rotating assembly is specially designed to take advantage of the
The benefits of the Design Envelope pump arrangement are
lack of gravity-induced moments on the shaft to find its natural
space savings and low installation costs. The vertical inline
operating position and run practically vibration free.
pump design typically occupies less than half the footprint of a
conventional floor mounted pump. Using vertical inline pumps also eliminates the need for con-
crete pads, inertia bases and flex connections. Furthermore, as
Ease of maintenance and reliability are also key design features.
less piping and fittings are involved, there are savings in pipe
Vertical split-coupled pumps reduce maintenance headaches.
insulation, pipe painting, and reduced complexity.
The split-spacer coupling on the 4300 models means that a seal
desi g n en v e lope Water cooled chiller plant
a p p li c at ion guid e (cp/vs)

large chilled water plant lowest installed cost

base case installation
Savings area Design Envelope plant installed
Miami Florida, USA savings
Material & installation $218,404
Technical details:
Time (labour) tbd
• 6250 tons total cooling load
Power infrastructure 335 kW
• Design Δt: 11.7°f (6.5°c)
Weight 46,964 kg
• Qty 5 chillers + 1 standby, 1250 tons each Space $135,600
• Primary chilled water pumps: Utility rebates $107,800
• Max. Flow = 2500 gpm (158 lps) Commissioning & call backs $4,800
• Design Head = 65 ft (20m) Total installed savings $466,604 (39%)

• Secondary building loop pump:

Through optimized Design Envelope pump selections, smaller
• Design Flow = 3125 gpm (197 lps)
equipment for the same flow and head duty can be selected,
• Design Head = 148 ft (45m)
and sometimes with a smaller motor power and integrated
• Condenser water loop controls.
• Design Flow = 3750 gpm (236 l/s) The table above summarizes the achieved savings for the ex-
• Design Head = 92 ft (28 m) ample base case for the total lowest installed cost.
• 2 Way valves In this example, horizontal split case pumps with wall mounted
VFDs are compared to Armstrong Design Envelope pumps.

design envelope benefits summary The benefits of Armstrong Design Envelope pumps:
Design Envelope benefit Design Envelope savings • Free up wall space by integrating the vfd onto the motor
over conventional plant • Wiring savings (material and labour) between VFDs on
Lowest installed cost $466,600 wall and pumps
Lowest operating cost Annual $118,380 • In many selections, a smaller sized pump motor for the
same design conditions through Design Envelope load-
Lowest environmental Annual reduction in greenhouse
limiting logic
cost/impact gas emissions (tonnes): 480
• Eliminate the inertia base, grouting, concrete housekeeping
Lowest project and (See table on page 8)
pad, and flexible connections and coupling re-alignment for
operating risk
the base-mounted pumps
Total Design Envelope $607,115
1st year savings (34%) • Design flow can be balanced and verified right on the pump
controller as it is now an integrated flow meter
• For secondary pumping, the use of Armstrong’s Sensorless
By incorporating Design Envelope pumps and controls, a lower pump control can eliminate the need for differential pres-
carbon footprint, more efficient and more economical first cost sure sensors to save more than $2000 in first installed cost
solution can be provided whilst also maintaining flexibility and • Reduction in mechanical floor space
lower life cycle costs.
• Commissioning savings (no dp sensors or VFDs on wall)
With Armstrong Design Envelope solutions, customers will
enjoy major savings on all levels: lowest installed and operating
costs, lowest environmental impact and lowest project risks. In
this example the savings amounts to a staggering $607,115.
A breakdown of the total savings is explained in detail in the
following pages.
 Water cooled chiller plant desi g n env e lo p e
(cp/vs) applic a ti o n g ui de

lowest oper ating cost Design Envelope Pumps: At partial loads, control valves in the
secondary loop are throttled to limit the flow across the cooling
Savings area Design Envelope plant coils. In turn, the secondary water pumps react to change in
operating savings (annually) differential pressure of the system by slowing down in speed.
Energy (1,078,000 kWh @$.1/kWh) $107,800 Rather than using a differential pressure (dp) sensor, Design
Maintenance ($75/hour) $10,577 Envelope pumps use Sensorless control technology to vary the
Reliability (increased availability) 16.66% speed of the secondary pumps. Sensorless control emulates the
Water tbd performance of a single zone dp sensor through an algorithm
Operator labour ($75/hour) n/a embedded in the integrated control – eliminating installation
cost and potential problems such as sensor location, main-
Total operating savings $118,377 (6%)
tenance, and wiring. Commissioning is also simplified as the
pumping unit with integrated control is factory pre-wired and
Chiller and control: Constant speed chillers in parallel are con- pre-programmed by Armstrong.
trolled by building automation system (bas). Typically staged on
Parallel Sensorless Pump Controller: For single zone systems
and off by speed. As the cooling load increases or more cooling
with up to 4 pumps operating in parallel, the Parallel Sensorless
is required, more chillers are staged on to meet the building’s
Pump Controller (pspc) combines the advantages of variable
demand. As the load decreases, chillers can be staged off to
speed technology and parallel pumping. Pumps are staged for
save energy.
optimal energy efficiency and sequenced for even distribution of
A more efficient way of managing the control of the chillers is operating hours. The controller can be wired to that pump with
to stage them by power demand. The demand based control the other units ‘daisy-chain’ control wired on site, by the con-
concept involves staging multiple chillers and operating them at trols contractor. Using Sensorless technology, the pspc elimi-
part load so that each chiller runs at highly efficient conditions nates the added costs and complexity of installing a dp sensor.
instead of running fewer chillers at inefficient conditions. This
ips 4000: For applications with up to 12 zones and up to 6
ultimately lowers the overall power consumption of the plant
pumps operating in parallel, the ips 4000 controller can be used
and achieves 25-30% energy savings over conventional speed
to coordinate pump operation. For installations with new or
control.
existing bas systems, the ips is capable of full serial communica-
Primary water pump and control: When the chillers operate in tions for easy integration. The ips 4000 can use zone dp sensors
constant speed mode, the primary water pumps operate in con- or Sensorless technology to control the pumps for energy ef-
stant speed also. To balance the system, it is recommended that ficient operation.
throttling losses be minimized and pump impellers be trimmed
iFMS: Armstrong's Intelligent Fluid Management System
to meet design flow conditions – this is rarely done in practice.
(iFMS) is a pre-fabricated all-variable speed pumping system. It
Design Envelope pumps operate at reduced speed to allow has all the advantages of Armstrong Design Envelope solutions
you to save 15% in energy compared to operating at full speed in an integrated approach offered with various level of control
or throttling to match the design flow. As VFDs have become either through the bas system or through onboard control using
more economical, many designers are specifying them as Sensorless technology, multiple zone and pumping controls
“soft” starters for primary pumps; Design Envelope pumps with the ips 4000 controller. By integrating the controls into a
are equipped with integrated controls that can slowly ramp up pre-fabricated pump station, the solution is factory tuned for
speed to protect your equipment from hydraulic, mechanical, on-board equipment ensuring that there are no commissioning
and electrical surges. complications, delays, or future well intended adjustments on
Secondary water pump and control: While a building’s hvac site.
system is designed for peak-day requirements, they operate at Cooling tower, condenser water pump and control: Condenser
part-load the vast majority of the time. Secondary pumps which water pumps are generally the largest size pumps in a chilled
serve the building loads, are the greatest opportunity for pump water pumping system and represent an untapped area of en-
energy savings. In a hydraulic system, flow rate is proportional ergy savings. With the cooling tower fans operating in constant
to speed - and power is proportional to the cube of the speed. speed mode, the condenser water pumps operate in constant
So small changes in pump speed result in huge savings to speed also. To balance the system, it is recommended that
energy consumption. The ashrae 90.1 standard requires that throttling losses be minimized and pump impellers be trimmed
secondary pumps (greater than 5hp) save 70% energy at 50% to meet design flow conditions – this is rarely done in practice.
system load.
desi g n en v e lope Water cooled chiller plant
a p p li c at ion guid e (cp/vs)

pumping safety factors

Design Envelope Pumps: Design Envelope pumps operate at
reduced speed to save 15% in energy compared to operating at Duty Measure Design Envelope
improvement over
full speed or throttling to match the design flow. As VFDs have
conventional plant
become more economical, many designers are specifying them
each pump total
as “soft” starters for condenser water pumps; Design Envelope
Flow @ design head 9% 56%
pumps are equipped with integrated controls that can slowly
Primary Head @ design flow 17% 54%
ramp up speed to protect your equipment from hydraulic, me-
chanical, and electrical surges. Flow @ 50% avg. load 12% 3%
Flow @ design head -58% -58%
Secondary Head @ design flow -59% -59%
lowest environmental cost Flow @ 50% avg. load -19% -19%

Savings area Design Envelope plant Flow @ design head 24% 24%
environmental savings Condenser Head @ design flow 13% 13%
Carbon footprint (energy) (ton ghg) 480 Flow @ 50% avg. load 49% 49%

The carbon footprint calculation is based on Armstrong’s

Eco:nomics calculator tool for greenhouse gas emissions reduc-
tions. It is based on the kW/hr energy saved as well as the
annual electricity fuel mix for the local power utility. The 480
tons of greenhouse gas savings is equivalent to 101 cars off the
road annually.

lowest project and oper ating risk

Risk to Risk source Design Envelope plant risk reduction % of total mechanical project
Commissioning delay and pay-
General contractor $52,201 1.32%
ment delay of hold back amounts
Inevitable design changes by
Owner (capital projects) $23,113 0.59%
different stakeholders
Owner (operations and Energy and operational savings
$118,376 3.00%
maintenance) not achieved
Reputation deterioration and
Engineer $59,100 1.50%
losing new business
Commissioning delay and pay-
Mechanical contractor $11,163 0.28%
ment delay of hold back

The project risk has been approximated on the amount of time

that the general contractor and engineer would have to spend
on installing and troubleshooting remote differential pressure
sensors, co-ordinating the electrical installation of the VFDs
to the traditional horizontal pump motors, time spent as risk
in balancing the system flow traditionally verses utilizing the
Design Envelope pumps to measure and balance the design
flow at the pump
 Water cooled chiller plant desi g n env e lo p e
(cp/vs) applic a ti o n g ui de

process & instrumentation diagr am

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