System Assessments | Chiller & Cooling Best Practices

Holistic Controls for Superior Cooling Systems Efficiency, Part 2

By Clayton Penhallegon, Jr., P.E., Integrated Services Group

This article explores the distinction between standard system controls and holistic controls for highly efficient process cooling systems. Examples of high performance controls features and implementations are provided, and screening questions are listed for initial investigation of existing system and potential new systems.

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CHILLERS

Plastics Processor Saves Big on Chilled Water Energy and Maintenance

An Illinois protective packaging manufacturer was able to reduce their cooling costs by over 60% while also saving around $100,000 each year on system maintenance by replacing their old system with high-efficiency equipment and a streamlined hydronic design. Helped by ComEd efficiency incentives, the plant captured these benefits through an under 2.4 year payback system upgrade project.

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EVAPORATIVE COOLING

Cooling Towers: Finding the Right Fill for Your Process

How often do you think about your cooling tower or the fill that provides the cooling engine for your process? Unfortunately, if you’re like many plant operators, your cooling tower is but one piece of equipment in your large facility, and its ranking on your priority list is probably lower than many other expensive and more intricate pieces of equipment in your plant.

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HEAT RECOVERY

Heat Recovery in Chillers and Their Link to Decarbonization Goals

The electrification of heating presents a significant opportunity to achieve decarbonization goals by reducing or eliminating the use of fossil fuels in traditional building systems such as boilers. The current geopolitical scenario has caused commodity prices to quickly rise and forced businesses, cities and countries to rethink their future dependance on fossil fuels and accelerate the conversion to sustainable alternatives.

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FREE-COOLING

Free-Cooling Chiller Systems

Free cooling is a type of process cooling system design that takes advantage of ambient temperatures to reduce or even eliminate chiller operation. Chillers consume large amounts of energy; so, reducing a chiller’s operating hours per year can result in significant bottom line savings for your company. In this article, we will review a typical free cooling system design, some of the considerations for your system, and finally, how these considerations impact your system’s ability to capitalize on the free cooling operation.

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COOLING CONTROLS

Holistic Controls for Superior Cooling System Efficiency, Part 1

Process cooling systems are mandatory components of the production infrastructure in many plants. System efficiency is second only to operational performance (i.e. meeting the process requirements) in the design and operation of these systems, and many companies go to great lengths to attain system efficiency. Many times, unfortunately, the actual system performance is well below the hoped for efficiency target.

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WATER SAVINGS

The Paths to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Water Conservation Credits for Evaporative Cooling Towers

Water conservation is a high priority in designing and operating water-cooled equipment and plays an important role in USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and other sustainability programs. LEED assigns credit points to reduce water usage.

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