July 14, 2004—Efficiency Technologies, Inc. (EffTec), a subsidiary of American Resource Management Inc., has developed an online diagnostic service called EffHVAC that affords facilities the ability to document, monitor, evaluate and manage centrifugal chiller system performance and improve their bottom line.
Chillers are the single largest energy-using component in most facilities, and can typically consume up to 50% of the facility’s electrical usage. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that chillers expend up to 30% in additional energy through inefficiency, which may further result in decreased equipment reliability and shortened lifespan. There are over 100,000 chillers in the United States, costing industry billions of dollars in energy costs annually through chiller inefficiency.
Example: (based on operating 24 hour / 365 days at .91 Kw/Ton vs. a design of .7 Kw/Ton at $0.06/Kw). A large chiller, producing 3,000 average tons per hour, running at 70% efficiency can cost an incredible, additional $331,128 in electricity per year or an average additional $27,549 per month.
A chiller maintenance program begins with keeping a daily operating log, which can be input into EffHVAC. If an entry is out of range, an alarm is triggered identifying problems and providing detailed troubleshooting guidelines. Troubleshooting includes: what triggered the alarm, the possible cause of the alarm, symptoms of the potential problem, things to check and possible problems if gone unchecked. With the help of EffHVAC’s proprietary troubleshooting and data interpretation formulas, customers are identifying and correcting a range of problems including bad or uncalibrated gauges and sensors, flow problems and plant design problems, which when corrected, can lead to improved overall chiller efficiency and operations.
EffHVAC analyzes and organizes log entries to calculate the chiller’s efficiency, generate reports and trend performance. EffHVAC uses a proprietary Calculated Part Load Value (CPLV) that gives extremely accurate efficiency and costs results even when chillers are running at part loads and varying entering condenser water temperatures. This enhances any previously performed part load tests, which are used to determine optimum conditions for maximum efficiency.
EffHVAC reports include:
- Kw/Ton efficiencies charts
- average efficiency pie charts
- tons produced charts
- costs charts
- operating averages and totals
- chiller start/stop times and run hours
- makeup, blowdown, evaporation, cycles of concentration and projected evaporation credit
Monthly reports can be created with the click of a button, for any month, and also includes year-to-date totals. With these reports users can identify inefficiencies, monitor chiller health, pinpoint problems, justify expenditures, extend chiller life, refine operating procedures and calculate the most efficient chiller configurations.
For more information, contact Efficiency Technologies.
