Simulation and electricity savings estimation of air-cooled centrifugal chiller system with mist pre-cooling

This paper analyses how to apply mist pre-cooling coupled with condensing temperature control to enhance the coefficient of performance (COP) of an air-cooled chiller system and hence achieve electricity savings. A modified DOE-2.1E chiller model was developed to predict the change of chiller COP due to various set points of condensing temperature and pre-cooling of air stream entering the condenser. The model was calibrated by using manufacturer’s data and used to estimate the annual electricity consumption of a chiller system serving an office building under four operating schemes: traditional head pressure control (HPC); HPC with a fixed mist generation rate; condensing temperature control (CTC) with a fixed mist generation rate; CTC with an optimal mist generation rate. It was estimated that using optimal mist control with CTC could achieve a 19.84% reduction in the annual electricity consumption of the system. Considerations when using mist pre-cooling to maximize electricity savings have been discussed.