Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2
2A.2.1 2A.2.2
Features of Chiller Control Components .............................................................. 104 Start-up and Shutdown ........................................................................................... 105
Start-up............................................................................................................................... 105 Shutdown ........................................................................................................................... 106
2A.3
2A.3.1 2A.3.2 2A.3.3
2A.4
2A.4.1 2A.4.2
2A.5 2A.6
2A.6.1 2A.6.2
2A.7
102
Figure 2A - 1: Control logic of startup procedure..................................................................................... 106 Figure 2A - 2: Control logic of shutdown procedure ................................................................................ 107 Figure 2A - 3: Configuration of the refrigerant level meter...................................................................... 108 Figure 2A - 4: Principle of the chilled-water supply temperature control ................................................ 108 Figure 2A - 5: Configuration of HTRG solution level probe.................................................................... 109 Figure 2A - 6: Control principle of opening the steam valve.................................................................... 110 Figure 2A - 7: Control principle of opening the steam valve.................................................................... 110 Figure 2A - 8: Control principle of closing the steam valve ..................................................................... 111 Figure 2A - 9: General rule for the variation of solution pump frequency ............................................... 112 Figure 2A - 10: Control principle of the cooling fan (increasing cooling-water temperature) ................. 113 Figure 2A - 11: Control principle of the cooling fan (decreasing cooling-water temperature)................. 113 Figure 2A - 12: Principle diagram of automatic gas purge device, AGPD ............................................... 114
103
104
The steam valve has four staged openings. The steam valve opens or closes in steps between the first and fourth stages. The opening or closing of the steam valve is not measured directly but is estimated by the corresponding operating time of the drive motor. The city-water switch (CTS) is a magnetic valve. It opens or closes immediately once an on or off signal has been received. The CTS remains open to supply city water to the cooling tower because the cooling tower loses water to the atmosphere while the chiller operates. The cooling-water drain device (CWDD) is motor driven. The motor runs for a certain time to open or close the valve completely once an on or off command has been received. The cooling water begins to drain the cooling-water tank until it is empty, once the CWDD has opened for a certain length of time. When the cooling tower begins to fill with city water, the CWDD must be closed. The cooling-water by-pass valve (CWBPV) is motor driven. The motor runs until the valve is fully open or closed, as soon as it has received an on or off command. The cooling-water supply temperature is kept sufficiently high by the by-pass of circulating cooling water around the cooling tower. The electric refrigerant pump heater (RPH) prevents refrigerant from freezing in the evaporator.
105
When the chiller control system receives a start-up command, the chiller checks the ambient (surrounding) temperature. If this temperature is as high as the preset ambient temperature for cooling, the chiller will start; otherwise, the start-up will halt. If cooling is required, the chiller will sequentially close the CWDD and open the CTS to provide city water to the cooling tower. But if the cooling-water level probe fails to detect water for 3 minutes, the start-up program will terminate. When water is detected in the cooling-tower tank, the CHWP will start; and the status of the chilled-water flow will be checked by the chilled-water flow detector. If an adequate chilled-water flow is detected CWP will be started to circulate cooling water, and the solution pump will be started to circulate dilute solution from the absorber to the two regenerators. Once the solution pump is operating, and the chilled-water supply temperature is higher than its preset value, the steam valve will open in stages to supply thermal energy into the HTRG. After the start-up procedure has been completed, the control system modulates the refrigerant pump and the steam valve to meet the preset value of the chilled-water supply temperature.
2A.2.2 Shutdown
The chiller starts to shut down when it receives the command through the push button or monitoring software, or when the chiller detects an operational malfunction or component failure. The shutdown process is simpler than the start-up process, but it requires roughly 45 minutes to cool the solution temperature with the circulating cooling water.
106
No
Yes
Stop RP
Stop CWP
Close CWV
Stop CHW
End
The shutdown process is illustrated in Figure 2A-2. First the chiller closes the steam valve and then starts the sorbent cooling process by mixing the cold and dilute sorbent solution in the absorber with the hot and concentrated sorbent solutions in the two regenerators until the temperature of the sorbent solution in the HTRG drops from 155 oC to 85 oC. The chiller components stop one by one in sequence, as shown in Figure 2A-2.
107
The refrigerant pump starts when two Figure 2A - 3: Configuration of the refrigerant level meter conditions are met: first, the refrigerant level submerges refrigerant Pin 1; second, the chilled-water supply temperature is the same as the above preset temperature. Once the refrigerant pump operates, it does not stop until the chilled-water supply temperature drops below the preset value or until the water leveling the refrigerant tray drops below Pin 1. Two additional conditions can also stop the refrigerant pump: first, the chiller executes a shutdown; second, the chiller program. The steam valve also plays a critical role in controlling the chilled-water supply temperature; its control principles will be discussed in the following section.
Figure 2A - 4: Principle of the chilled-water supply temperature control
Refrigerant tray
RBPSV
A B
RP Chilled water
executes
the
de-crystallization
108
L1 HTRG
ABCD E
Condensate
Refrigerant
To open the steam valve, the initial requirements must be met: the sorbent solution pump must be operating; the solution level must be above Pin 1 of the solution level probe in the HTRG
109
Figure 2A-6 presents the overall logic for initial opening of the steam valve. Under continuing operating conditions, the operation of the steam valve, opening and closing, is dependent on the chilled-water supply temperature from the evaporator in Figure 2A-7 and 2A-8.
Figure 2A - 7: Control principle of opening the steam valve
5C
6C
7C
8C
9C
110
4th stage Steam valve position 3rd stage 2nd stage 1st stage Close
5C
6C
7C
8C
9C
When the steam valve receives a command from the control system, the valve will be adjusted in stage from closed to fully open by an electric motor. The first-stage opening ranges from 5% to 30%; the second, from 30% to 60%; the third, from 60% to 80%; and the fourth, from 80% to 100% open. There is one special case for the steam valve closing procedure. When the refrigerant level in the water tray rises into area D, (this happens when the cooling load drops dramatically), the steam valve closes one stage from its current opening. If the refrigerant level remains in D for more than 3 minutes, the steam valve will close one additional stage. If the level remains in area D for more than 10 minutes, the steam valve will close completely. When the level drops into area B, the steam valve will open again.
111
-2 Hz
-1 Hz
-1 Hz/5s -3 Hz/5s
When the solution pump is activated during the start-up procedure, with the solution level within area A, the pump motor will operate at 25 Hz when the solution temperature is below 80 oC and at 30 Hz when the solution temperature is between 80 and 120 oC. The frequency will be 38 Hz when the solution temperature is higher than 120 oC. Once the solution hits area C, the solution pump will keep its current frequency unchanged until the level drops below or rises over area C. The pump frequency subsequently will decrease by 2 Hz when the solution level rises up one. Figure 2A-9 gives the general rules for the frequency variation corresponding to the solution level changes, increasing or decreasing. For both directions, the control system is aimed to hold the solution level in area C.
112
C, the fan will operate at low speed. The preset temperature and the temperature range for the fan speeds
can be adjusted through the control system. The relation of the cooling-water supply temperature to the fan speed is illustrated in Figures 2A-10 and 2A-11.
Figure 2A - 10: Control principle of the cooling fan (increasing cooling-water temperature)
Fan status
26 C
28 C
30 C
32 C
Figure 2A - 11: Control principle of the cooling fan (decreasing cooling-water temperature)
Fan status
26 C
28 C
30 C
32 C
113
Figure 2A-12 illustrates the AGPD system of the chiller. The noncondensable gas in the absorber are separated and stored automatically by the AGPD until the storage chamber is full. The noncondensable gas generated in the upper tank (the HTRG and the LTRG), however, is difficult to remove through sorbent solution migrations. Even if the AGPD is installed, therefore, manual vacuum services are still required to purge noncondensable gas from the storage chamber and the upper vessel. In the chiller, the AGPD comprises purge chambers, solution supply and return pipes, pressure balancing pipes, gas pickup pipe, and a gas storage chamber. When noncondensable gases are generated in the system during operation, they tend to migrate to the absorber where the pressure is lowest. The solution
114
pump supplies a small portion of dilute solution to chamber A on the top of the automatic purge unit. Chamber A also connects the open space of the absorber. A second pressure-balancing pipe connects the absorber solution reservoir and Chamber A open space. The absorber and Chamber A have the same total pressure. The sorbent solution pumped to Chamber A flows back to the absorber reservoir through a drain pipe. A short pipe termed gas pickup pipe is inserted into the drain pipe at the upper end; the other end is opened to the open space of Chamber A. Gas from Chamber A flows into the sorbent solution and down the drain pipe because of the reduced pressure at the lower end of the gas pick up pipe. Water vapor in the gas will be reabsorbed into solution while the noncondensable gas will remain bubbles entering in Chamber B. Chamber B has one end connected to the absorber reservoir, the other end is connected to gas storage Chamber C. This configuration will cause level 3 to move down because of the increased quantity and pressure of the noncondensable gas in Chambers B and C. When the level 3 probe indicates that too much gas has accumulated in Chambers B and C and a manual vacuum process is required. To remove the noncondensable gas generated in the upper vessel (regenerators), a vacuum pump can be connected to Vacuum valve 2, at the same time; Vacuum valve 3 must be opened. Then gases in two regenerators are removed through the vacuum pump. This operation requires operating at ambient temperature. In this process, a small amount of water vapor is removed from Chamber B and C. As a result, the sorbent solution composition is increased. New machines tend to generate more noncondensable gases than older machines.
115
Noncondensable gas accumulation in the evaporator and chiller. This gas inhibits water evaporation from the refrigerant and absorption in the sorbent. The temperature rises in the evaporator and falls in the absorber. Steam flow is increased by the chiller control. Consequently, the concentration of LiBr in the circulating sorbent solution increases and the temperature decreases, resulting in an increased probability of LiBr deposits.
Abrupt shutdown. A shutdown results in decreasing sorbent solution temperature prior to reducing the sorbent solution concentrations by mixing the various sorbent and refrigerant reservoirs in the chiller. This can cause crystals to form.
116
When the process has continued for 5 minutes, decrystallization will be concluded. If the power is interrupted, the decrystallization process is similar to the HTHX decrystallization process.
117