Advancements in Centrifugal Chillers Magnetic Bearing Oil-Free Technology

Bruce Barrett Product Sales Manager McQuay International

Minneapolis, Minnesota bruce.barrett@mcquay.com

Todays Building Market Demands

Energy cost expected to rise HVAC equipment accounts for over 25% of the primary energy consumed in commercial buildings in the US1 Energy efficiency and reliability are key concerns

Past and Current Technologies

Water-cooled, centrifugal chillers are the most versatile class of chillers available, meeting customer needs in capacities > 100 Tons

Best Water Cooled Chiller Efficiency

Centrifugal Chillers are the largest consumer of energy in the HVAC system

How do you improve what is already great?

Efficiency improvements difficult within same framework of the technology

Engineering/design improvements limited to <2% were considered significant! No room to get bettermaybe

New Technology/New Standards in Efficiency

High Pressure Refrigerant

High Speed VFDs

Permanent Magnet (PM) Motors

Magnetic Bearings
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Enabling Technologies for Efficiencies

Whats really important?

System Energy Efficiency and Operating Costs Sustainability and Green

+
High Efficiency Reduced Maintenance

+
Sustainability

=
Lower Total Cost of Ownership

How were the choices made?

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Crucial Design Choice the right refrigerant

Positive Pressure
Keep contaminants out

Low specific volume Lower normalized flow rate (cfm/ton)

Refrigerant R-123 R-134a
R-123
Conditions: 40F saturated vapor 5.78 psia for R-123

Specific Volume, ft3/lb 5.9327 0.9528

Normalized Flow Rate, CFM/ton 18.33 2.86

R-134a
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49.94 psia for R-134a 100F saturated condensing 8F subcooling and 0.5F superheat

Crucial Design Choice Motor Type

100

Permanent magnet synchronous motor

25-30% Efficiency Gain

90

Efficiency (%)

Induction Motor
80

5-7% Efficiency Gain

70

60

50 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

Percentage Speed 8

Crucial Design ChoiceBearing Type

Hydrodynamic has significant frictional power losses
35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000

frictional power losses (hp)

speed (rpm)

Crucial Design ChoiceBearing Type

Magnetic Bearings-very limited losses

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Advancements in Magnetic Bearings

High speed digital processing Lower cost than 5-10 years ago High reliability Standardized design

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Comparisons

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Controlling the compressor speed what works best?

IPLV or NPLV
Full Load 1%

1 0.01 0.42 0.45 0.12 A B C D

Where: A = kW/ton at 100% & 85F CEWT B = kW/ton at 75% & 75F CEWT C = kW/ton at 50% & 65F CEWT D = kW/ton at 25% & 65F CEWT

AHRI Standard 550/590-2003, Appendix D

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Fixed Speed?

Traditional VFD?

High speed VFD w/Magnetic Bearing?

1.2

Fixed speed
0.8

~ $243,287/year

kW / ton

0.6

Traditional VFD

0.4

~ $164,934/year
10% energy reduction
High speed VFD w/ Magnetic Bearings

0.2

~ $131,709/year
40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

0 0 10 20 30

Chiller percent load

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Sustainability?
From ASHRAE Research Project 751-RP, Experimental Determination of the Effect of Oil on Heat Transfer with Refrigerants HCFC-123 and HFC-134a,

Conclusions and Recommendations:

The effect of POE oil on the heat transfer coefficient of R-134a flowing across a bundle of Turbo-B2 (HP) tubes is a reduction in heat transfer coefficient. The heat transfer ratio drops steadily with oil concentration and reaches a value of 0.65 [from 1.0 normalized] at an oil concentration of 10%.
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Small grooves or dimples in the tubes create more surface area and better heat transfer. However, they also hold onto oil

Sustainability Benefits
Positive pressure, oil-free design eliminates the performance degradation due to non-condensables and oil contamination of the refrigerant

Source: The News, 04/15/04, by Jack Sine

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Oil degrading performance is counter to sustainability!

15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4

3.5% Oil in Refrigerant = 8% Efficiency Loss

5 6 7 8

Are you getting what you paid for long term?

.576 kw/ton .38 IPLV

7-12 gallons
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.622 kw/ton .410 IPLV

More Sustainability Benefits

Traditional Centrifugal Chiller Oil + Oil Heater YES YES Oil-Free Chiller NO NO

+ Oil Cooler
+ Oil Pump/Starter + Oil Reservoir + Oil Filter + Oil Piping/Valving + Oil Sensors/Controls

YES
YES YES YES YES YES

NO
NO NO NO NO NO

+ Annual Oil Analysis

=

YES
More things to break, more maintenance, more $
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NO
No energy losses, no concerns, no annual oil change and disposal, maintenance savings

Lets make this simple:

Oil in the chiller evaporator creates a decrease in efficiency over time as the tubes foul, lessening heat transfer. The best efficiency you can get out of an oil chiller is when it first starts up.

No oil in the chiller equates to less maintenance, less start up concerns, no other parasitic loads related to oil.

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Other Advantages

Resistant to Power Line Disturbances

Rides through voltage drops Meets semi conductor industry standard SEMI F47

__________________________________________________

Regenerative power system keeps bearings powered until shaft stops spinning

Rides through short duration power loss

Extremely low inrush at Start Up

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What Else?

Low Maintenance-no oil related issues Reliability-no friction, less wear Maximum equipment uptime Quiet operation Ease of installation-compact Ease of service Utilities- rebates improved for better for IPLV

Some even giving bonus credit for being oil-free!

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Magnetic Bearing Chiller Timeline

2011 At least 4 manufacturers with AHRI certification now in market

2009 >40% of Centrifugals <400 ton are Magnetic Bearing Used on Navy ships and the aerospace industry prior decade 2007 ~500 Installed 2006 ~100 installed

2010 Single compressor developed for markets up to 700 tons

2008 ~800 Installed 2 Other major manufacturers join market

2004/2005 First Centrifugal Chiller for commercial use

This is not a new product, only gaining more momentum as the industry understands the benefits and confidence in the technology
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Installations

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Challenges

Higher first-cost Limited voltages and frequency (460V and 575V) New skills /concepts required for servicing Perception, taking the technology leap still real

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What does the technology mean to owners?

+
High Efficiency

=
Sustainability

+
Lower Total Cost of Ownership

Reduced Maintenance (No oil, No purge)

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Thank you!

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Bibliography
Refrigerant data for R-123 and R-134a, ASHRAE Handbook Fundamentals, I-P Edition, 2005. Kauffman, R., ASHRAE Research Project 601-TRP, Chemical Analysis and Recycling of Used Refrigerant From Field Systems, April 1990. Payvar, P., ASHRAE Research Project 751-RP, Experimental Determination of the Effect of Oil on Heat Transfer with Refrigerants HCFC-123 and HFC-134a, June 1999. Edney, S., Waite, J., and DeCarnillo, S., Profiled Leading Edge Groove Tilting Pad Journal Bearing for Light Load Operation, Dresser-Rand, Wellsville, NY, 2003
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