|reer lail1ir |arress l||I

LATEST TRENDS IN
AIR-CONDITIONING FOR GREEN
BUILDINGS
Mr. Krishna V Jog
Managing Director
Kirloskar McQuay Ltd
ABSTRACT
Air-conditioning systems for Hotels/Multistoried office buildings, Nuclear Power
Establishements and almost all other commercial buildings used to be made with halocarbon
refrigerants about 30 to 40 years ago. The halocarbons mainly used to comprise of CFCs.
These refrigerants most commonly known as FREONS were treated as magic refrigerants,
which were considered to be having only excellent properties and no negative factors. There
were no restrictions on spillage of refrigerants into the atmosphere. No one ever thought
that they have to be handled carefully, and not be let off in the air. The theory of ozone
depletion potential was put forward about 25 years ago and was presumed to be linked with
emission of substances containing chlorine. Over a period of time, it was established that the
CFCs are related to depletion of ozone and there by risk to human life by way of skin cancer.
Montreal Protocol was formulated and many countries of the world started becoming
signatories to this protocol. Few years ago, India also became the signatory. Many
manufacturing industries were encouraged to join by giving monetary aids. Many industries
took advantage of financial gains, but have hardly done anything to update their technology.
Today, Kirloskar McQuay Limited, is the only company in India, who manufactures large
capacity chillers working with HFC R134a containing no chlorine and having no phase out
date. Many leading users such as BARC, TIFR, NPCIL, IGCAR etc have fully implemented
the concepts of maintaining the environment and remaining e-conscious. It is time that all
users realise this fact and switch over to refrigerants such as HFCs containing no chlorine.
Many industrial units in the world are slowly accepting these facts but still there is some
reluctance due to advantages of lower price for R123 machines. We must contribute to a
safer environment and cannot afford to delay this process.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Any air-conditioning system whether a unitary product or an engineered machinery item is
to be judged by the efficiency of the system. The definition for efficiency for ACR is different
than the definition for efficiency for mechanical engineers. Here for ACR applications, the
efficiency exceeds 100% and therefore is normally termed as COP. There are 3 different ways
in which energy efficiency is defined. These are explained in ANNEXURE I (EFFECTIVENESS
OF REFRI GERATI ON SYSTEMS).
The efficiency or the COP has improved substantially for various systems over the last two
decades. A machine which has highest COP, will consume lowest power, and should be
encouraged to use to qualify for a green business centre.
2.0 TYPES OF SYSTEMS
The entire world of air-conditioning can be divided in small tonnage and high tonnage
equipments. The small tonnage upto about 25 to 30 TR falls in the unitary products group,
whereas tonnages from 50 to about 12000 TR in a single system will fall into the category of
engineered machinery systems. There are various types of equipment with various refrigerants
both water-cooled and air-cooled and are explained briefly in ANNEXURE I I (TYPES OF
REFRI GERATI ON EQUI PMENT I N HVAC).
3.0 TYPES OF CHILLERS
The Vapour Compression Systems (VCS) are more commonly used than Vapour Absorption
Systems (VAS). This is due to the fact that co-efficient of performance (COP) of Vapour
Compression System are in the range of 5 to 7, whereas COP of Vapour Absorption varies
from about 0.6 to 1.15. The absorption machines run on the heat energy as the source,
whereas vapour compression systems usually require electrical energy as input. Electrical
energy is a costlier form of energy, as 100% conversion of heat into energy is not possible by
the second law of thermodynamics. A simple comparison of COP and Heat Rejection Ratio
(HRR) is as shown in ANNEXURE I I I (VCMs Vs VAMs)
3.1 RECIP CHILLERS
The recip systems have been introduced since the inception of ACR Industry. These will
continue to be used till the end of this world as they have outstanding merits in them. These
systems have built in capability for adjusting the compression ratios depending on the
constantly changing ambient conditions. In a single stage, they can easily go to about 8 to 9
compression ratios. For lower temperatures, where higher compression ratios are required,
one can easily have multi-staging which will save power.
These types of systems will typically have COP in the range of 3.5 to 4.5. Although, recip
systems are presumed to be consuming more power than screw, it may not remain so,
depending on the type of refrigerant and other technical parameters. Typically for ammonia
as refrigerant and for low evaporating temperatures, recips consume less power than
|reer lail1ir |arress l||I
the screws. These systems are very economical and generally have minimum costs. These
systems should be considered seriously typically for Airconditioning applications where
usage is for 8 to 10 hours a day and work 5 to 6 days a week.
The recip systems, either air-conditioning or refrigeration, are more efficient with R134a
refrigerant as compared to R22. Although the capacity for the same compressor displacement
with R134a will drop, the specific power consumption also invariably drops. The advantages
of using R134a over R22 are with R134a, as an HFC, having no phase out date and can be
used permanently. It has much lower operating and standard pressures as compared to R22.
It is readily available since most of the new applications such as refrigerators, transport
refrigeration and air-conditioning etc all use R134a as the undisputed refrigerant. The fall in
capacity, as compared to R22, can be compensated by increasing the speed. The reduction
in power consumption is quite attractive and justifies a fast pay back period. Many MNCs
do not encourage use of R22 and prefer R134a even in India today.
The power consumption for a typical recip system has further come down in the recent years
due to advancement in the tube geometry used for evaporator and condenser. In the older
days, smooth bore tubes typically of OD were used for DX Chiller applications and
integral finned tubes of OD having 19 FPI from outside with smooth bore from inside
were standard. As power became more costly, it was realised that it is more efficient to use
smaller diameter tubes with internal grooving for DX chillers and using 26 FPI instead of
19 FPI from outside with internal grooves inside of smooth bore for condenser tubes. These
improvements have resulted in achieving higher evaporating temperatures and lower
condensing temperatures for the same chilled water outlet temperature and same condenser
water inlet temperatures. In addition to the improvements in geometry, the improvements
in quality of the compressor as well as switch over to the semi-hermetic from the open has
resulted in overall improvements in efficiency, power consumption, compact sizes, lower
noise and less vibrations. The semi-hermetic packaged chillers of today are becoming
increasingly common for both chilled water and brine chilling applications as standard units
which are run and performance tested from factory prior to despatch. The recip chillers are
very economical in price and have outstanding flexibility for varying ambient conditions.
The recip systems should therefore be considered very carefully particularly for tonnages
upto or around 100 TR capacity.
The slide on recip chiller (ANNEXURE I V) whether water-cooled or air-cooled will emphasise
that the power costs upto about 10% could be lowered, if environmentally friendly HFC134a
is used, instead of phasing out HCFC 22.
3.2 SCREW CHILLERS
Screws have been in use for over 20 years in the International Market. These have penetrated
in our Indian Market only recently. Screw type of compressors have outstanding merits for
high compression ratios where either low temperatures on evaporator or high condensing
temperatures such as Air-cooled applications are involved. For air-conditioning type of
applications, compression ratios are low. Screws may not necessarily be the attractive
proposals. Screw chillers are rotary machines, but these compressors are usually imported.
This technology of manufacturing the screw compressors for ACR applications is yet not
developed in our country. Some of the overseas manufacturers are still carrying out R & D
activities and there can be many problems in the field once something goes wrong. There
are 2 types of Screw machines available in the market, they are Mono Screw or Dual Screw.
Usually for air-conditioning applications, mono screws are preferred, whereas for low
temperature refrigeration duty, dual screw may be preferred. Screw chillers usually cost
more than recips, and the advantage in power both at full load and part load may not
be significant. Screws are usually considered as an option to recip if the capacities are in the
range of 150 to 250 TR.
Many times it is misconceived that the screw compressors consume less power than recip
machines. This may not be true in many cases. The typical performance data for dual screw
open compressor is as shown in ANNEXURE V (YORK ROTARY SCREW COMPRESSOR
UNI TS ENGI NEERI NG DATA). The power consumption at typical 35F/115F is 1.2 BHP/
TR. This power consumption is very high even as compared to the recip compressors. One
must note that this is BHP and not IkW. There is a difference of about 10 to 15% between
BHP and IkW. When comparing the two figures for open vs. hermetic, one must take care
to see that fair comparison is made between IkW to IkW and not IkW to BHP. In many cases,
for low temperatures in particular, the difference in power consumption between screw and
recip may be much higher and recip may be a clear winner.
3.2.1 FULL LOAD AND PART LOAD PERFORMANCE
Various manufacturers claim different performances, and authentic published information is
generally not available. Many a times, the exact refrigerant is not known, whether the
performance is with ARI Relief or without is not known and also the figures are indicative and
not guaranteed. It becomes extremely difficult for a proper judgement as to which data is to be
believed. Various performance characteristics at part-load capacities for R22/R134a with or
without ARI Relief for mono and dual screw compressors are as depicted in FI GURE NO. 1.
As discussed before, under recip chillers, the performance with R134a with screw compressors
is invariably better than with R22. Here again the same considerations will apply for the
selection of HFC 134a Vs HCFC 22 to be phased out.
|reer lail1ir |arress l||I
3.3 CENTRIFUGAL CHILLERS
Centrifugal Machines are fully balanced rotary machines having the lowest power consumption
both at full load and part load. The centrifugal is ideal for capacities about 250 TR and upto
2500 TR or more. For air-conditioning or chilled water applications, always hermetic machines
are preferred, because of compactness and low noise and vibration. Generally open type
centrifugals are considered for very low temperature applications having 6 to 8 stages.
Due to toxicity, unavailability and many other negative factors such as negative operating
pressures, R123 is not considered as a good option. R123 was born as a temporary substitute
to R11, since no other permanent refrigerant without chlorine has still been found with
similar temperature-pressure characteristics. R123 is classified in B1 category and has very
low AEL and TLV limits.
By considering the phase-out of CFC refrigerants and fast approaching deadlines for HCFC
refrigerants, the only strong candidate for centrifugals, which is a pure HFC and has no
phase out date is R134a. There are many countries who have banned R123. Considering all
factors including the global warming and the total TEWI, R134a is found to be one of the best
refrigerants known today. The centrifugals of hermetic type with R134a can typically give
0.6 IKW per TR or lower for standard operating conditions prevailing in India. These are the
best types of machines both from full load and part load efficiency point of view.
3.3.1 POWER CONSUMPTION
A substantial improvement in COP has taken place during the last 20 years. This has happened
because the cost of energy has been rising. One of the main factors responsible for this
improvement in COP is the tube geometry. As discussed earlier in this paper, the finning
of the tubes both internally and externally, both for evaporator and condenser has given rise
to increase in evaporating temperatures and reduction in condensing temperatures. The
latest TURBO-B II and TURBO-C II tubes have given rise to IkWs in the range of 0.5 to 0.6,
for standard applications, with prevailing fouling factors for Indian conditions. A typical p-
h Diagram is as shown in FI GURE NO. 2.
3.3.2 ENERGY COST OF REFRIGERANT
When refrigeration capacity of 250 TR and above are required, usually the clear winner is a
centrifugal chiller. Typically energy cost of refrigeration as published in ISHRAE Journal of
July 1998 written by a leading consultant in Mumbai are as shown in FI GURE NO. 3. From
this diagram, one can see that it costs minimum to run a centrifugal chiller. This is because
of the fact that COP for these chillers is the highest and the power consumption minimum.
The figure also shows average power consumption figures in IkW per TR. This is a good
guideline mostly for air-conditioning range. The higher cost of centrifugal is more than
justified by a faster pay back period because of savings in power consumption.
3.3.3 R134a Vs R123
The old centrifugal machines used to operate on R11 as a refrigerant. This is a low pressure
refrigerant having high vacuum on suction and moderate positive pressure on discharge side
while in operation. The standing pressure is only slightly above the atmospheric pressure.
Since the operating pressures were negative, a lot of air and water vapour used to get sucked
into the machine from the atomosphere necessitating continuous operation of the purge unit.
Inspite of inclusion of a purge unit, there would be heavy rust and corrosion due to water
vapour inside the shell. The system used to get rusted and refrigerant contaminated with
corrosion. It was impossible to clean such systems and the performance would get affected
over a period of time. As the ban on CFC refrigerant has come into effect, an alternative to
R11 was searched. Interim solution was the birth of R123. This is a refrigerant having similar
characteristics to R11 but which is an HCFC. This is very toxic and the AEL and TLVs are
stringently low. Should any leak occur, the monitoring system must give an alarm and must
put the ventilation system ON. This is mandatory in view of the toxic nature of the refrigerant.
The R123 refrigerant is not a long term solution and since no permanent solution having
characteristics of R11 is found, R123 is strictly used as an interim solution. This refrigerant
is not readily available and has to be imported against a special import license. The negative
pressure refrigerants are ones which have operating pressures in the vacuum range. As
against these refrigerants, R134a is a positive pressure refrigerant, which has positive operating
pressures. A comparison of positive pressure technology vs. negative pressure is as shown
in ANNEXURE VI .
There are many countries in the world who have totally banned use of R123. R134a, is an
HFC, having no phase out requirement, and a permanent refrigerant. It is the most preferred
one for all applications, be it recips, screws or centrifugals. This has become a universal
refrigerant for most of the applications which believe in e-consciousness.
4.0 CONCLUSIONS
Although many MNCs, Government and BARC applications have almost switched over to
a safer chlorine-free refrigerant R134a, it is time that each large capacity air-conditioning
installation must use only R134a or R407c or R404a or other similar HFCs and not promote
the use of toxic refrigerants such as R123, which are only an intermittent substitute, and
much worse than other HCFCs such as R22. All green buildings must essentially ban the
HCFCs, and particularly the toxic R123 refrigerant.
|reer lail1ir |arress l||I
Capacity in Tons of Refrigeration
Types of Refrigeration Equipment in HVAC
T
y
p
e

o
f

E
q
u
i
p
m
e
n
t
Vapor
Compression
Vapor
Absorption
0
2
5
0
5
0
0
7
5
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
5
0
1
5
0
0
1
7
5
0
2
0
0
0
2
2
5
0
2
5
0
0
2
7
5
0
3
0
0
0
3
2
5
0
3
5
0
0
3
7
5
0
Unitary products
Available Reciprocating chiller range 15 ~ 500 TR; W/c & A/c applications
McQuay W/c Reciprocating chiller range 25 ~ 385 TR; HCFC 22 or HFC 134a
McQuay A/c Reciprocating chiller range 20 ~ 420 TR; HCFC 22 or HFC 134a
Available Screw chiller range 40 ~ 1,400 TR; W/c & A/c applications
McQuay W/c Screw chiller range 75 ~ 540TR; HCFC22, HFC410A or HFC 134a
McQuay A/c Screw chiller range 65 ~ 555TR; HCFC22, HFC407C or HFC 134a
Available Centrifugal chiller range150 ~ 13,000 TR; W/c & Air cooled applications; Single & multi stage
McQuay W/c Centrifugal chiller range 150 ~ 2,500 TR; HFC 134a.
Available Vapor Absorption chiller range 25 ~ 6,600TR, Direct fired, Steam or
Hot water, Single & Two stage; Refrigerant H
2
O (R-718) & Absorbent: Lithium Bromide
Available Scroll chiller range 2~60 TR; W/c & A/c applications
McQuay A/c Scroll chiller range 2 ~ 5 & 30 ~ 45 TR; (HCFC 22, HFC 407C or HFC 134a)
Sanyo Hot water fired Absorption chiller range 30 ~ 525 TR
Sanyo Double effect Direct or Steam or Hot water fired Absorption chiller range 100 ~ 6,600 TR
KVJ-TKN/02/0301/01
ANNEXURE I
ANNEXURE II
ANNEXURE III
|reer lail1ir |arress l||I
Model shown here:
KAR 165.2 OS
Use Kirloskar McQuay Reciprocating
chillers with Chlorine-free HFC-134a.
Water cooled range 50 ~ 384 TR
Air cooled range 045 ~ 420 TR
Model shown here:
KWR 225.3 OS
KVJ-TKN/02/0301/04
Be Environment Friendly! save upto 10% on
POWER costs !!!
75 85 95 105 115 125
132.2 155.7 181.8 210.8 242.7 277.9
- 40 TR 293.4 287.6 281.5 275.0 268.0 260.5
.5 BHP 612.7 676.0 745.0 822.1 906.2 1007.6
- 35 TR 331.2 325.1 318.6 311.7 304.5 296.6
2.6 BHP 638.9 704.9 775.2 852.5 934.8 1031.4
- 30 TR 371.9 365.4 358.5 351.3 343.6 335.5
4.9 BHP 663.9 734.2 807.2 885.5 967.7 1062.5
- 25 TR 415.7 408.7 401.4 393.8 385.7 377.2
7.4 BHP 685.4 762.5 840.0 920.5 1007.8 1098.6
- 20 TR 461.9 454.8 447.0 439.0 430.5 421.5
10.2 BHP 703.9 789.0 872.0 956.9 1046.3 1138.5
- 15 TR 510.5 503.1 495.2 486.5 477.7 468.3
13.2 BHP 718.7 811.2 903.4 992.6 1086.2 1180.3
- 10 TR 562.1 554.1 545.9 537.0 527.6 517.9
16.5 BHP 730.5 829.1 929.7 1028.7 1126.1 1228.5
- 5 TR 615.5 607.1 598.4 589.3 579.5 569.2
20.1 BHP 739.0 844.3 951.8 1060.4 1166.2 1272.3
0 TR 672.4 663.6 654.4 645.0 634.9 624.1
24.0 BHP 744.5 854.9 970.2 1087.6 1203.9 1318.0
5 TR 724.1 714.3 704.3 694.0 682.8
28.2 BHP 862.9 982.7 1107.9 1237.5 1361.7
10 TR 777.3 766.7 755.8 744.5
32.8 BHP 993.1 1125.2 1260.8 1399.5
15 TR 842.7 831.7 820.3 808.5
37.7 BHP 999.8 1138.1 1282.4 1430.0
20 TR 900.9 888.8 876.4
43.0 BHP 1147.8 1298.2 1456.2
25 TR 973.3 960.9 947.9
48.8 BHP CONSULT 1153.1 1310.9 1474.1
30 TR FACTORY 1037.3 1023.8
54.9 BHP 1319.2 1490.0
1.2 BHP/TR 1103.2
1501.7
40 TR 1186.2
68.5 BHP 1508.5
NOTE : Capacities based on Economiser, 10 Deg Suction Superheat with Superheat not contributing to the refrigeration effect. kvj/0392
S
A
T
U
R
A
T
E
D

S
U
C
T
I
O
N

T
E
M
P
E
R
A
T
U
R
E
,

0
F
/
C
O
R
R
E
S
P
O
N
D
I
N
G

P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E
,

P
S
I
G
YORKROTARY SCREW COMPRESSORUNITS ENGINEERING DATA
HIGH STAGE-CAPACITY and BHP @ 3550 RPM w/ECONOMIZER (60Hz) IS 2350E
R-22
SATURATED CONDENSING TEMPERATURE,
0
F/CORRESPONDING PRESSURE, PSIG
1117.6
1325.2
35 TR
61.5 BHP
115
ANNEXURE IV
|reer lail1ir |arress l||I
Electricity from utility - Rs.per kW.hr (Overall)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
16 14 12 10 8 6 4
Oil / per Lit
R
s
.

/

T
R
.
h
r
Energy cost of Refrigeration
b) Vapor Absorption systems a) Vapor compression systems
Courtesy: Write up on Refrigeration Equipment by Mr. S.K.Murthy, Eskayem Consultants Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai
in ISHRAE Journal, July 1998 issue.
R
s
.

/

T
R
.
h
r
Screw chillers
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7 6 5 4 3 2
Reciprocating chillers
Centrifugal chillers
Different type of vapor compression equipment
available in Industry and its ikW/TR
Range Median
Reciprocating chillers 0.75 ~ 0.85 0.81
Screw chillers 0.67 ~ 0.75 0.70
Centrifugal chillers 0.60 ~ 0.68 0.65
Different type of vapor absorption equipment available
in Industry and its efficiency
Range Median
Steam fired 4.5 kg of steam / TR.hr 0.35 lit LDO
Direct fired - 0.35 lit LDO
Natural gas fired - 0.30 Nm
3
Screw chillers
Oil fired absorption
chillers
Gas fired
absorption chillers
KVJ-TKN/02/0301/02
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
%
,

P
o
w
e
r

i
n
p
u
t

Reciprocating I-Mono Screw Centrifugal M-Mono Screw
T-Dual Screw K-Dual Screw Trend Line
M-Mono Screw W/o
Relief HCFC22
K-Dual Screw
W/o Rel ief
I-Mono Screw wi th
Rel ief, HFC 134a
Reciprocating
T-Dual Screw wi th
Relief, HCFC 22
Centrifugal wi th
Reli ef, HFC134a
In accordance with ARI Standard 550/590 - 1998
Part load performance:
%, Capacity
KVJ-TKN/02/0301/03