Chilled Water Systems

It is vitally important to accurately control critical equipment such as chillers, cooling towers and pumps to achieve maximum energy efficiency. The controllability of the chilled water system is only as good as the performance capabilities of the measurement instrumentation and valves you choose. You can rely on the HVAC applications engineering expertise of Control Associates and its instrumentation division Pro-Tech Solutions to assist with the proper sizing and selection of valves and instruments to ensure safe, reliable and energy efficient performance.

We offer the full portfolio of Emerson modulation and isolation valves, valve actuators and measurement instrumentation including:

• Fisher™ Vee-Ball™ modulating control valves for flow and temperature control applications
• Keystone™ K-LOK high performance butterfly valves for all automated and manually operated isolation valve applications, locally stocked and automated at Control Associates
• Rosemount™ precision instrumentation for pressure, temperature, level and flow measurement applications

The min/max flow rates through the chilled water system can vary widely as outdoor temperatures swing from season to season. The high turndown ratio and precision control capability of Emerson;s Fisher Vee-Ball rotary modulating valves are ideally suited to handle these wide swings in operating conditions to ensure optimal energy efficiency and performance. Typical chilled water system applications include:

• Pump minimum flow bypass control
• Plate and frame heat exchanger temperature control

Scale, corrosion, airborne debris, and suspended solids is the cause of many valve failures in condenser water in both open and closed cooling towers. Most high performance butterfly valves have pressure assisted seat designs that allows debris to build up behind the seat preventing the disc from fully closing. This causes seat leakage and premature valve failures. Emerson's Keystone K-LOK high performance butterfly valve with its true interference fit seat design, does not rely on line pressure to seal tightly. Plus unlike most other designs, there are no voids behind the K-LOK seat where debris can collect, making it ideally suited for dirty services.

The use of Rosemount 3300 precision guided wave level transmitters in cooling tower applications provides superior level measurement to prevent overfill scenarios. It has no moving parts, needs no calibration, and is virtually unaffected by process conditions. With top down level and interface measurements you are in total control of your level applications.

Being one the largest consumers of energy in a building, the chilled water system can have a significant impact on operational costs and carbon emissions. In addition to energy usage, critical chiller machinery failures can adversely impact maintenance costs and downtime.

Ongoing routine maintenance represents the minimum starting point. Implementing predictive maintenance and energy optimization strategies requires real-time operational data. Innovative Emerson IIIoT technologies and software like Plantweb™ Performance Advisor have opened the door to new ways of improving and sustaining energy and performance efficiencies of critical machinery through its online 24/7 condition and performance monitoring capabilities.

Our solution enables you to run chilled water systems more efficiently, track operating performance against targets, schedule maintenance activities, and determine the root cause of vital asset inefficiencies. When your facilities staff are alerted to degrading asset performance, critical operation decisions can be made to mitigate downtime, reduce energy usage and carbon emissions while improving the bottom line.

The software calculates thermodynamic-based equipment performance using industry-standard ASME Production Test Codes (PTC) calculation techniques to facilitate the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that can be compared to design/baseline data. The data comparisons are then used to determine “deviation from design” diagnostics for critical machinery like chiller compressors, pumps, cooling towers and other HVAC system assets.