Steam Plant Chiller

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The goal of this project is divided into two parts. Part one is to specify, order, and install various flow and pressure sensors to the existing chiller system. Additionally, a math model is to be developed of the current system and with the sensors installed. Part two will consist of validating the math model, testing the sensors, and performing data acquisition on the chiller. the data will then be used within the math model in order to find areas for improvement and greater efficiencies. part two are the summer and fall semesters, respectively.

Background
Chilled Water System Over the last several years, the University of Idaho has developed a central chilled water program that consists of 2 central plants where steam absorption and electric chillers of various sizes are located. This District Chilled Water Production and Distribution System resulted from a recommendation contained in a master plan for University of Idaho Energy Production and Distribution Systems developed by the University and engineering firm CH2M Hill in 1990/91 and updated in 1996.

Twenty-nine buildings in the central portion of campus are connected to the system. The system provides chilled water for process equipment cooling and environmental room conditioning in a reliable and cost effective manner. This has allowed elimination of many worn out and inefficient building chillers, and allows new buildings and major remodels of older buildings to be constructed without separate chillers.

Operation of the central chilled water system provides enhanced efficiency through load sharing and diversity by allowing operation of only the number and size of chillers required for the total cooling load, as opposed to running many building chillers at inefficient, partial load. In addition, the Univeresity sees a labor cost advantage related to the man-power required to operate and maintain fewer chillers in central locations versus the previous standard of operating and maintaining many chillers at diverse locations.

Additionally, the central chiller plant does not use HCFC refrigerants. The absorption machines do not use hydrocarbon refrigerant at all since the primary refrigerant is water. The only centrifugal chiller in the plant uses R-134 refrigerant. As older buildings with R-11 or R-12 chillers connect to the central plants and retire their chillers, it supports the phase-out of those refrigerants.

=Current System Model= The Current System Model is broken up into 6 stages.
 * chillers
 * 8 compressors
 * 2fins
 * 2 pumps
 * 2 Condensate Pumps
 * Dearator Tank

Design Soulation
"we are working on it"

Design Concepts
we are working on it

EES Verification
The program Engineering Equation Solver (EES) is used to model the current chiller system, and estimate the efficiency using inputs of chiller generated and fuel usage. {|width="100%"
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problem definition
we are working on it

Team Members
=Document Archive=