Evaluating the Performance of Chiller 1 in Daphne Cockwell Complex (DCC) Building

A significant amount of the energy consumed in large buildings is used to operate the chiller plant. This research investigated the performance of water-cooled chiller in a multipurpose building to pave the way for future chiller optimization research. The objective was to pinpoint key trends and relationships between the chiller operating conditions and energy performance. To reach this objective, the research was undertaken in three steps; 1) the existing chilled water system and its control was documented, 2) time series of operating data was collected and analyzed, 3) the chiller efficiency was calculated. The results showed that the chiller has reached its optimal performance at COP of 11.24 at the following set of conditions: PLR = 46%, cooling output between 801.27 and 814.69 kW, and chilled water supply temperature between 6.3-7.5°C. This research also highlighted energy-saving opportunities that can be implemented in the central cooling plant to enhance the performance of the chiller.