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Water-cooled commercial centrifugal chiller system modeling and performance assessment.

Author(s) : HUGHES M. T., AGARWAL R. M., GARIMELLA S.

Type of article: IJR article

Summary

Accurate thermodynamic and heat transfer models of complex, large-scale vapor compression systems are necessary to predict chiller performance at the component and system levels across a range of relevant operating conditions encountered in the field (e.g., coupling or working fluid temperatures, pressures, and flow rates). Additionally, understanding the sensors that should be installed in the field, and how accurate they should be, is crucial to develop accurate and cost-effective control methodologies. In this study, a 1758-kW commercial water- cooled centrifugal chiller with two-stage compression and recuperative heat exchangers is analyzed in detail to develop robust and computationally efficient component level models, which are then combined to form a cycle model that fully characterizes system performance. The model is validated and used to evaluate the performance of a chiller operating in the field to assess in-field chiller performance and deviation from design conditions. Then, to better understand the sensors most critical to chiller performance characterization, the sensitivity of system-level model results is characterized with measurement uncertainty for all the sensors. As operating data and measurement inputs vary according to the type of chiller characterization (i.e., design or performance prediction), separate model architectures are developed to accommodate inputs specified by design standards and field sensor data. The commercial chiller system and its components are described, and modeling methods are presented for the design- and performance prediction-oriented scenarios. System- and component- level performance is assessed for each model development case using key trends (e.g., Coefficient of Performance (COP) and heat exchanger capacities) calculated for the respective measurement set. For each case, the relative advantages and disadvantages of the respective measurement set are evaluated, and performance trends are compared with manufacturer performance data. The impact of measurement uncertainty on model performance is assessed for the performance-oriented scenario using sensor accuracy information.

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Pages: 11 p.

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Details

  • Original title: Water-cooled commercial centrifugal chiller system modeling and performance assessment.
  • Record ID : 30034508
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Technology
  • Source: International Journal of Refrigeration - Revue Internationale du Froid - vol. 181
  • Publication date: 2026/01
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2025.10.020

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