Summary of results:
A Holistic Approach Optimizes Chiller Plant Operation & Saves Energy
MVML, Chakan, Pune is a high-end vehicle manufacturing facility spread over 700 acres in the Chakan Industrial area managed and operated by MVML for over more than 10 years. This facility has various blocks for the manufacturing process one of which is the paint shop “J block” designed and installed with a water-cooled chiller plant of 300 TR, having a primary variable pumping system. During the chiller plant room audit/survey, the chiller plant was performing at poor efficiency.
The water quality was found poor resulting in scaling on the condenser side. This led to a higher condenser approach and declined chiller performance.
The installed primary and condenser pumps were of higher capacity than required. None of the ancillary equipment was installed with VFD hence; running at full speed irrespective of load. The cooling tower performance was found satisfactory but due to bad water quality and poor maintenance cooling tower approach was on the higher side than the design value. Also, the recorded water flow for the chiller’s condenser and evaporator was more than required.
These discoveries showed an energy saving potential of 14% i.e., 372 kWhr/day for 20 hours of plant operation, and the solutions proposed were as follows;
- Chiller condenser and evaporator descaling for increasing heat transfer efficiency.
- Cooling tower water quality to be maintained as per manufacturer’s requirement/ guideline.
- Installation of a control panel with VFD and field sensors to control ancillary.
- Chilled water and condenser water balancing to the designed parameters.
