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  2. Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
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  5. Technical Report
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/30767
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dc.contributor.authorCler, Gerald L.-
dc.contributor.authorConstruction Engineering Research Laboratory (U.S.)-
dc.date.accessioned2018-12-10T19:34:33Z-
dc.date.available2018-12-10T19:34:33Z-
dc.date.issued1995-11-
dc.identifier.govdocUSACERL Technical Report 96/14-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11681/30767-
dc.descriptionTechnical Reporten_US
dc.description.abstractElectric consumption at DOD fixed facilities accounts for about one-third of the energy consumed, but about two-thirds of the total fixed facility energy expenditures and 30 to 60 percent of the total electric bill, primarily due to summer air conditioning loads. Decreasing electricity use through conservation and/or fuel switching can effectively reduce energy costs at Army Installations. Natural gas cooling technologies may now be viable alternatives for specific applications since both absorption and engine-driven chillers have become available in nearly the same capacities as electric chillers. This study developed a simple method to evaluate gas cooling technologies as alternatives to conventional electric vapor compression cooling. A worksheet was developed to help users evaluate gas cooling technologies by entering local electric and gas rates, approximate cooling load profiles for building(s) being evaluated, equipment and installation costs, equipment performance and maintenarice requirements, and other system parameters. The completed worksheet determines approximate system costs, annual operating costs, and life cycle costs for electric, absorption, and engine-driven chillers. Incremental simple payback and Savings-to-Investment Ratio (SIR) are also calculated for absorption and engine-driven chillers using electric chillers as the base case for comparison.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis study was conducted for U.S. Army Center for Public Works (USACPW) under Reimbursable funding MIPR No. E87930543; Work Unit WS3, "Gas-Fired, Engine-Driven Cooling Systems." The technical monitor was Christopher Irby, CECPW-EM.en_US
dc.description.tableofcontentsSF 298 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 List of Figures and Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Mode of Technology Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Metric Conversion Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2 Overview of Natural Gas Cooling Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Absorption Chillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Gas Engine-Driven Chillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 3 System Costs, Performance, and Maintenance Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Available Chiller Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Budget Equipment and Installation Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Equipment Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Maintenance and Make-Up Water Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 4 Economic Evaluation of Gas Cooling Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Required Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Description of Evaluation Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Annual Demand Charge Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 37 Owning and Operating Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Incremental Savings-to-Investment Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Incremental Simple Payback Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Evaluation Worksheet Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Summary of Example Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 5 Energy and Environmental Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 DOD Fixed Facility Energy Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Gas Cooling REEP Analysis for the U.S. Army/DOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Environmental Implications of Gas Cooling Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . 77 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Appendix A: Absorption and Engine Driven Chiller Evaluation Worksheets . . . . . . . 82 Appendix B: Energy Prices and Discount Factors for Life-Cycle Cost Analysis, FY95 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Appendix C: Gas Cooling Equipment Manufacturers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Distribution-
dc.format.extent100 pages / 9.198Mb-
dc.format.mediumPDF/A-
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherConstruction Engineering Research Laboratories (U.S.)en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesTechnical Report;(Construction Engineering Research Laboratories (U.S.)) no. 96/14-
dc.rightsApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited-
dc.sourceThe ERDC Library created this digital resource using one or more of the following: Zeta TS-0995, Zeutcehl OS 12000, HP HD Pro 42-in. map scanner, Epson flatbed-
dc.subjectAir conditioningen_US
dc.subjectMilitary bases--Air conditioningen_US
dc.subjectGas air conditioningen_US
dc.titleEvaluating Gas-Fueled Cooling Technologies for Application at Army Installationsen_US
dc.typeReport-
Appears in Collections:Technical Report

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