Optimize Energy Use in Industrial Cooling Systems

Chilled-water cooling systems used in the chemical processing, petroleum manufacturing, and power generation industries remain fertile ground for electrical energy savings. This is in spite of the lack of attention given to industrial cooling by energy auditors and rebate program designers. This article discusses the large energy savings that can be achieved through hardware and operational improvements to chilled-water systems. After identifying several reasons why cooling systems are often ignored during plant energy surveys, the article considers three upgrades to reduce electricity consumption of chilled-water systems. These upgrades, which have become more reliable and cost effective in the recent past, include chiller changeouts, right-sizing of systems with load matching, and retrofitting compressors to operate with floating head pressures. Free cooling (i.e., using outside air for cooling) and improved cooling tower operations are also briefly discussed as sources of large energy savings.