Simplified energy prediction method accounting for part-load performance of chiller

This paper presents a simplified correlation method accounting for part-load performance of a chiller. First of all, parametric analysis was to present the influence of each input variable on partial loads at specific time and chiller capacity. Five variables, which were found to correlate well, were selected as inputs on the regression equations. A case study was carried out to test the applicability of this method with a 20 story office building in Seoul. The results of this method show good agreement with DOE-2 and measured data. When three alternatives were assumed for a cooling plant system, the differences of life cycle costs calculated for DOE-2 and this method were within 2%. Accordingly, it is believed that this simplified correlation method can be useful for determining the most economic alternative in the initial design stage.