Pressure-Independent Valves Simplify Air Base's Transition to Variable Flow: Chilled-water-plant conversion part of USD6.8 million UESC

摘要

At Eglin Air Force Base in Northwest Florida, a chilled-water plant known as Building 42 was laid out in a primary/secondary configuration, with the intent to utilize variable flow through the secondary loop to save energy. Because of budget constraints, however, variable-speed drives never were installed on the plant's secondary pumps. Rather, the entire system ran at constant speed, regardless of cooling load, generating 2,800 gpm 24/7 and consuming an average of nearly 4.16 million kwh per year.