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May 16

Monitoring Compressor Health

The U.S. shale basin production growth has raised the demand for new infrastructure investments for gas processing capacity.  As more natural gas processing plants come online over the next few years, they must be flexible enough to deal with changing demands and richer gas streams.

Gas Processing PlantThese new gas processing plants must not only be flexible, but also efficient.  Machinery health is monitored to prevent costly unplanned downtime or failures.  But newer plant control systems also enable compressors to precisely match required process conditions and run much more efficiently.  Both of these factors point to screw compressor technology.

Most natural gas produced from wells contains water and various other hydrocarbons which need to be removed from the gas stream by processing plants before being injected into transportation natural gas pipelines. Such is the case with most shale gas produced today, which contains heavier gas constituents. These high BTU liquids often have greater value as a separate value stream in liquid form, rather than as part of the natural gas being sold.

Midstream Business magazine recently interviewed Emerson Climate Technologies to discuss the new types of rotating equipment technology for gas compression and process refrigeration applications.  To learn about trends in wireless plant technology, plant-wide distributed control systems, and packaged refrigeration systems for midstream gas processing plants, read the entire article.

Mark McCormick
Director Gas Compression
Emerson Climate Technologies

May 10

Low-GWP Refrigerant Alternatives Being Evaluated

AHRI has posted nine final test reports for its Low Global Warming Potential Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Program (Low-GWP AREP). The reports contain drop-in test results of low-GWP refrigerants in several different types of systems:

  • Chillers
  • Commercial ice machines
  • Residential heat pumps
  • Bottle coolers
  • Trailer refrigeration

This Low-GWP AREP was started over two years ago.  The alternative refrigerants are not ranked, however.  The goal of the program was simply to identify potential refrigerant replacements for high GWP refrigerants (such as R404A, R134a, and R410A) and present performance of these replacements in a consistent and standard manner.

All of the details of the AHRI Low-GWP AREP can be found at: http://www.ahrinet.org/ahri+low_gwp+alternative+refrigerants+evaluation+program.aspx

Emerson Climate Technologies makes sense of refrigerant options in a new presentation:  http://www.emersonclimate.com/en-us/Products/Compressors/Scroll_Compressors/copeland_scroll_refrigeration/Documents/AHR_NewRefrigerantsV2.pdf

Rajan Rajendran, Ph.D
Vice President, Engineering Services and Sustainability
Emerson Climate Technologies

May 8

Innovative and Energy-Saving Ideas Mark a New Era in the Building Industry for India and Southeast Asia

Revealed through outstanding entries in The Emerson Cup – India and Southeast Asia awards, the region is positioned as one of the leaders in creative energy-saving concepts.

The practice of green building results in a range of environmental, economic and social benefits. It helps countries save precious resources, businesses to reduce operating costs, enables people to live in healthier, more environmentally sustainable homes, and much more. In countries like India and parts of Southeast Asia, the construction industry is one of the largest economic activities contributing to development today, witnessing tremendous growth in the building and construction sector. Fast rising income levels are leading to lifestyle changes for various sections of the society. While this is a healthy trend, it is putting enormous demand on resources – like energy, water, materials, etc.

Fortunately, India, Thailand, Indonesia and some of the other Southeast Asian countries realize that it is increasingly important to adopt energy-efficient solutions in construction. The HVACR industry makes a significant contribution to the green building movement with opportunities for improvement in energy efficiency and indoor air quality. The Emerson Cup – India & Southeast Asia annual awards organized by Emerson Climate Technologies to recognize outstanding innovations and energy-efficient design in the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry, receives a high level of entries from this region every year revealing that it is ahead of the curve in green energy thinking.

The Emerson Cup 2012 award ceremony, celebrating its 5th anniversary, was held on October 31, 2012 at Hyderabad city, Andhra Pradesh, India during the 10th Indian Green Building Congress (IGBC). The winning entries displayed impressive innovations in building design and HVAC. The Emerson Cup 2012 had four award categories – New Building, New Building – with Emerson Technologies, Retrofit Building, and Students (Engineering & Architecture).

Energy Commission Diamond BuildingEnergy Commission Diamond Building (Putrajaya, Malaysia) won the Excellence Award under the New Building category for some of its unique features. Designed by Primetech Engineers Sdn Bhd, this building enjoys chilled water supply from gas district cooling. With OTTV fairly low at 35 W/m2K, it is getting renewable energy from photovoltaic, uses recyclable materials, and applies radiant cooling with thermal mass storage, leading to powering up this new structure with less than 10% of its development cost! They also have a rain water harvesting provision that saves more than 70% of water usage.

Hotel Jaypee Vasant ContinentalAnother highly innovative project that won an Excellence award was the retrofitting of Hotel Jaypee Vasant Continental (New Delhi, India). With water cooled screw chillers (capacity: 285TR X 3), this 30-year old hotel optimizes air-conditioning systems within the prevailing constraints. Various energy saving measures were implemented for the best energy efficiency without compromising guest comfort. This project is enjoying an attractive ROI ranging as low as 1-3 years.

Holy StadiumOne of the projects that stood out was the Holy Stadium (Indonesia) that won the Excellence award in the New Building – With Emerson Technologies category. This building has a 1,152HP package system installed with Copeland Scroll™ compressors. Some of the key project highlights were – 25-30% heat gain reduction by using passive design concept “shell and core building”; Jet nozzle installed to cool the occupant area; Air-ducting eliminated by 80%; Total cooling load reduced by 20%; Applied active heat-pipe air-conditioning with scroll compressor.

The Emerson Cup 2012 also awarded a Special Mention to a special sample project called ‘Prana’ by renowned architect Sharukh Mistry of Mistry Architects that was highly appreciated by the independent judging panel for its uniqueness. According to Mr. Mistry, Prana is a beautiful name which means “Life Energy, Life Force – the magic that we take for granted”.  Prana is a green initiative by the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers to showcase the latest green technologies like scroll chillers and radiant cooling. In this project, an Earth Air tunnel system is demonstrated, where 72 meters of underground piping is helping this home-office draw cooled fresh air from the ground underneath through air ducts that are hardly visible. It has rain water harvesting facility and low water toilet fittings. Part of the power is being generated through solar PV cells of 3KW.

There have been many such winning entries at The Emerson Cup awards over the course of last five years. Detailed case studies can be viewed at:

 www.EmersonClimate.com/TheEmersonCup or www.Slideshare.net/TheEmersonCup

May 2

LEED Measurement & Verification

It seems natural that a building owner who invests in energy improvement projects would want to know if those investments actually pay off.  But of the more than 5,000 LEED-certified projects involving new construction, only 1 out of 5 earned the Energy & Atmosphere credit for Measurement & Verification!

Measurement and verification (M&V) involves recording actual energy use and comparing that data with the estimated energy use seen in the design. LEED-certified buildings don’t always perform as well as expected.  The M&V process can quickly pinpoint any systems that are not performing as specified or anomalies in equipment, operations procedures or user habits.  The M&V plan can also help to reduce energy costs and makes commissioning easier.

Energy MeterIf a building has an energy management system which includes monitoring, the M&V plan should be structured around that hardware and software.  For example, a supermarket or retail outlet typically relies on controllers for the major system including refrigeration, HVAC, and lighting.  The E2 controller from Emerson is commonly found in retail and serves this function.  Emerson Climate Technologies offers an energy analysis package which ties together sensors, Energy Meter, and the E2 system controller.  The Energy Meter connects to the E2 controller via Modbus and in addition to kW/kWh readings can also determine metrics related to power quality to minimize energy costs.

The LEED credit is earned for the plan – not for the implementation of the plan, which can be done at a later date.  But just having a well thought out plan demonstrates the commitment of the LEED team to real ongoing energy savings for the building operator.  Many utilities offer incentives and rebates for submetering and energy management programs.  If additional electrical submeters are required, these need not be permanent installations.  Spot-metering and utility analysis can all be part of the M&V plan. 12 months of data is ideal and will allow the building operator to make any necessary adjustments.

By utilizing Facility Management from Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions, retailers have everything they need to control and monitor critical equipment and enhance the quality of the products sold to customers. The E2 controller is the brain of the system, which talks to the facility management system panel relay boards that switch equipment on or off and receive information from sensors throughout the store.  Not only can the Emerson system be used to satisfy M&V for LEED points, but once the energy meter is connected to the E2 it can also serve as a demand management system helping customers manage the peak “demand” part of their utility bill automatically.  No other hardware or software is required.

For more information on Emerson’s power and energy meter: http://www.emersonclimate.com/en-US/products/electronics_systems/sensors_and_transducers/Pages/power_meter.aspx

John Wallace
Director of Product Management, Retail Solutions
Emerson Climate Technologies

Apr 30

1 Comment

HFCs and the Montreal Protocol

In February, the EPA hosted a stakeholder meeting to discuss a proposal for HFC refrigerants in the Montreal Protocol.  The United States, along with our neighbors to the north and south, will likely propose an amendment to add HFCs to the Montreal Protocol.  The goal is to carefully and slowly phase down HFC production, but not a complete phase out.   The phase-down schedules are still being discussed, as is the issue of what to do with HFO refrigerants.  Large developing countries such as India, China and Brazil may oppose universal HFC phase-downs.

Most of what our industry does with refrigerants today stems from the Montreal Protocol.  The air conditioning and refrigeration industry has supported global efforts to protect the environment by introducing non-chlorine-containing refrigerants. The Montreal Protocol, established in 1987 and later revised, provides guidelines for individual country legislation, setting timetables for the phase-out of chlorine containing refrigerants.  But today there is more attention on climate change and reducing greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide is by far the most significant greenhouse gas, produced mainly by burning fossil fuels for electrical generation and transportation. Since refrigeration equipment consumes energy, energy-efficient designs are important to reducing carbon dioxide production.

The effort started with an emphasis on cutting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants. Work in the late 1980s and early 1990s centered on eliminating CFCs which were used in foam blowing, cleaning and refrigeration applications and centrifugal chillers for air conditioning. By the end of 1995, developed countries stopped producing CFCs, and they are no longer used in new equipment today. These actions have significantly reduced atmospheric chlorine and are starting to repair the ozone layer.

In a recent issue of the NEWS (ACHR), I mentioned “The U.S., Canada and Mexico have proposed an amendment to the Montreal Protocol to address global warming with a phase down of HFCs. This effort has been in place for a few years now. While there are 107 other countries supporting it, there are other, more developing countries like India, China and Brazil who oppose. One barrier often mentioned is that the Montreal Protocol has historically had a very clear mission of addressing ozone depletion, but climate change is outside of its charter.”  Read the entire article at: http://digital.bnpmedia.com/display_article.php?id=1366941

However this plays out in 2013, we’ll be watching international, federal, and state regulations on greenhouse gases and working within in the industry to make smart decisions for today and the future.

Rajan Rajendran, Ph.D
Vice President, Engineering Services and Sustainability
Emerson Climate Technologies

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