Central plant retrofit considerations

Refrigerant changes, along with normal aging, are driving the need to retrofit or replace chillers within a central plant at a much greater pace than ever before. This is an opportunity to improve the efficiency of the chiller as well as the overall performance of the plant. The key to taking advantage of this opportunity is to "re-engineer, not replace." In addition to issues relating to type and size of chillers, chilled water piping, control systems, cooling tower selection and condenser water piping should be addressed to ensure maximum benefit from the cost of the retrofit.