WHITE PAPER

ARI STANDARD 550/590-98

Standard for Water Chilling Packages Using the Vapor Compression Cycle

Introduction
The newly published ARI Standard 550/590-98 combines two previously separate standards: ARI
Standard 550-92 for Centrifugal and Rotary Screw Water Chilling Packages, and ARI Standard 590-92
for Positive Displacement Compressor Water Chilling Packages. This paper discusses the reasons for
combining these two Standards, it also discusses two major changes presented in the revised standard
which affects how chillers are rated and tested. The two major changes are in regard to the Integrated Part
Load Value (IPLV) and the fouling factor adjustment used for evaporators in closed loop water systems.
The IPLV rating conditions and part load weightings have been changed to more closely reflect actual
operating experience found in the field for a single chiller. The evaporator fouling factor has been
changed from 0.00025 to 0.0001 based on research work sponsored by The American Society of Heating,
Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) which shows that the actual fouling of the
waterside of evaporators operating in closed circuit water systems experience very minimal degradation in
performance over time. These changes will show more realistic performance as they are applied in actual
field installations. While use of the new standard generally reflects operating experience often found in
the field, it does not necessarily represent the conditions found at any specific location or application.

Why a Combined ARI Standard 550/590?

The ARI Performance Certification Program for Centrifugal and Rotary Screw Chillers was established in
1989 based on ARI Standard 550. This was followed in 1995 by Positive Displacement Compressor
Chillers based on ARI Standard 590. From the beginning of these two certification programs there was
the need to assure consistent treatment for rating and testing of two very similar and somewhat
overlapping product lines. Consistency can best be accomplished by a single Standard. There was also
some confusion in a specifying engineer’s mind about which Standard applied to which chillers. The title
of Standard 590 references “positive displacement compressors”, and a screw compressor is a positive
displacement compressor. Yet some screw chillers were also included in Standard 550. There is a fine line
between screw chillers rated per Standard 590 (compressors with step unloading), and screw chillers rated
per Standard 550 (compressors with continuous unloading). By having a single Standard, it is easier to
define each chiller type and clearly state how each is rated and tested.

Integrated Part Load Value

The Integrated Part Load Value, or IPLV, is a single, part load efficiency number for water chillers
referenced to the Standard ARI Rating Point. The equation was developed to provide a representation of
the average part load efficiency for a chiller, much like the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, SEER, used
to describe the part load efficiency of unitary equipment. Since it was first developed in 1986, the equation
has undergone two changes, each time to make the IPLV more representative of how a chiller might
operate over a typical year’s period. Extensive computer analysis was used to model chillers applied in
various geographic regions and applications, and reduce the analysis to a single “average” representation.

The use of IPLV, which is a single number representation of part load performance provides a single
method of evaluation. The new standard utilizes a broader representation of operating conditions. It
should be stated that because IPLV represents an average single chiller application it may not be
representative of a particular job installation. It is best to use a comprehensive analysis that reflects the
actual weather data, building load characteristics, number of chillers, operational hours, economizer
capabilities and energy drawn by auxiliaries such as pumps and cooling towers, when calculating the
overall chiller plant system efficiency.

The basis for the IPLV equation has changed, refer to Table 1. The earlier IPLV assumed the weather data
of a single city, the load profile and operating hours of an office building, and the use of an economizer
for operation below 55°F [12.8°C] (chiller off). The new IPLV looks at the weighted average weather data
of 29 cities across the United States, specifically targeted because they represented areas where 80% of all
chiller sales occurred over the 25 year period from 1967 to 1992. The new IPLV also uses a weighted
average of all building types based on a 1992 DOE study (1). Operational hours were a weighted average
of various operations with and without an economizer based on the same DOE study and a 1995 BOMA
study (2).

TABLE 1. - BASIS OF IPLV CALCULATION

1992 STANDARD 1998 STANDARD

ASHRAE temperature bin method used ASHRAE temperature bin method used
Atlanta weather data Averaged weather data from 29 cities across the
U.S.
Chiller operation 12 hrs/day, 5 days/week Weighted average of 12 hrs/day, 5 days/week; &
24 hrs/day, 7 days/week
Chiller operation above 55°F [12.8°C] OADB, Weighted average of chiller operation above &
with economizer below 55°F [12.8°C] OADB below 55°F [12.8°C] OADB
Weighting of part load points determined by Weighting of part load points determined by
straight averaging of hours weighted average ton-hours
Building load profile varying linearly with Building load profile varying linearly with
ambient & MCWB down to 50°F [10°C] OADB; ambient & MCWB down to 50°F [10°C]OADB;
& a 38% average internal load & a 38% average internal load
Below 50°F [10°C] OADB, no chiller load Below 50°F [10°C] OADB, load flattens to 20%
minimum average internal load
OADB = outside air dry bulb MCWB = mean coincident wet bulb

The weighting of each part load point is also different. The earlier IPLV simply weighted each point by
the straight averaging of hours, while it is now done by ton-hours. The new method puts considerably
more emphasis on off-design operation, where a chiller is acknowledged to spend the vast majority of its
operating hours. Off-design operation is considered to be any operation other than at the chiller’s full load
design duty and design ECWT / OADB. The most notable change in weightings shown in Table 2. below
is at the full load point, from 17% weighting in the 1992 Standard to 1% weighting in the 1998 Standard.

TABLE 2. – WEIGHTING OF PART LOAD POINTS

% LOAD 1992 STANDARD 1998 STANDARD

100 % 17 % 1%
75 % 39 % 42%
50 % 33 % 45%
25 % 11 % 12%

The entering condenser fluid temperature at the part load points for water-cooled and air-cooled chillers
has also changed based on the average weather data of the 29 cities and the interpretation of catalog
information from cooling tower and air-cooled condenser manufacturers on how these components should
perform with respect to this average weather data. The temperatures were set in the Standard based on
practical operating parameters of chillers. See Table 3. for I-P System and Table 4. for S-I System.

2
 TABLE 3. - ENTERING CONDENSER FLUID TEMPERATURES AT PART LOAD
I-P SYSTEM

% LOAD 1992 STANDARD 1998 STANDARD

WC AC EC WC AC EC
°F ECWT °F EDB °F EWB °F ECWT °F EDB °F EWB
100% 85 95 75 85 95 75
75% 78.75 85 68.75 75 80 68.75
50% 72.5 75 62.5 65 65 62.5
25% 66.25 65 56.25 65 55 56.25
WC = water-cooled ECWT = entering condenser water temperature
AC = air-cooled EDB = entering air dry bulb temperature
EC = evaporative cooled EWB = entering air wet bulb temperature

TABLE 4. - ENTERING CONDENSER FLUID TEMPERATURES AT PART LOAD

S-I SYSTEM

% LOAD 1992 STANDARD 1998 STANDARD

WC AC EC WC AC EC
°C ECWT °C EDB °C EWB °C ECWT °C EDB °C EWB
100% 29.4 35.0 23.9 29.4 35.0 23.9
75% 26.0 29.4 20.4 23.9 26.7 20.4
50% 22.5 23.9 17.0 18.3 18.3 17.0
25% 19.0 18.3 13.5 18.3 12.8 13.5

Table 5. below compares the old and new IPLV equations utilizing the weightings and entering condenser
fluids from Table 3. and 4.

TABLE 5. – INTEGRATED PART LOAD VALUE EQUATION (IPLV)

SYSTEM VALUE 1992 STANDARD 1998 STANDARD

1 1
I-P kW/ton IPLV = IPLV =
0.17 + 0.39 + 0.33 + 0.11 0.01 + 0.42 + 0.45 + 0.12
A B C D A B C D
EER
S-I or IPLV=0.17A + 0.39B + 0.33C + 0.11D IPLV=0.01A + 0.42B + 0.45C + 0.12D
COP
Where A = kW/ton [EER or COP] at 100% load
B = kW/ton [EER or COP] at 75% load
C = kW/ton [EER or COP] at 50% load
D = kW/ton [EER or COP] at 25% load

3
Application Part Load Value (APLV) and Non-Standard Part Load Value (NPLV)
APLV has been eliminated from the new Standard. NPLV is introduced into the Standard and should be
used when a chiller is not intended to operate at Standard ARI Conditions. Over time, the APLV equation
has been misused to describe part load performance for any chiller that was selected at any condition other
than the Standard ARI Rating Condition. It has become the dominant method of describing part load
performance, essentially replacing IPLV in many cases. This is not the intention of the Standard. Many
chillers are selected and applied at non-standard conditions, but contain no special modifications to run at
the stated application conditions.

Evaporator Fouling Factor Allowance

Recently completed research work sponsored by ASHRAE shows that actual fouling of the waterside of
closed circuit evaporators of water chillers is considerably less than the allowance currently contained in
the Standards. The details of these studies are contained in two ASHRAE papers listed in the appendix (3)
& (4). The results are further summarized in ARI Guideline E-1997 (5). In the work associated with these
studies, several experimental tests were run with various combinations of clean water, dirty water,
different tube types, and 3 ft/sec. and 7 ft/sec. water velocities. The tests indicated that even in the worst
case, the level of fouling after extended operation was less than 11.6% of the standard practice of using
0.00025 FF. This indicates that for closed circuit evaporators, the 0.00025 FF is overly conservative and
is counter to the efforts to improve operating efficiency of chillers. An evaporator fouling factor allowance
of 0.0001 FF is more appropriate for most closed loop circuits. As a result of these studies the standard
fouling factor allowance on the waterside of closed circuit evaporators for centrifugal, screw, reciprocating
and scroll compressor water chillers covered by ARI Standard 550/590, and absorption chillers covered by
ARI Standard 560 are being changed to 0.0001 FF.

This change in fouling factor does not apply to open circuit condensers, as experimental data for
condensers has not been developed. It is expected that the condenser would most likely have a higher
fouling factor due to the higher temperatures of the water and the formation of biological fouling. The
standard fouling factor for condenser water using open cooling tower circuits will remain at 0.00025 FF.

Zeotropic Refrigerants
To account for the use of the newer zeotropic refrigerants (blends) in chillers, the saturated discharge
temperature has been specified for condenserless chillers as the average of the dew point and bubble point.

Certification Program Expanded

The previous ARI Certification Program for positive displacement compressors started at 12.6 tons as a
minimum capacity. This has been extended downward to cover all smaller capacity chillers in the 1998
Standard. This is in line with the desire of the industry to have independent third party verification of
performance on all vapor compression cycle chillers.

Summary
ARI Standard 550/590-98 for Water Chilling Packages Using the Vapor Compression Cycle reflects
several important changes regarding how chillers are rated and tested. The changes will show more
realistic performance when compared to actual field installations. Manufacturers’ published performance
and computer rating programs will reflect this new performance. Specifying Engineers and Owners are
encouraged to update their purchase specifications for chillers, particularly in regard to using 0.0001 FF
on closed circuit evaporators, reference to the new IPLV or NPLV equation as applicable, and in
specifying performance based on ARI Standard 550/590-98.

4
References
(1) DOE Study of Buildings, 1992 [DOE/EIA-0246(92)]
(2) BOMA Study, 1995 BEE Report
(3) A Survey of Water Quality And Its Effect On Fouling In Flooded Water Chiller Evaporators by S.I.
Haider, R.L. Webb, A.K. Meitz, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, 1791 Tullie Cicle, N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30329, U.S.A.
(4) An Experimental Study of Tube-Side Fouling Resistance in Water-Chilled Flooded Evaporators by
S.I. Haider, R.L. Webb, A.K. Meitz, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-
Conditioning Engineers, 1791 Tullie Cicle, N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30329, U.S.A.
(5) ARI Guideline E-1997, Fouling Factors: A Survey of Their Application In Today’s Air Conditioning
And Refrigeration Industry, 1997, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, 4301 North Fairfax
Drive, Suite 425, Arlington, Va. 22203, U.S.A.
(6) ARI Standard 550/590-98, Standard for Water Chilling Packages Using the vapor Compression
Cycle, 1998, Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute, 4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 425,
Arlington, Va. 22203, U.S.A.

Table 6. ARI Standard 550/590-98 is reprinted below to show the ARI Standard Rating Condition:

TABLE 6. STANDARD RATING CONDITIONS

Water-Cooled Evaporatively-Cooled Air-Cooled
Condenser Water
Entering 85°F [29.4°C]
Flow Rate 3.0 gpm/ton [0.054
L/sper kW]
Condenser Fouling Factor Allowance
Water Side 0.00025 h⋅ ft 2 ⋅°F/Btu
[0.000044m2 ⋅°C/W]

Air-Side 0.000 h⋅ft2 ⋅°F/Btu 0.000 h⋅ft2 ⋅°F/Btu

[0.000 m2 ⋅ °C/W] [0.000 m2 ⋅ °C/W]
Entering Air
Dry Bulb 95°F[35.0°]
Wet Bulb 75°[23.9°C]
Evaporator Water
Leaving 44°F[6.7°C]
Flow Rate 2.4 gpm/ton [0.043 L/s per kW]
Evaporator Fouling Factor Allowance
Water-Side 0.0001 h ⋅ ft2 °F/Btu [0.000018 m2 ⋅ °C/W]
Refrigerant-Side 0.000 h ⋅ ft2 °F/Btu [0.000 m2 ⋅ °C/W]
Condenserless
Water or Evaporatively Air-Cooled
Cooled
Saturated Discharge 105°F[40.6°C] 125°F[51.7°C]
Liquid Refrigerant 98°F[36.6°C] 105°F[40.6°C]
Barometric Pressure – 29.92 in. of Hg [101 kPa]
Note: All ARI Standards and Guidelines can be ordered through the ARI Website at: http://www.ari.org