International Conference on Logistics Engineering, Management and Computer Science (LEMCS 2015)

Procedure for Calculating Building Chilled and

Hot Water Differential Pressure Setpoint

Rijin Sun Rundong Liu

School of Environmental Science and Engineering School of Environmental Science and Engineering
Suzhou University of Science and Technology Suzhou University of Science and Technology
Suzhou, China Suzhou, China
E-mail: 309029234@qq.com E-mail:549269992@qq.com

Chenggang Liu
School of Environmental Science and Engineering
Suzhou University of Science and Technology
Suzhou, China
E-mail:cliu1977@163.com
*Corresponding author

Abstract—The calculation of the building differential

pressure (DP) setpoint based on the water flow-rate is ( ) (3)
discussed in this paper. How to find the coefficient (k) of Where: , , ,
water piping system in any case is the key in the calculation. .
The condition of the building DP calculation is documented The affinity laws are shown in Fig .1-Fig .3.
to make sure its correction. The theory of pump working
point matching water system curve is applied to find k in the
procedure. After adjusting the pressure drop on each air
handling unit and water balance for the system, the
measurement of the water flow-rate and the building DP can
be taken and system k can be calculated. Then, an example
of the building DP calculation is given.
Keywords-Pump Speed Control; Flow-rate; Differential
Pressure Setpoint; VFD; Recommissioning

I. INTRODUCTION
There are several measures to improve the building
performance and energy saving, such as chiller or boiler Figure 1. The relationship between flow and speed
rescheduling, air handling unit optimization, free cooling
utilization, pump speed control and so on[1]. For a large
water distributing system, the building pumps are needed
to satisfy building differential pressure when the primary
loop differential pressure is not high enough[2]. Currently
more and more pumps are possessed with variable
frequency drives (VFD) to save pump energy for partial
load period[3]. The benefits of VFDs are numerous and
they offer the greatest energy savings for varies
applications, the most common is VFD for pumps that
supply chilled water and heating hot water for the building.
The adjustable flow method with VFD drastically reduces
power requirements. Based on the affinity laws, flow
Figure 2. The relationship between pressure and speed
changes linearly with speed while pressure is proportional
to the square of speed. The power required is proportional
to the cube of the speed. The latter is most important,
because if the motor speed drops, the power drops by the
cube.
(1)

( ) (2)

© 2015. The authors - Published by Atlantis Press 551

 setpoint can be set based on the water flow rate or outside
air temperature.
As an example of the outside air temperature reset
stratagem is shown in Table.1 and Table.2. The DP
setpoint for chilled water is increased when outside air
temperature is increased, because the cooling load of the
building increases when outside is hot. On the contrary, the
DP setpoint for heating hot water is decreased when
outside is becomes warmer. However, this method is
limited to the building in which the heat flow across the
exterior envelope influences its interior cooling and
heating loads.
Figure 3. The relationship of horsepower and speed
TABLE I. CHILLED WATER DP SETPOINT

II. PUMP SPEED CONTROL SCHEMES ( ) ( )

There are several ways for pump speed control[4]. One Chilled 10 40
method is that the pump is speeded up or down to maintain water DP 15 50
control valves position of coils shown in Fig .4. The main setpoint 20 65
disadvantage of the coil valve position method is that the 30 90
coil valves may have some uncertain problems. A non-
functional valve, such as stuck at partially open or actuator TABLE II. HOT WATER DP SETPOINT
leaking, or is overridden at full open, will make the pump
run at full speed. ( ) ( )
Hot water 10 70
DP setpoint 15 55
20 40
30 30

The building DP setpoint based on the flow rate is

widely used for water pump speed control[9]. This method
is achieved by tracking the load change. For example,
when the pump speed decreases from 90% to 70%
associated with the load decreased, the pump operating
point is changed from point A to point B shown in Fig .6.

Figure 4. Pump speed control to maintain the max coil valve position at
its setpoint of 95%

Another is to maintain the building differential pressure

(DP) at its setpoint or to track building cooling or heating
load[5-8]. The control diaphragm of the method is
described in Fig .5.

Figure 6. Variable speed pump operating points

According to the system curve, the DP setpoint can be

described in the following equation.
Figure 5. Pump speed control to maintain the building DP at its setpoint
( ) (4)
Usually, the variable frequency devices (VFD) of the
chilled and hot water pumps are varied to maintain
building chilled and hot water building DP at their setpoint. Here k is a factor of the system characteristics.
The constant value of building differential pressure (DP)
setpoint is simple, but it will waste energy when the ( )
(5 )
building has part load. Beyond of that, the building DP

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 Where: can be read on the coil DP 5. Command the pump speed of 100% to provide
measurement; the maximum water flow.
The pump speed can be controlled by the DP setpoint 6. Take coil DP measurement on the first AHU from
calculated through the equation (4) so that the pump can the pump. The first AHU can be located in the basement or
work more efficiently and match the system curve and on the 1st floor. Compare measured coil pressure drop (P-
building load. dropmeasured) with its design P-dropdesign. The P-
dropmeasured should be equal with or greater than the P-
III. THE CONDITION OF THE BUILDING DP dropdesign, because the 1st unit is closed to the pump. If
CALCULATION BASED ON THE F LOW-RATE P-dropmeasured is greater than the P-dropdesign, reduce
The factor k needs to be measured by adjusting the P-dropmeasured to the P-drop design by closing the
system pressure and water balance. To make sure that the balancing lock on the unit. If there is no balancing lock,
water system works properly and following condition use the control valve on the unit to instead of balancing
should be satisfied. lock.
1. The flow meter and water pressure sensors are 7. Take coil DP measurement on the rest units
calibrated to make sure the measured data from those located on the floor as same as the first unit on. Compare
meters is accuracy enough for the DP calculation. measured coil pressure drop with their design. If P-drop
2. The pump is in good working condition and can measured is greater than the P-dropdesign, reduce P-
provide the designed capacity. dropmeasured to the P-dropdesign by closing the balancing
3. The air is removed from the piping system to lock on the unit. If there is no balancing lock, use the
avoid restricting water flow. control valve on the unit to instead of balancing lock.
4. The coils of units are back flushed to remove 8. Repeat step 7 for the units on the next floor
added resistance. through the second floor from the top of the building to re-
5. The design flow rate and pressure drop of balance the flow for each unit.
terminal equipment, such as air-handling unit (AHU) and 9. Take coil DP measurement on the last unit from
fan-coil unit (FCU), are obtained. The total design flow- the pump. The last unit from the pump can be located on
rate of the terminal units is compared with the pump the top floor or on the roof. The pressure drop across the
design flow-rate. coil on the last unit should be equal or greater than its
6. The terminal flow will be measured indirectly by design. If P-dropmeasured is greater than the P-dropdesign,
reading the pressure drop across the coil of a terminal reduce P-dropmeasured to the P-dropdesign by reducing
unit[10]. the pump speed.
7. When there is diversity (FD) between the pump 10. Take coil DP measurement on the rest units on
and total terminal flows (Q pump and Q units), the the top floor. If P-drop measured is greater than the P-
corrected design pressure drop (P-drop corrected) across dropdesign, reduce P-dropmeasured to the P-dropdesign by
the coil of the terminal unit needs to be calculated with closing balancing lock. If P-dropmeasured is less than the
following equations: P-dropdesign, increase P-dropmeasured to the P-
dropdesign by increasing the pump speed.
(6) 11. Repeat step 6 through step 10 until coil DP of all
units match their design. The coil DP of the first unit
through the units on the second floor from the top floor
FD is the flow diversity between the pump and the total could be decreased, if the pump speed is reduced when
terminal flows and is obtained from the flowing equation. performed water balance on the last unit from the pump in
step 9. If so, increase P-dropmeasured to the P-drop design
by opening the balancing locks on those units. If the coil
(7) DP is still less than its design when the balancing lock is
fully open, increase the pump speed.
8. The building HVAC system is studied. An 12. When coil DP of all units match their design, read
attention is paid on the type systems, equipment and their water flow-rate (Qbalanced) and building supply (Ps) and
capacities. The location of the control valves, balancing return pressures (Pr).
locks, flow measuring station and pressure measuring 13. The flow-rate coefficient (k) is obtained from
station are known. following equation.

IV. BUILDING DP CALCULATION P ROCEDURE ( )

( )
(8)
After the preparation, the calculation of the factor k can
be done followed by the steps below.
14. The chilled or hot water building DP setpoint
1. Open the building control valve fully to fully use (DPsp) is set based on the following equation.
the loop pressure.
2. Open the building manual valves fully to fully use
the loop pressure for calculation. (9)
3. Open control valves on each AHUs and fan-coil
units fully to simulate the full load condition. There: is additional value. The suggested value is
4. Open balancing locks and manual valves on each between 5 kPa to 10kPa.
AHUs and fan-coil units fully for the water system re-
balance.

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 V. AN EXAMPLE OF THE BUILDING DP C ALCULATION Pad of 10 kPa is selected in this example. The new
equation of chilled water building minimum programming
A. The water system value of 28 kPa .
The selected building for DP calculation is an
institutional building. There are total eight large AHUs
plus one small FCU serving the building. Two of them are
outside air handling unit which serve the fresh air to the The relation above could make sure the DP setpoint by
rest AHUs. Six of eight AHUs have chilled water design the flow-rate.
flow-rate of 16.5 m3/h for each unit; other two AHUs have As an example, the DP setpoint reset by flow-rate is list
41 m3/h for each unit. The pressure drop across the in the Table 3 below.
cooling coil for each unit is 40 kPa. The total design
chilled water flow-rate of the system is 181 m3/h. TABLE III. TABLE.3 T HE DP SETPOINT RESET BY FLOW-RATE
The chilled water is supplied from the central plant
through the campus water loop. Two chilled water pumps
located in the basement serve the chilled water of the (m3/h)
The DP (kPa)
building (Fig .7). One stands by to the other. The design 70 40
setpoint reset by
flow-rate for each chilled water pump is 153 m3/h. Before 90 59
recommissioning, the constant value of 120kPa was used flow-rate
110 83
to pump speed control. 130 111
The optimized DP setpoint is much lower the constant
value of 120kPa before and the energy savings are
significantly obtained from DP calculation.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
The building DP setpoint based on flow rate method is
achieved by tracking the load change, and it is a better
method for pump speed control and it saves more energy
than the other methods.
The calculation procedure of the building DP setpoint
is generated and an example of the calculation is given. In
the example, the pump power saving is achieved by the
calculated building DP setpoint based on the flow rate.
Figure 7. Chilled water system diagram of the Institutional building
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