| Features and Benefits
Innovative Unit Options
Free Cooling Allows Reduced Operating Costs
Consider a CenTraVac ® chiller option that can provide up to 45 percent of the nominal chiller capacity — without operating
the compressor. Think of the significant energy and
cost savings possible in many applications. This
option is available on all Trane chillers, factory installed.
Free cooling operation is based on the principle that refrigerant migrates to the area of lowest temperature. When condenser
water is available at temperatures lower than the
required leaving chilled water temperature (typically 50 to 55 F), the unit control panel starts the free cooling cycle automatically.
Up to 45 percent of nominal chiller capacity is
available without operating the compressor —
that’s the highest in the industry!
When the free cooling cycle can no longer provide sufficient capacity to meet cooling requirements, mechanical cooling
is restarted automatically by the unit control panel.
For example, a building with a high internal cooling load is located in a climate with cold winters. It is possible to
cool the building exclusively with free cooling three
to six months of the year!
Free cooling payback can easily be less than a year. Free cooling is
completely factory installed and requires no more floor
space or piping than the standard CenTraVac chiller (unlike plate frame heat
exchangers).
Ice Storage Provides Reduced
Electrical Demand
Ice storage is the hottest thing in cooling today. It has been accepted by building owners and tenants who are concerned
about utility costs.
An ice storage system uses a standard chiller to make ice at night when utilities
charge less for electricity. The ice supplements or
even replaces mechanical cooling during the day when utility rates are at their highest. This reduced need for cooling results in big
utility cost savings.
Another advantage of ice storage is standby cooling capacity. If the chiller is unable to operate, one or two days of ice may still be available to provide cooling.
In that time the chiller can be repaired before
building occupants feel any loss of comfort.
The Trane CenTraVac chiller is uniquely suited to low temperature applications like ice storage because it provides multiple
stages of compression. Competitive chillers provide
only one stage. This allows the CenTraVac chiller
to produce ice efficiently, with less stress on the machine.
Simple and smart control strategies are another advantage the CenTraVac chiller
has for ice storage applications. Trane Tracer ®
building management systems can actually anticipate how
much ice needs to be made at night and operate the system accordingly. The
controls are integrated right into the chiller. Two
wires and preprogrammed software dramatically reduce field installation cost and complex programming.
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