Chillers operate as part of a complex HVAC system. Water-cooled chillers have greater complexity due to the connection to a cooling tower system. Evaluating overall chiller plant performance will therefore involve an analysis of total power consumption of the compressor, pumps, cooling tower fans, etc. to evaluate comprehensive efficiency measures such as kW/ton.

 

Optimization of the overall chiller plant must be performed holistically. Various adjustments focusing on optimal chilled water set points, chiller sequencing and load balancing, peak demand management, cooling tower water management, etc. can only be performed with operational data. IoT can provide the tools for such optimization by providing real-time monitoring of power consumption from each part of the chiller plant, supply/return temperatures from the chiller and cooling tower, water flow rates from the condenser water loop, etc. IoT has found practical application in HVAC to facilitate true optimization.