Chilled-beam system balances energy demands with simultaneous heating and cooling

Lindab, chilled beam, air conditioning, space heating, Energy Efficiency

The Lindab Solus chilled-beam system conserves energy within a building by using high-temperature cooling (HTC) and low-temperature heating (LTH) in one common pair of water pipes working at a common inlet temperature. This means that regardless of whether the zone needs heating or cooling the inlet temperature remains constant, allowing you to harvest the energy saving benefits this brings.

Depending on the season and the geographic location, there will always be a need for cooling or heating in any given building. In some cases, there will even be a need for simultaneous cooling and heating. In such cases the return water temperature will be higher or lower, respectively, than that of the inlet water, depending on whether a unit is delivering cooling or heating. As the return water from the various parts of the building is mixed together, the temperature will stabilise at a near ideal inlet temperature for the Solus system, eliminating the need for the engagement of both heating and cooling plant.

To ensure that the system performs properly, a constant water volume flow rate is used throughout the entire system. This ensures that all the excess heat energy that may exist in some parts of the building will, in turn, be carried to cooler areas, thereby creating an energy balance in the building. If the water flow is reduced, the energy transfer between the rooms will also be reduced, resulting in a less efficient system. The result of this constant flow rate is the elimination of control valves, actuators or room controllers, providing a huge saving on the installation costs. The higher cooled-water temperature also eliminates the need for pipe insulation and effectively removes condensation risk in the room.

By running a common inlet water temperature of 20 to 23°C (set by the external air temperature) in the water circuit for all areas, regardless of the need for heating or cooling, and mixing the outlet water together, it will only be necessary to either marginally cool or heat the return water to achieve the desired inlet temperature — once again thereby significantly reducing energy consumption.

For more information on this story, click here: September 2014, 109
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