Why Does the Air-Cooled Chiller Show a Higher COP Than the Water-Cooled One?
I'm comparing the COP of air-cooled and water-cooled chillers using the COMNET EIRFPLR curves
I plotted both chillers' COP using Desmos for both scroll type chillers:
Given that both chillers have the same nominal COP (1 in this case), I expected the water-cooled chiller to perform better. However, the curve suggests that the air-cooled chiller has a higher COP across all part-load conditions.
This seems counterintuitive since water-cooled chillers are generally known to be more efficient. Am I misunderstanding something about the EIRFPLR curves, or is there another explanation for this result?
I want with this post suggestion for converting EIRFPLR to COP using this post
Would love to hear your insights! 🚀
EIR means energy input ratio, this is the inverse of COP. That might explain it. Instead of plotting COP, did you plot EIR?
i went with the explanation given by @ericringold in this post assuming nominal EIR as 1 the hourly EIR is EIRFPLR/PLR and so the cop must be PLR/EIRFPLR. the formula are written in the left-most side of the image where x represents the PLR.