Executive SummaryThis GSA Proving Ground (GPG) project assessed the performance of the Grundfos Magna 3 highperformance circulator pump (HPCP) at one heating hot water (HHW) application and two DHW applications at the Denver Federal Center (DFC) in Denver, Colorado. In commercial buildings, smaller circulator pumps are typically overlooked for energy efficiency upgrades due to their smaller size (typically less than 2.5 HP) and due to the lack of commercially available products that can simultaneously provide the combination of integrated controls and variable speed operation required to achieve acceptable energy savings and life cycle cost effectiveness. General Services Administration (GSA) facilities typically use constant volume circulator pumps for domestic hot water (DHW) recirculation loops, air handling unit (AHU) heating or cooling coil booster pumps, small radiant system heating pumps and smaller ground source heat pump applications.Over 90% of the currently installed circulator pumps in the United States are constant volume pumps powered by standard induction motors. An Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) report estimated the energy savings potential for the approximately 30 million installations of circulator pumps to be greater than 50% (Samotyi 2013).Standard circulator pumps are constant speed, use a less efficient induction motor and are typically oversized in common heating, cooling and DHW applications. The HPCP is equipped with an electronically commutated motor (ECM) with electronic speed control based on the permanent magnet (PM) and compact stator motor technology and a built-in logic for energy optimization and energy management/reporting. The HPCP that was demonstrated also has various control modes, such as proportional pressure curve, AutoAdapt, FlowAdapt, constant pressure mode and constant curve mode, which can tailor the pump's operation to different system configurations. The HPCP includes a built-in flow meter, pressure gauges, British thermal units (BTU) meter and temperature sensor. A standard pump installation would require a pump, meter and communication equipment to be purchased as separate units that would need to be assembled and configured in the field to match the capabilities of the HPCP. Using wireless communication, the pump can also communicate with other HPCPs and a vendor-provided smart phone application.Onsite submetering consisted of a combination of external data loggers, HPCP BACnet to NREL data logger communication and building automation system (BAS) trend logs. Electrical power, power factor, flow rate, fluid temperature, differential pressure (dP), outside air dry bulb, supply air temperature and DHW return temperature were all measured onsite and used to evaluate the performance of the pumps.The primary objectives of the demonstration were to verify pump electricity savings and cost effectiveness, evaluate ease of installation and operability and ensure the DHW system was able to maintain desired return water temperature and the AHU was able to meet disc...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.