Online Optimization of Cooling Water System in a District Cooling Plant

In District Cooling Plants, a cooling tower removes the heat absorbed in circulating cooling waters system via evaporation. The cooling tower performance depends on water flow rate, air flow rate, and the outer wet-bulb temperature. Changing the condenser water flow rate affects the performance of the cooling tower, the condenser water pump, and the chiller unit. Due to this process interaction, finding the optimum operating points for the cooling towers, condenser water pumps, and chillers is not simple.

This study presents a hybrid-modeling approach for optimization of the cooling water system in a District Cooling Plant. The hybrid process model combines empirical correlations and process simulator unit operation models for different sections of the plant. The use of the hybrid model allows us to improve the quality of our optimization while reducing the cost of our project.