What is EffTrack™?
EffTrack is a web-based analysis and trending tool for water cooled chillers that:
- Collects, stores and analyzes hourly chiller operating data,
- Calculates and trends chiller performance,
- Diagnoses the cause of inefficiencies,
- Notifies plant contacts when problems occur,
- Recommends corrective actions,
- Measures the results of corrective actions,
- Provides cost analysis of operational improvements
It’s as easy as logging into www.EffTrack.com.au with a user name and password to view chiller performance and efficiency reports. EffTrack provides a flexible hierarchal access structure, which will accommodate both large and small organizations. This allows different users in an organization to have unique levels of access to one or multiple locations.
Users can set their own preferences including measurement standard (U.S. or Metric), country, time zone and alert frequencies. EffTrack includes email and telephone consulting and support.
How EffTrack Reduces Energy Costs
Restorative Identifying heat transfer problems, i.e., off-design water flow, scaled or fouled chiller, non-condensable gasses, low/high refrigerant levels, etc.
Opportunity Identifying optimal chill water set points, chiller sequencing and load balancing, tower basin water management, reduced peak demand, condition-based maintenance versus scheduled preventive maintenance, etc.
Preventive Identifying problems before they become expensive (cost avoidance), maintaining optimum efficiency.
Typical Chiller Energy Management
The current standard practice is to provide enough cooling capacity to meet the needs of the facility while minimizing chiller usage. In most plants, this is achieved manually by experienced operators or by a Building Automation System (BAS) / Energy Management System (EMS) with operator oversight.
Modern BASs May:
- Collect chiller operating data,
- Perform calculation blocks (such as kW/Ton or COP),
- Sequence multiple chillers with auto on and off capabilities,
- Control chiller and tower setpoints,
- Notify plant personnel when limit alarms are exceeded,
- Provide simple trending (e.g., chill water temps, loads, etc.).
EffTrack Does:
- Perform complex engineering analysis from numerous points,
- Compare actual chiller performance to a design performance,
- Identify heat transfer problems, compressor inefficiencies and bad sensors,
- Provide corrective actions and measure the results,
- Provide cost analysis and comprehensive reporting.