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  • Home
    • What's New
  • Blog
    • Blog Support
  • SketchUp Models
    • SketchUp Resources
    • Bureaucratic Affairs Building HHW System Logic Exercise
    • Bureaucratic Affairs Building Scavenger Hunt
    • Chilled Water Plant System Diagram Exercise
    • The HIjend Hotel >
      • Chilled Water Plant Scoping Exercise
      • Ballroom AHU Scoping Exercise
      • Cooling Tower Scoping Exercise
  • Tools
    • Altitude Correction Factor
    • Economizer Evaluation Checklist
    • Eikon for Educators and WindLGC
    • Effective Duct Length Tool
    • Excel Third Axis Tool
    • Excel Time Value Conversion
    • Insulation Savings Tools
    • Logic Diagram Tool >
      • Logic Diagram Example - Discharge Air
      • Logic Diagram Example - CHW Plant 01
      • Logic Diagram Example - VAV AHU
    • Mixed Air Calculations
    • Monitoring Plan Spreadsheet
    • Pipe Friction Chart
    • Plot Digitizer >
      • Plot Digitizer Pump Curve Example
    • Square Law Spreadsheet
    • System Diagram Symbols
    • Thermodynamic Diagrams Spreadsheet
    • Universal Translator Data Analysis Tool
    • y = (m * x) + b Spreadsheet
  • Useful Formulas
    • Affinity Laws
    • Circular Equivalent Duct
    • Effective Duct Length
    • FT Guide Appendix C
    • HVAC Equations and Concepts
    • Hydraulic Diameter
    • Pump Power and Energy
    • "Square Law"
  • What's That Thing?
    • Cooling Towers
    • Pumps
    • Valves
  • Resources
    • Bill Coad's Writings
    • Data Logging Resources
    • EBCx Skills Guidebook
    • Energy Design Resources
    • Fisher Controls Valve Cavitation Bulletin
    • Functional Testing Guide
    • Honeywell Gray Manual
    • MCC Powers Bulletins
    • NBCIP Reports
    • PEC Tool Lending Library
    • PID Resources
    • Pneumatic Control Resources
    • Resource List
    • Scoping Resources
    • TAB Resources
    • Vintage Carrier Design Manual
    • VRF Systems
    • Williams' Wisdom
  • Videos
    • Bureaucratic Affairs HHW Logic Answers
    • Cooling Tower Flow Variation
    • Economizer Stratification
    • Functional Testing
    • Induction Principles
    • Monitoring Plans
    • CW Pump Deadheaded by Tower Lift
    • Ripple Effects
    • Testing a Pump
    • The Garden of Low Entropy
    • Variable Flow Systems
  • Training
    • Materials from Classes and Presentations >
      • ACEEE
      • ASHRAE
      • ASHRAE - Engineers Notebook
      • BCxA and NCBC
      • BEST Institute
      • Case Studies
      • ERDC 2020 RCx Academy
      • ELPNW
      • ICEBO
      • Marriott AEP
      • Magazine Articles
      • NAVFAC
      • Pacific Energy Center Design, Performance and Commissioning Issues Classes
      • Pacific Energy Center EBCx Project Review
      • Pacific Energy Center EBCx Workshop Series >
        • EBCx Workshop Series 12
        • EBCx Workshop Series 13
        • EBCx Workshop Series 14
        • EBCx Workshop Series 15 >
          • Student One On One Discussions
        • EBCx Workshop Series 16
        • EBCx Workshop Series 17
        • EBCx Workshop Series 18
      • Portland General Electric
      • U of W >
        • U of W Archive
    • On Demand Training >
      • Benchmarking UCA and Scoping
      • Loads and Psychrometrics
      • Induction Motor Principles
      • Introduction to Functional Testing
      • Scope of Work Documents
      • System Diagraming
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Chilled Water Plant System Diagram Exercise

This is an updated version of an exercise I originally published on the blog back in September of 2013.  I posted it to provide an on-line version of an exercise I had done in class, which was the first time I had tried using a SketchUp model as a teaching aid.   It was very well received and since that time, I have been using models more and more in the classes to provide a virtual field experience.
​
In the case of this particular model, the goal of the exercise is still the same, that is, the goal is to work your way through the model to develop a system diagram for the chilled water side of the plant.  But what has changed since 2013 is the level of detail in the model, as you can probably tell if you contrast the two images below; the left image is the model as it existed for use in the first exercise.  The right image is the current version from about the same perspective.
Picture
Picture
The primary benefit to the newer model in terms of the exercise is that it has more detail and is more complex, just like an actual mechanical room.  In other words, the only piping system available in the original model was the system you were focused on for the system diagram.   In the current model, other systems, both mechanical and electrical have been layered in;  things probably will not be as obvious and things will be in the way of what you are trying to see. Having said that, a real mechanical room will be even more complicated and potentially intimidating.  

For instance, so far, I have not figured out how to make the light fixtures have glare that almost perfectly obscures what you are trying to see from the ground below them.   And so far, no virtual dirt.  

I think you will also find the virtual ladder you have at your disposal by virtue of  being able to zoom, pan, and orbit around in the model is much easier to use than a 14 foot stepladder, especially the 14 foot wooden step ladders that were the rule back before fiberglass ladders made their way into the industry.  And if a bird's eye view would help you understand something, you can simply turn off the drawing layer that holds the floor above.  Try that in a real mechanical room.
​
So bottom line, the hope is that the model will give you a way to ease into the field side of developing a system diagram, but there still will be some new things to experience when you try this out in an actual facility.   But hopefully, having done the field work once in a virtual environment, you will find your self a bit less overwhelmed by what you will encounter out in the field.
plant_v40_suv8.zip
File Size: 75188 kb
File Type: zip
Download File

scene_guide_chiller_plant_v40.pdf
File Size: 549 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

​To help make it easier to navigate, the file is set up with "Scenes", which are basically saved camera locations that will put you in a certain area in the model with out having to do quite so much zooming, panning, and orbiting.  In addition, certain layers in the scene have been turned off to facilitate your exploration. For instance, in one of the scenes has the roof and beams above the plant turned off, allowing you to move and pan around for a "birds-eye" view of things. 

The scenes are numbered and to facilitate your ability to work with them, we created a Scene Guide, which you can download using the link above and then reference for general information on working with scenes as well as specific information and a thumbnail image of each scene in the model.  
​

If you want to see what the cooling towers for the plant look like, you will find that model under the Cooling Tower Scoping Exercise page.  Similarly, if you want to see what one of the air handling units served by the plant looks like, then that model is included under the Ballroom AHU Scoping Exercise page.
system_diagram_v5.pptx
File Size: 1249 kb
File Type: pptx
Download File

I have yet to develop new video that shows the answer to the exercise and discusses how the plant works using the latest version of the model.  But the videos referenced below will give you a general idea of that.  Meanwhile, the file to the left is the "answer" in the form of a system diagram I made using PowerPoint.

​The video to the left sets up the exercise and also gets you up to speed on how to do basic navigation in SketchUp.  I made it using an older version of the chiller plant model than the current version, but the current versions just adds more detail.  So while the images you see in the video may look slightly different from what you see in the current model, the guidance and concepts all still apply.
Picture
Under Construction
This is a place holder for a video and files that will provide the answer to the exercise.  I am still working on putting the video together but expect to have it available by the end of the last week of October if not sooner.

Until then, you can still view the video that I made for the original version of the exercise by visiting the post titled System Diagrams: Practice Making a System Diagram –The Answer on the blog.  The plant in the current model has much more detail than the model used for the answer in the blog post.  But the general configuration is the same, thus the system diagram is the same.  And the operating theory I discuss and related resources all still apply.

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