# Presentation: 209730

## Kansas City International Airport

**Michael Glasker, P.E.**
**George Butler Associates, Inc.**

## Kansas City International Airport

**Pre-cast concrete frame construction, thermal glass**
**Main hours 5 am to 11 pm**
**365 days a year, 24 hrs a day**

**About 1 million square feet**
**3 airport terminals**
**1 administration office**
**Built from 1969 to 1971**

## Kansas City International AirportOriginal Cooling System

**Two 2750-ton Carrier centrifugal electric chillers**
**installed in 1970**
**estimated efficiency 0.85 - 0.9 kw/ton**
**R-12 refrigerant**
**no refrigerant containment system**
**Cooling towers**
**3 single-cell cooling towers**
**two speed fans operated at high speed**
**Manual system control and operation**

## Kansas City International Airport Original Electricity Demand and Use

## Kansas City International AirportOriginal Natural Gas Use

**Two central plant steam boilers**
**natural-gas fired**
**each 50,000 pounds of steam per hour**

## Kansas City International AirportProject Scenario

**Electricity demand charges too high**
**Never run the second chiller, & often running at low part-load efficiencies**
**Controls shot, using manual operation**
**CFC refrigerant used**
**48-49°F discharge water temperatures, not meeting the design 42°F temperature**

## Kansas City International AirportProject Challenges

**Three retrofit phases**
**cooling system redesigned first**
**EMCS & heating system installed**
**building retrofits & load reductions coming later**
**2 month shut-down period in January & February in which to do most of phase one**
**Must replace all chillers, cooling towers, pumps & piping, without disrupting service**

## Kansas City International Airport System Solutions

**First phase of retrofit complete last year**
**new chillers, cooling towers, pumps & piping**
**Second phase of retrofit underway**
**new Energy Management & Control System (EMCS)**
**new boilers & heating distribution system**
**Third phase, extensive terminal remodel**
**new energy-efficient lighting**
**new air handler units**
**asbestos abatement**

## Kansas City International AirportNew Chillers

**Three 1500-ton electric chillers**
**more flexible staging capability than with the 2 previous, larger chillers**
**R-134a refrigerant, no more CFC’s**
**Efficiency **
**specified 0.65 kW/ton at full load **
**saving about 0.25 kW/ton!**
**Meeting 42°F discharge water temperatures**

## Kansas City International AirportOther Cooling System Changes

**Cooling Towers**
**three new 2-cell towers**
**new two-speed fans for variable operation**
**New pumps and piping**
**primary/secondary pumping**
**allows for operating flexibility**
**New Johnson Controls EMCS**
**remote start/stop capability**
**track temperatures on computer **
**alarm points built into system**
**chose not to have automatic operation**

## Kansas City International Airport Upcoming Building Load Reductions

**Extensive building remodeling**
**Energy efficiency measures will reduce building cooling loads**
**new energy efficient lighting**
**new air handler units with economizers**
**More flexible cooling plant design will operate efficiently at these lower loads**

## Kansas City International AirportIntegrated Economics to Date

**Second phase measures reduce project payback **
**Third phase measures should reduce overall payback even further**

## Kansas City International AirportFinancing Structure

**Paid with cash from airport funds**
**Part of airport expansion project**
**No financing**
**No utility rebates used**

## Kansas City International AirportPhase One Project Timeline

** ****Less than 20 months to complete first phase**

## Kansas City International AirportProject Results

**No longer using CFC refrigerants**
**Higher efficiency chillers save ~0.3kW/ton**
**3 smaller chillers, instead of 2 larger chillers**
**running closer to full-load capacities for higher efficiencies**
**meeting 42°F design water discharge temperature**
**Automatic operation using EMCS**
**More flexible cooling system will work more efficiently with upcoming terminal retrofits**