Federal Register

46

Vol. 48, No. 121 Wednesday, June 22, 1983 ( Notices

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Conservation and Ren ewable .

Energy

[Case No. F-006]

Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products; Decision and

Order Granting Waiver From Furnace

Test Procedures to Amana

-Refrigeration, Inc.

AGENCY: Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Decision and order.

SUMMARY: Notice is given of the

Decision and Order [Case No. F-006]

granting Amana Refrigeration, Inc. a

waiver for its EGHW series of

condensing furnaces from the existing

DOE furnace test procedures.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael J. McCabe, U.S. Department of

Energy, Office of Conservation and

Renewable Energy, Mail Station CE113.1, Forrestal Building, 1000

Independence Avenue SW,,

Washington, D.C. 20585, (202) 252-

9127

Eugene Margolis, Esq., U.S. Department

of Energy, Office of General Counsel,

Mail Station GC-33, Forrestal

Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, D.C. 20585, (202)

252-9513.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In accordance with 10 CFR 430.27(g),

notice is hereby given of the issuance of

the Decision and Order set out below. In

the Decision and Order, Amana

Refrigeration, Inc. has been granted a

waiver for its EGHW series condensing

warm air furnaces, permitting the

company to use an alternate test

method.

Issued in Washington, D.C., June 8, 1983.

Howard S. Coleman,

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary,

Conservation and Renewable Energy.

Decision and Order of the Department of

Energy, Assistant Secretary for

Conservation and Renewable Energy

In the matter of Amana Refrigeration,

Inc.; Case No. F-006.

28531

Background

The Energy Conservation Program for

Consumer Products was established

pursuant to the Energy Policy and

Conservation Act, Pub. L. 94-163, 89

Stat, 917, as amended by the National

Energy Conservation Policy Act, Pub. L.

95-619, 92 Stat. 3266, which requires the

Department of Energy (DOE) to

prescribe standardized test procedures

to measure the energy consumption of

certain consumer products, including

furnaces. The intent of the test

procedures is to provide a comparable

measure of energy consumption that will

assist consumers in making purchase

decisions. These test procedures appear

at 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart B.

The Department of Energy amended

the prescribed test procedure

regulations, by adding § 430.27, to allow

the Assistant Secretary for Conservation

and Renewable Energy to waive

temporarily test procedures for a

particular basic model when a petitioner

shows that the basic model contains one

or more design characteristics which

prevent testing of the basic model

according to the prescribed test

procedures or when the prescribed test

procedures may evaluate the basic

model in a"manner so unrepresentative

of its true energy consumption

characteristics as to provide materially

inaccurate comparative data. 45 FR

84108 (Sept. 26,1980).

Pursuant to § 430.27(g), the Assistant

Secretary shall publish in the Federal

Register notice of each waiver granted,

and any limiting conditions of each

waiver.

Amana Refrigeration, Inc. (Amana),

filed a "Petition for Waiver" in

accordance with § 430.27 of 10 CFR Part

430. DOE published in the Federal

Register the Amana petition and

solicited comments, data, and

information respecting the petition. 47

FR 54529 (December 3, 1982). Comments

were received from Lennox Industries, a

manufacturer of condensing furnaces.

The comments were sent to the

petitioner on February 4, 1983, and

rebuttal comments were submitted by

Amana on February 14,1983. DOE

consulted with the Federal Trade

Commission on March 9, 1983,

concerning the Amana petition.

Assertions and Determinations

The Amana petition contends that

even though the DOE test procedures for

furnaces were amended to allow testing

of condensing furnaces, 45 FR 53714

(Aug. 12,1980), the.company's EGHW

series condensing furnace lines, when

tested according to those procedures,

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 17
28532 Federal Register

will yield materially inaccurate

comparative data.

The Amana petition seeks a waiver

from the present DOE test method which

bases condensation calculations on the

average flue gas temperature. Amana

contends that its EGHW series furnace

lines condenses more of the water vapor

than is calculated by the DOE test

method. In lieu of the current test

method, Amana requests the use of the

condensate measuring test method as

set forth in Appendix C of the National

Bureau of Standards (N133) Interagency

Feport 80-2110, "Recommended Testing

and Calculation Procedures for

Estimating the Seasonal Performance of

Residential Condensing Furnaces and

Boilers" (hereafter referred to as the

alternate test method), dated April 1981,

to determine the Annual Fuel Utilization

Efficiency (AFUE) of its EGHW series

furnace lines.

Amana further contends that for the

purpose of consistency the alternate

method should be allowed not only for

determining the AFUE but also for

determiing the steady-state efficiency of

its condensing furnace. Steady state

efficiency is used to determine a

furnace's heating capacity. The product

of the steady-state efficiency and the

measured energy input (Btu/hr.) is the

heating capacity of the furnace.

Amapa further seeks permission to

conduct testing using the alternate test

method at its in-house test facility. Such

allowance for in-house testing was

rejected initially in the Hydrotherm

Decision and Order. 46 FR 34621 (July 2,

1981). Since that time, however, the

allowance to use the alternate test

method at in-house test facilities has

been granted to two manufacturers,

Lennox and Arkla. 47 FR 32471 (July 27,

1982) and 47 FR 57987 (December 29.

1982), respectively.

Comments from Lennox support

Amana's assertion that.the existing

condensing furnace test procedures will

result in lower than actual AFUE ratings

of a condensing furnace. NBS has found

through testing, experience that the

existing flue loss testing procedure does,

in fact, underestimate the amount of

water vapor condensed during normal

operations. Therefore, DOE has

determined that Amapa should be

granted a waiver to use the alternate

test method when testing its EGHW

series-condensing furnace to determine

AFUE.

Regarding the allowance to use the

alternate test method for determining

steady-state efficiency, Lennox felt this

additional request would give an

inequitable advantage to Amana in that

they would be allowed an increased

steady-state efficiency of 1 to 3

Vol. 48, No. 121 / Wednesday, June 22, 1983 / Notices

percentage points with respective

increases in heating capacity and AFUE.

Amana correctly rebutted this statement

by pointing out that the use of the

alternate method for determining

steady-state efficiency will not result in

an increase in reported AFUEs. This is

true because steady-state efficiency is

not used in determining the AFUE value.

The only possible increase is with

regard to the heating capacity. DOE

believes the possible advantage in

higher capacity values is minimal. Also,

just as with AFUE determinations, DOE

has found that steady-state efficiency

determination could be underestimated

by the existing flue loss test procedures.

Therefore, DOE is today granting

Amana's request to use the alternate

test method for determining steady-state

efficiency. Accordingly, today's waiver

includes additional instructions and

calculations which will allow for the

direct condensate measurement method

to be used to determine steady-state

efficiency.

Finally, in consideration of the

evidence presented in previous waivers

which stated that the alternate test

method is of sufficient reliability to

permit "in-house" testing and in order to

save the manufacturer time and money,

DOE has determined to grant Amana's

request for in-house testing. However, to

further assure reliability, today's grant

includes provisions which require a 6

cycle test rather than the 3 cycle test

outlined in the NBSIR 80-2110. This

change has been recommended by the

National Bureau of Standards as a result

of its recent testing experience regarding

condensing furnaces. This testing

experience indicated that for some

models of condensing furnaces the

variability of the amount of condensate

collected during each cycle warrants -

more test cycles.

It is therefore ordered that

(1) The "Petition for Waiver",filed by

Amana Refrigeration, Ind, is hereby

granted as set forth in paragraph (2)

below, subject to the provisions of

paragraphs (3) and (4).

(2) Notwithstanding any contrary

provisions of Appendix N of 10 CFR Part

430, Subpart B, Amana Refrigeration,

Inc. shall be permitted to use in-house

test facilities to test its EGHW series

condensing warm air furnace on the

basis of the test procedures specified in

10 CFR, Part 430, with the modifications

set forth below:

(i) Test Conditions.

(A:) The test unit shall be installed

according to the requirements given in

section 2 of Appendix N.

JB) Control devices. shall be installed

to allow cyclical operation of the unit

and return water as described in § 3.3 of

Appendix N.

(C) The test unit shall be leveled prior

to test.

(D) Operation times and the beginning

and end of condensate collection shall

be determined by a clock or timer with a

minimum resolution to one second.

(E) Control of on or off operation

actions shall be within ± 6 seconds of

the scheduled time.

(F) Condensate drain lines shall be

attached ;o the unit as specified in the

manufacturer's installation instructions.

(C) The flue pipe installation must

now allow condensate formed in the

flue pipe to flow back into the unit. An

initial downward slope from the unit's

exit, an offset with a drip leg, annular

collection rings, or drain holes must be

included in the flue pipe installation

without disturbing normal flue gas flow

(as given in section 2.2 of Appendix N),

and temperature measurement

instrumentation (as given in section 2.6

of Appendix N). Flue gases shall not

flow out of the drain with the

condensate.

(H) Collection-containers must be

glass or polished stainless steel, so

removal of interior deposits can be

easily made. '

(I) The collection-container shall have

a vent opening to the atmosphere.

(J) The scale for measuring the

containers and condensate sample mass

shall be calibrated with an error no

larger than t 0.5 percent over the range

of interest.

(ii) Test Method.

(A) The condensing furnace is to have

steady-state, cool-down, and heat-up

tests conducted in accordance with the

procedures for noncondensing units

given in section 3 of Appendix N, using

the flue gas, air or water flow, and room

ambient conditions given in section 2 of

the condensing furnace test procedure of

Appendix N. In addition, a steady-state

and a cyclic condensate collection

procedure shall be conducted.

(B) the condensate collection

containers shall be dried prior to a

sample collection.

(C) Tare weight of the collectioncontainer must be measured and

recorded prior to each sample collection.

(D) Return air temperature for cyclic

and steady-state tests shall be equal to

those required for steady-state test

periods, and shall remain within the

limits given in the existing test

procedure.

(E) Operating times for on and off

periods in the cyclic condensate

collection procedure shall be 3 minutes

52 seconds on and 13 minutes 20

seconds off for warm air furnaces.

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 17
Federal Register / Vol. 48, .No. 121 / Wednesday, June 22, 1983 / Notices 20533

(F) The unit should be operated in a

cyclical manner until flue gas

temperatures at the end of each onperiod are within 5°F (2.8°C) of each

other for two consecutive cycles.

(G) Begin the cyclic condensate

collection at one minute before start up

of the first test on-period.

(H) Six cycles later, the container

shall be removed at the end of the cool

down cycle one minute prior to the

beginning of what would be the seventh

cycle period.

(I) Begin the steady-state condensate

collection after steady-state conditions

have been achieved as specified in

section 3 of Appendix N. The steadystate condensate collection period shall

be one (1) hour.

(J) Condensate mass shalt be

measured immediately at the end of the

collection period to prevent evaporation

loss from the sample.

(K) Fuel input shall be recorded during

the entire cycle test period starting at

the beginning of the on-time of the first

cycle to the beginning of the on-time of

the second cycle, etc., for each of the six

test cycles, and for the one hour steadystate test period. Fuel Higher Heating

Value (HHV), temperature and

pressures necessary for determining fuel

energy inputs, Q and Q. will be

observed and recorded. The fuel

quantity and HHV shall be measured

with errors no greater than +r1 jrep^evT.

(iii) Calculating the condensing

Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency

(AFUE).

(A) Determine the mass of condensate

for the cyclic test, Inc, by subtracting the

tare container weight from the total

container and condensate weight

measured at end of the six cycles of

operations. Determine the mass of

condensate for the steady-state test, m.„

by subtracting the tare container weight

from the total container and condensate

weight measured at the end of the one

hour test period.

(B) Calculate the fuel energy input

during the cyclic and steady-state

condensate collection tests, Q, and Q.

(C) Calculate the cyclic and steadystate heat gain due to condensation, LG

and LG.ss, in percent by the following

equations:

Lc

(me) (1053.3) (100)

Q.

(mu) (1053.3) (100)

(D) Calculate the cyclic and steadystate loss, Lc and L,.bs, due to hot

condensate going down the drain,

correcting for the fact that this

condensate did not go up the flue as

heated vapor, in percent by the

following equations:

L< _

LG 11.0 (T,.,.-90) -

,45(T,..-42)jl

1053.3

LG.ss [1.0(Tr.N-70) -

.45(Tr.N-42)l

1053.3

(E) Calculate the condensing AFUE by

adding the percent heat gain due to

condensing, LG, to the previously

calculated noncondensing AFUE and by

subtracting

AFUE° = AFUENC + Lc-L<

(F) Calculate the condensing steadystate.efficiency, N,,,,, by adding the

percent heat gain due to condensing,

LG..., to the previously calculated

noncondensing steady-state efficiency

N.,,,,,, and by subtracting I.C,,,.

Nwc = N.,.C + La.N - LC. 1

(iv) with the exception of the

modifications set forth in subparagraphs

(i), (ii), and (iii) above, Amana

Refrigeration, Inc. shall comply in all

respects with the test procedures

specified in Appendix N of 10 CFR, Part

430, Subpart B.

(3) The waiver shall remain in effect

from the date of issuance of this order

until the Department of Energy

-prescribes.final test procedures

appropriate to the type of condensing

warm air furnace manufactured by

Amana Refrigeration, Inc.

(4) This waiver is based upon the

presumed validity of statements,

allegations, and documentary materials

submitted by the applicant and

commenters. This waiver may be

revoked or modified at any time upon a

determination that the factual basis

underlying the application is incorrect.

Issued in Washington, D.C. June 8,1983.

Howard S. Coleman,

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary,

Conservation andlienewableEnergy.

(FR Doc. 83-18846 Filed 0-21-83; 8:45 am)

BILLING CODE 6450-01-M

0

Q.

CAS-RM-79-104 COMMENT 17