1. S-Series EarthWise™ CenTraVac™ Chiller
The Next Generation of Chiller Technology
The name Trane CenTraVac is synonymous with the very best in large-tonnage chillers. That’s why the announcement of the next-generation CenTraVac is not only exciting for Trane, but for the entire industry—a generation called the “S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac.”

2. Building on a Tradition of Award-Winning Designs
The Trane EarthWise CenTraVac is the only chiller ever to receive the U.S. EPA’s prestigious Climate Protection Award.
This announcement is building on an award-winning track record. For example, the EarthWise CenTraVac is the only chiller in the world to have ever received the U.S. EPA’s highest environmental award, the Climate Protection Award!
Why? Because it had a proven track record as the world’s highest-efficiency, lowest-emissions chiller.
However, by themselves, high efficiency and low emissions are not enough. What if one were to buy a high-efficiency chiller and then not maintain it properly? It is essential that high efficiency and low emissions be maintained on a sustainable basis over the entire life of the equipment, from cradle to grave. And just as important, this sustainability must be documented.
This documented sustainability of high efficiency and low emissions is exactly what the “S” in S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac stands for.

3. Award Winning Performance at both:
Full Load
Importantly, this award winning performance is at both Full-Load and Part-Load conditions. A rhetorical question: which is more important? Full-Load or Part-Load performance? The answer is both.
Meeting maximum power requirements for buildings, or full load, drives construction of additional power plants. When these buildings operate throughout the year, most often at part load conditions, emissions from these power plants are driven by whatever level of electricity generation is needed on an ongoing, real-time, basis. So, both full load and part load are important economically and environmentally.
It is not good enough for a chiller design to focus on one or the other: it has to address both Full-Load and Part-Load performance needs.
Part Load

4. S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac
What’s so unique about the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac?
And what technological breakthrough results in this unheard-of level of sustainability?
It’s Oil-Free!

5. An Oil-Free Design: What Makes It Better?
Eliminates the potential for oil contamination
Improves efficiency and reduces emissions
Reduces both maintenance and operating costs
Enables a 40%-plus parts reduction

6. An Oil-Free Design: What Makes It Possible?
Use of the low-pressure refrigerant, HCFC-123
Direct-drive design
Hybrid ceramic bearings with incredible hardness

7. Hybrid Ceramic Bearings
This innovative design places incredibly hard ceramic balls inside the steel bearing race.
Hybrid Ceramic Bearings:
The key to eliminating oil is the use of a new, innovative bearing design called “hybrid ceramic bearings.” An example of the bearing and one of the actual ceramic balls is shown in this slide. These bearings allow the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac to use refrigerant, not oil, for lubrication.

8. Just How Hard Are These Ceramic Balls?
If we place one of these ceramic balls on a concrete floor and hit it with a hammer, we might just crack or dent the floor and dent the hammer head. But there would be no damage to the ceramic ball.
When some think of the word “ceramic” they think of something fragile. For “ceramic ball bearings,” nothing could be farther from the truth. These ball bearings are so hard that if one were to put the bearing on a cement floor and strike it with a hammer, the cement floor might crack and the face of the hammer might dent, but nothing would happen to the ceramic bearing.

9. Why is this incredible hardness so beneficial?
All-steel ball bearings are susceptible to failure
spalling
pitting
other degradation
Hybrid ceramic balls have a “self-healing” effect that helps prevent bearing failures
And why is this hardness such an advantage? Because it means ceramic bearings have a “self-healing” characteristic. Here’s why: with any normal metal bearings, especially with a lack of lubrication, small spalls or pits can be created. These spalls are frequently caused when the steel ball-bearing, under tremendous pressure and lacking adequate lubrication, momentarily welds to the bearing raceway. An instant later, when the ball is forced to advance, it peels some of the raceway metal away as it advances, creating the spall. Then, because both the raceway and the steel ball are affected, the process frequently further degrades, potentially leading to total bearing failure.

10. Direct-Drive Design Eliminates Gears
Only two main bearings require lubrication
Important: To advance to the next slide, the mouse pointer must not be on any part of the animation. Press the “Enter” key to advance.
Direct Drive Design:
The key to the oil-free design is the low-pressure, HCFC-123, direct-drive design inherent in the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac. With a direct-drive design, the impellers are on the same shaft as the motor’s rotor. This means there are no gears or gear set. This also means all that is required are two lightly-loaded bearings, shown in this illustration in yellow.

11. In Comparison: Hermetic, Gear-Driven Design
Gears and gear set require oil-based lubrication
In contrast to low-pressure refrigerants, which can use a direct-drive design, most high-pressure refrigerant chillers utilize a gear-drive design. Gear drive design inherently have an additional set of bearings, shown in red. While hybrid ceramic bearings can eliminate the need for oil, even given these additional bearings, there is no known current technology that will eliminate the need for oil-based lubrication for the gears and gear set. This inherently limits the oil-free designs in these applications.

12. In Comparison: Open Motor, Gear-Driven Design
Gears and gear set require oil-based lubrication
Most high-pressure, gear-driven, open-motor designs have even more bearings, again shown in red. In addition, these designs have the gears and gear set typically within the compressor housing, both for cleanliness and so that all the seals are applied on the low-speed shaft. Once again, the need to provide oil- based lubrication for the gears and gear set limits an oil-free design in these applications.

13. Low-pressure HCFC-123 enables direct-drive, essential for an oil-free design, and is why the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac has world-class efficiency.
Use of the lower-pressure refrigerant HCFC-123:
Bottom line, the low-pressure, HCFC-123, direct-drive design, inherent to the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac, is what enables this oil-free, leading-edge technology; a design with world-class efficiency at both full and part load.

14. Chiller Efficiency Progress
Efficiency in kW/ton
Year Average Best
Best “Other”
However, HCFC-123 is the key for another reason. It’s because of HCFC-123 and the fundamental direct-drive design that it allows these chillers, for comfort cooling applications, to be typically 5 to 20% more efficient than chillers designed using any other alternative refrigerant.
To illustrate that point, take a look back in time and see where we, as an industry, have come the last twenty years. Compare the average and best kW/ton efficiency levels in to those in 2002 and beyond. Look how far we have come in the last twenty years. The best that other alternative refrigerant consistently can offer is approximate 0.54 kW/ton, where HCFC-123 can offer efficiencies—across the entire product line—of 0.49 kW/ton, with some applications as low as kW/ton. And now, because of the reduced friction of the hybrid ceramic oil-free bearings, this efficiency difference is even further enhanced.
Best HCFC-123
“TRANE"

15. Chiller Efficiency Comparison
Water-cooled chillers (all compressor types)
.90
.85
.80
.75
.70
.65
.60
.55
.50
.45
HCFC-22
HCFC-123
HFC-134a
Power (kW/ton)
Another way to quickly see the efficiency advantage offered by HCFC-123 designs is to review this slide.
Compare this to the range of efficiencies today, which typically use HFC-22, HCFC-123, or HFC-134a. The range of selectability today is shown for each of these machines. What you’ll notice is that HCFC-123 chillers are, on an average, approximately 5 to 20% more efficient than any other centrifugals using any other alternative refrigerant.
CFC–Free alternatives

16. S-Series Environmental Benefits
If every centrifugal chiller operated at 0.45 kW/ton vs kW/ton, annual power plant emissions would be reduced by:
Nearly 19 billion pounds of CO2
Over 72 billion grams of SO2
Over 30 billion grams of NOx
Equivalent to:
Taking 2 million cars off the road
Planting over 500 million trees
This is not only important dollars-and-cents-wise, it’s important environmentally. What is the impact of centrifugal chillers on emissions? The answer is, a very great deal.
Worldwide, approximately 70% of all the electricity is produced by the burning of fossil fuels, so that for every additional kWh consumed there are more greenhouse gas emissions generated by the electric utilities.
And how much impact can centrifugal chillers have on the environment? If every centrifugal chiller in the world operated at a 0.45 level of efficiency (which you can only obtain with HCFC-123) versus a (which is commonly the best efficiency we see with any other design using any other alternative refrigerant), the annual power-plant emissions would be reduced by literally billions of pounds of CO2 and billions ofgrams of SO2 and NOx. I don’t think there is a better way that we help people internalize the magnitude of these emission reductions than these two examples: this would be worth removing over 2,000,000 cars from the road or planting over a half a billion trees annually. So that, in fact, shows investments in high-efficiency chillers are not only business-wise, they’re also EarthWise!

17. And by eliminating the oil, the world’s simplest, most reliable chiller just got simpler!

18. And Simpler is Better!
Traditional Design
New Oil-Free Design

19. Simpler Means Fewer Parts Even Greater Reliability
Gasketed
Joints
Soldered
Joints
Threaded
Fittings
Welded
Components
Flared
Fittings
20%
30%
50%
70%
100%
The EarthWise CenTraVac is known for its high reliability, a reliability due in large part to its simple design. The S-Series takes simplicity to a new level with the number of gasketed joints reduced by 20%, soldered joints reduced by 30%, threated fittings reduced by 50%, welded components reduced by 70% and flared fittings reduced by 100%, compared to the traditional design.

20. Simplification: made possible by eliminating the oil; and by eliminating the oil, one eliminates the potential for oil contamination!

21. Oil Contamination Can Cause a Significant Loss in Efficiency15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
% Efficiency Loss
3.5% Oil in Refrigerant = 8% Efficiency Loss
And what’s the advantage of eliminating the oil?
Oil contamination can cause a significant loss in efficiency. How much? The data shown in this illustration was obtained in Trane’s laboratory, the most advanced laboratory of it’s kind in the industry. This data illustrates the effect that oil (shown as units of % oil in refrigerant) can have on efficiency (shown as % efficiency loss), and shows why it’s important to have clean, oil-free refrigerant. Even if the refrigerant charge contained three and a half percent oil, it could mean up to an eight percent loss in efficiency.
% of Added Oil

22. And what would an 8% efficiency impact be worth?
Consider the following:
A 1000-ton chiller
2000 Equivalent Full-Load Operating Hours (EFLH)
$0.08/kWh and $15/kW demand
0.576 kW/ton (ASHRAE 90.1 minimum efficiency)
Given these assumptions, the estimated annual energy cost would be:
1000 tons x 2000 EFLH x kW/ton x $0.08/kWh = $92,160
1000 tons x kW/ton x $15/kWh x 6 months = $51,840
$144,000
$144,000 x 8 percent = more than $11,520 per year or, in current dollars over a 30-year lifetime, almost $350,000, which is more than twice the initial cost of the chiller!

23. Older CFC Chillers May Have High Levels of Oil Contamination
3.5%
13% (Avg.)
Samples
Yes, but what is the typical concentration of oil in older CFC chillers?
Much effort has been spent over the years by all manufacturers to solve oil-loss problems, with a substantial easing of this impact. Certainly this is true with Trane’s current- design centrifugal chiller which, as a standard, uses an eductor system to return oil that migrates to the evaporator.
However, a comparison with older CFC chillers, chillers that are typical of the more than 40,000 “CFC” chillers remaining to be replaced, underscores the importance of eliminating oil contamination altogether.
This illustration summarizes work done by an ASHRAE Research Study, work that shows average oil content (as a percentage of refrigerant) in ten typical, older CFC chillers to be 13 percent. That’s right, not the three and a half used in the previous analysis but a full 13 percent, with an efficiency impact of not the 8 percent used in the example but more than 15, or potentially even 20 percent, so the savings are potentially even greater!
Experience has shown oil contamination both in older, low- pressure CFC-11 and in high-pressure CFC-12, R-500, HCFC- 22 chillers as well. Once again, it simply underscores the importance of eliminating the oil.
% of Oil in Refrigerant
Data taken from ASHRAE research project 601

24. There are additional cost savings as well:
Eliminating the oil can eliminate:
An annual oil check up and filter change – $200 to $400/year or, in current dollars over the life of the chiller, $6,000 to $12,000
Oil changes, estimated at 2 to 6 times over the life of the chiller:
For chillers requiring POE-based oils: $1,200 to $6,000
For chillers that can use mineral-based oils: $800 to $4,800
Eliminating the oil sump heaters and other parasitic losses like the oil pump can save an additional $7,200 in current dollars over the life of the chiller
For details on how these number were calculated, see the appropriate section from the “S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac announcement brochure, CTV-SLB014-EN.

25. However, the savings don’t stop there!
By eliminating the oil lubrication system, refrigerant emissions can also be reduced.

26. The Goal: A Hermetically Sealed, Zero-Emissions Design
As leak-free as your home refrigerator

27. The Goal: A Hermetically Sealed, Zero-Emissions Design
As leak-free as your home refrigerator
When was the last time you added refrigerant to your home refrigerator?
As leak-free as your home refrigerator!
The goal of S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac design is simply to have a hermetically sealed, leak-free design that you never have to open.
Quite simply, the goal is to have it comparable to that of your home refrigerator—never having to add refrigerant—throughout it’s entire lifetime.
What’s your experience? When was the last time you added refrigerant to your refrigerator?
Without oil, and if nothing fails (which is the goal), there is no reason to ever have to open the machine or to ever have to add refrigerant!

28. The goal is to have the initial charge be the final charge
Said another way, the goal is to have the initial refrigerant charge be the final charge, and then to recover that refrigerant at the end of the chiller’s life, for use in other chillers or as a feedstock in other applications.
Clearly, there are procedures that technicians can use to minimize refrigerant loss while changing oil filters and the oil itself. By eliminating the need to change the filters and/or oil, these losses can be reduced altogether. In addition, the elimination of oil lubrication allows for a significant reduction in joints, gaskets, and fittings, increasing the hermetic integrity of the chiller.

29. Always an Optimal Charge Never An Efficiency Loss
100%
98%
96%
94%
92%
90%
relative efficiency
And a “zero refrigerant loss” design can help in another way: maintaining high efficiency.
From this efficiency vs. charge chart—if a chiller did not trip out until a little under 35 percent of the refrigerant charge was lost (representing a 8 percent decrease in efficiency), and if it operated at or close to that condition for an extended period of time—one can see the magnitude of economic and environmental impact, based on the previous example of the impact of an 8 percent loss. (For many chillers, it will take up to 35 to 40% charge loss to cause the low-pressure switch to trip.)
60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
fraction of optimal charge
J. M. Calm, “Emissions and Environmental Impacts from Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Systems,” International Journal of Refrigeration, 2002
© JMC 2001

30. $144,000 x 0.08 x 0.5 = Savings of over $5,760/year
For the 1000-ton chiller, eliminating 8% efficiency loss could produce…
$144,000 x 0.08 x 0.5 = Savings of over $5,760/year
Plus reduction of utility-generated greenhouse-gas emissions by nearly 70,000 pounds of CO2
As the previous example illustrated, a 1000-ton chiller would cost approximately $144,000 per year to operate. Even if one were to assume that the 8 percent efficiency decrease occurred for only half the hours of operation before a low refrigerant charge condition was discovered, it would have cost:
$144,000 x 0.08 x 0.5 = $5,760/year
And it would have increased utility-generated greenhouse-gas emissions by over 70,000 pounds of CO2 annually.

31. EarthWise Purge
World’s best leak- detector system maintains an optimum refrigerant charge and peak efficiency
This is where the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac has a tremendous advantage, in that it comes as standard with an EarthWise Purge.
This is a newly, redesigned purge, specifically designed to help ensure sustainable performance. How? By using a microprocessor-based, controlled, regenerative cycle to automatically keep the activated carbon in the purge unit at its peak efficiency. Refrigerant recovered from the activated carbon is automatically recycled directly back to the chiller, which keeps the refrigerant charge at its 100% ideal charge level, eliminates maintenance, and eliminates any refrigerant losses in the reclamation and recovery process (in that none is required).
The most important advantage of the EarthWise Purge, however, is the advantage a purge unit has offered for years. Experienced service technicians will confirm that the best indicator of refrigerant leaks in the world is to monitor purge run time.
The monitoring and documentation of purge run time is provided as standard with every S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac, such that leaks can be found and fixed before even a small amount of refrigerant is lost. This technique can keep the refrigerant charge at or very near the ideal, 100% proper, refrigerant charge level throughout the entire lifetime of the chiller.
In contrast, high-pressure chillers, by their very nature, typically do not use purges. Frequently, the way an owner discovers that the high-pressure chiller-refrigerant charge is low is when the machine has tripped out on the low-pressure (or low-temperature) safety device. Typically this does not occur until the chiller has lost from 35 percent to 45 percent of its refrigerant charge, and one can see the impact of a 35+% undercharge from the previous slide.

32. ICS: The Key to Optimized Systems and “Documented” Sustainability
Documentation of low emissions and high efficiency is the key, and “documented sustainability” is the goal for every S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac. Via Trane’s Integrated Comfort system (ICS), the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac is provided with control and monitoring capability to ensure reliable, optimized performance, and then is able to document it! Key examples include monitoring and documentation of:
Purge run time to allow tracking of even the most minute refrigerant leak.
Condenser and evaporator approach temperatures, which are the best indicators of tube fouling.
Chiller kW/ton or ampere draws to provide real-time monitoring of energy consumption.
Evaporator and condenser temperature differential to indicate capacity and accuracy of control.

33. Why not get competitive bids and compare!
This chiller is so reliable, and has such low emissions, that Trane offers a 10-year, full- coverage warranty – that includes refrigerant loss.
This chiller is so reliable, and has such low emissions, that we encourage owners to prove it to themselves. How? By asking all manufactures to provide quotes for a 10-year, all-inclusive (including refrigerant loss) warranty.
Why indeed? This is a new, industrial-strength technology that radically reduces maintenance costs on jobs in addition to offering sustainable high-efficiency, low-emissions performance. The best way to demonstrate this simple fact is to require all manufacturers to provide a 10-year, all-inclusive warranty that includes refrigerant loss.
Why not get competitive bids and compare!

34. As impressive as the S-Series Chiller is, it’s just one element in a highly efficient, cost-effective EarthWise System!
piping –$
ductwork +$
air handlers
controls
chillers
Low Flow
Low Temperature
High Efficiency
As important as the chiller is, there’s more!
As exciting as the S-Series CenTraVac is, one must never forget that the meter is hooked to the entire building. That is why the focus needs to be on the entire system. That is also why Trane offers system-based solutions—solutions called EarthWise Systems—that have the ability to control, monitor, and document the performance of the entire system via Trane’s Integrated Comfort systems (ICS).
Documented, sustainable performance of the entire system is the future of our industry, in which products and systems like the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac and EarthWise Systems are destined to lead.
EarthWise Systems have something else that is driving them to become one of the industry’s most sought-after designs, a characteristic referred to as the “Holy Grail” of engineering: the ability to reduce both operating cost and first cost. By incorporating a low-flow, low-temperature, high-efficiency approach, EarthWise Systems inherently take money out of the HVAC infrastructure (the piping and the ductwork) and put it into the HVAC assets (the chillers, the air handlers, and the controls). In addition, these are systems that have improved IAQ, acoustics, and comfort characteristics.
If you would like to talk about EarthWise Systems we can go into that now or at another time. What the S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac is to revolutionizing chillers, that’s what EarthWise Systems are to chilled-water systems.

35. Major Benefits of the EarthWise System Design
Reduced operating and first cost
Improved comfort
Reduced air and water flow
saves space
better acoustics
improved IAQ
Gives building owners an optimized control solution with performance that can be documented

36. Recap of the Major Benefits S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac
No more oil lubricants
Hermetic, near-zero emissions, leak-free design
Lower total cost of ownership
Most importantly – documented, sustainable performance

37. Doesn’t your next job deserve the very best?
Doesn’t it deserve an S-Series EarthWise CenTraVac
The name Trane CenTraVac is synonymous with the very best in large-tonnage chillers. That’s why the announcement of the next-generation CenTraVac is not only exciting for Trane, but for the entire industry.