ARI Standard for Absorption Water Chilling and Water Heating Packages

N/A: ARI Standard for Absorption Water Chilling and Water Heating Packages

For engineers and designers specifying or evaluating thermal energy solutions, understanding the performance and operational parameters of absorption water chilling and heating packages is paramount. The ARI Standard for Absorption Water Chilling and Water Heating Packages provides an essential framework for ensuring consistent quality, reliable performance, and accurate comparisons of these complex systems. This industry-leading document is your authoritative guide to the fundamentals of these sophisticated thermal packages.

What is N/A?

N/A, formally known as ARI Standard 560-2000, is a comprehensive standard developed by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI). Its primary purpose is to establish uniform methods for testing, rating, and defining the performance characteristics of absorption water chilling and water heating packages. This standard ensures that manufacturers and users have a common understanding of system capabilities, facilitating informed selection and application.

Scope & Purpose

This standard governs the testing requirements, rating methodologies, and minimum data specifications for various types of absorption water chilling and water heating packages. Specifically, it applies to water-cooled single-effect and double-effect units, including those that are steam, hot water, or directly fired (natural gas, oil, LP gas) by combustion. The scope explicitly excludes air-cooled units, heat pump applications, and exhaust gas-fired systems, focusing solely on water-based absorption cycles utilizing water as the refrigerant and lithium bromide as the absorbent.

Who Must Comply?

• • Primary audience: HVAC Engineers, Mechanical Designers, Product Managers, and Test Engineers involved in the design, specification, manufacturing, and performance verification of absorption chillers and water heaters.
• • Industries affected: HVAC manufacturing, Commercial and Industrial Building Construction, and Facilities Management.
• • Compliance nature: While the standard is often a recommended practice, compliance is typically a requirement for manufacturers seeking to publish ratings and participate in industry certification programs, making it de facto mandatory for market acceptance.
• • Enforcement: Compliance is generally self-monitored by manufacturers, with verification often performed by third-party certification bodies or through competitive product analysis by end-users and consultants.

Key Requirements Overview

The standard lays out several critical requirements for absorption packages:

• • The standard requires manufacturers to adhere to defined test procedures for assessing full-load and part-load performance.
• • Professionals must ensure that published ratings for cooling and heating capacity, as well as energy efficiency (COP, IPLV, NPLV), are determined under specified ARI rating conditions.
• • Key provisions include detailed definitions for terms such as Coefficient of Performance (COP), Integrated Part-Load Value (IPLV), and Non-Standard Part-Load Value (NPLV) to ensure clarity and consistency.
• • Manufacturers are mandated to provide specific nameplate data and minimum information in their published ratings to facilitate proper application and comparison.
• • The standard outlines conformance conditions to ensure that tested units accurately represent the product line.

Related Standards & References

ARI Standard 560-2000 works in conjunction with other essential industry documents. It references ASHRAE standards for terminology, ensuring a unified language across the mechanical engineering disciplines. Additionally, it provides a foundation for performance metrics that may be further elaborated upon or utilized within broader building energy codes and standards, such as those developed by the International