TRACE™ 700 Chiller Plant Analyzer

TRACE 700 Chiller Plant Analyzer software saves time by allowing easy plant configuration comparisons with a detailed wizard. The program calculates the energy and economic effects of virtually any chiller plant configuration using load profiles generated based on location and pre-defined building types. The software uses the accuracy of the TRACE 700 calculation engine with basic user-defined inputs for cooling and heating peak loads, building type, and building location.

Watch the Getting Started with Chiller Plant Analyzer tutorial (22 minutes).

• Select multiple chiller plant configurations—decoupled chillers, parallel chillers, variable primary flow, thermal storage, low-flow applications and many others—for analysis
• Define cooling towers, chilled water and condenser pumps, free cooling, custom utility rates and others
• Compare up to four different chiller plant configurations, full load energy rates, or any other parameter related to the plant
• Familiar TRACE reports display both energy usage and economic values including life cycle costs and comparisons between multiple alternatives
• TRACE Visualizer allows users to create custom graphs

To install and run the program you will need: a Pentium® 4 or higher processor, Microsoft Windows® 7/8 operating system, at least 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM,  and 500 MB of free hard-disk space (750 if Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 is not already installed).

Version release information

• Update 6.3.2
• Update 6.3
• Update 6.2.10
• Update 6.2.9
• Update 6.2.8
• Update 6.2.7
• Update 6.2.6.5
• Update 6.2.6
• Update 6.2.5
• Update 6.2.4
• Update 6.2.3
• Update 6.2.2
• Update 6.2.1
• Update 6.2

[Version 6.3.2] 9/16/2015

New Features

• ASHRAE 170 calculations are now supported
• Rooms can now be negatively pressurized
• TRACE can not positively pressurize a space; this will still need to be done manually
• If the ARAE feature is used, the designer will need to balance the airflows at the system level
• Dramatic improvements have been made to evaporative cooling modeling (see updated user's manual)
  
  

Updates

• Added units of cfm/sf and lps/sm to the infiltration UI
• Scan for errors now includes some situations that require 'Retest Design Peak' to be checked
• For all UFAD and DV systems, the user should never specify the clg coil leaving.  User inputs to lock-in these temps will be ignored
• Updated the checksums report to account for two stage energy recovery
• Changed the VRF condenser min. operating temp field lower limit from 0 to -35
• VRF default return airpath is now 'Room direct'
• Updated F1 help and the user's manual
• Added an indicator for Static pressure adjustments to show that they are present
• 'Loss coefficient' for slab on grade is now called 'F-factor'
• Added window direction to the component tree view
• Added 'People per 1000 sq. ft.' to the room checksums (to help with LEED modeling)
• Added an install type designator to the version number (network vs stand alone)
• Added new evaporative cooling library members 
• Improved the way DOA units use energy recovery devices
• Corrected an issue with the proration of heating coil capacity overrides at the room and zone level
• Improved the system level cooling coil calculations when there is cooling demand in some rooms, but not others
• Fan parameterization now works for VAV systems
• Active chilled beam aux airflow calcs were improved to better account for natural convection
• Corrected a load accounting issue between the reheat coil and the main heating coil during dehumidification
• Improved the % sensible to occupied layer calcualiton for displacement ventilation systems
• Corrected a problem with the sizing of zone level heating coils in PFPVAV systems (room and system levels were unaffected)
• Corrected an issue with 62.1 airflow calcs when a VAV system was pushed to 100% OA
• Bypass VAV systems will now provide the correct heating return airflow temp
• Corrected an issue that could cause coil sizing units of "% ventilation and room latent" to be ignored when vent airflow was set to 0.
• Corrected a problem that could cause the PFPVAV system to ignore coil oversizing at the zone level when the calculated heating airflow was too low
• Adjacent room partition area is now correctly accounted for when using room and floor multipliers
• Corrected a problem when modeling displacement ventilation w/ chilled ceilings where the space sensible loads were being incorrectly assigned
• Corrected a problem with bicubic unloading curves
• Design airflows are now limited to system block airflow when appropriate (rather than sum-of-peaks)
• Corrected a static pressure issue associated with ERD's with bypass dampers
• Heating only systems now correctly account for fan heat
• Corrected a control issue that could occur when nearly all the space sensible load is assigned to the plenum
• Corrected an issue that could cause return airflow values to be incorrect for UFAD PFPVAV systems when running in bypass mode
• Corrected a weather profile issue during dehumidification
• Improved the duct leakage calculation for UFAD PFPVAV systems
• Changed the way floor load is calculated for UFAD VAV systems
• Corrected an issue with UFAD VAV airflow calcs that could cause the coil and diffuser airflows to be different
• Improved the chiller load-based sequencing  

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[Version 6.3] 9/6/13
This update included the following items:

• Added IPAK Standard and High-Efficiency Air-Cooled Unitary library members.
• Added IPAK Variable Speed eFlex Air-Cooled Unitary library members.
• Added Walls by Cardinal Directions report.
• Added full load rates for accessories on the Equipment Energy Consumption report.


• Updated the RTS calcualtion method (radiant fraction).
• Updated the adjacent building shading algorithm for the Southern hemisphere.
• Updated rate structure to allow negative values.
• Updated metric load rates in customized settings.


• Fixed RTS table lookup load methodology when %glass = 100.
• Fixed Schedule Editors so no overlap of time is allowed.
• Fixed hot gas reheat calculation; the proportion of ambient was not correct.
• Fixed the Library input value report for heating design.
• Fixed an error in air-to-air energy transfer devices that used bypass dampers. Static pressure of the ERD was still being applied.
• Fixed the weather override "standard" default; it was not properly converting to metric units.
• Fixed a GUI issue associated with the generate button for ambient modification curves.
• Fixed the Plant Wizard-Ice storage thermal storage multipliers.
• Fixed an error for free-cooling plate-and-frame heat exchanger where both the condenser pump and free cooling pump were operating at the same time.
• Fixed an error that incorrectly divided the energy rate for fluid coolers by the number of cells entered on the heat rejection library.

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[Version 6.2.10] 2/28/13
This update contains the following items:

• Updated the TRACE calculation to prompt a Fatal Error when 2+ ground loops are present on the same alternative.
• Fixed an error when the ambient relief curve was input using SI units.
• Fixed the heat rejection type for the VRV condensing unit.
• Fixed the primary chilled water pump for VS WSHP
• Fixed the cogen curves when they were entered as KW/MBH. Incorrect conversion.
• Fixed the Air to Air Heat Pump curves.
• Fixed the "Save As" feature that would crash when the user hit "Cancel".
• Fixed the ECB report to include the cogen miscellaneous equipment.
• Fixed the cooling tower wetbulb reset. The control would occasionally ignore the wet bulb reset.
• Fixed the "Change Building Type" input in the Actions drop-down. It was not modifying the load profile correctly.

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[Version 6.2.9] 10/3/12
This update contains the following items:

• Added kWh/Ton-hr metric to the economic summary report. This measures the plant's overall energy efficiency.
• Added 90.1-2010 library members (see 90.1-2010 install for further updates. This can be accessed through tranecds.com)
• Updated both evaporative and dry fluid cooler calculations. The updates are based on EnergyPlus algorithms.
• Updated 90.1-2010 Heat Pump library members to comply with IC 90.1-2007-09 of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA (Operation between 40F-17F).
• Updated the default cooling tower throttling value. Changed from 5F to 0.5F.
• Updated the cooling equipment tab to allow a condenser water pump for each chiller when a plant level cooling tower is applied.
• Fixed the chilled water pump(s) incorrectly staying off when the lead chiller is scheduled off but the remaining chillers are scheduled available during an hour when Thermal Storage has met the entire cooling load.
• Fixed a "divide by zero" error in the visualizer that was causing the "Bldg Elec Monthly Energy Costs by Equip" to go to infinity.
• Fixed the "plants" entered values report which was incorrectly displaying pump power.
• Fixed the plant chilled water pump sizing to correctly use the chilled water evaporator leaving temperature when W/gpm is selected.

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[Version 6.2.8] 3/30/12
This update contains the following items:

• Added five Mexican weather libraries with the origin filetype appended to the name.
• Added VAV IntelliPak and Voyager rooftops in the cooling equipment library.
• Added two new air cooled chiller/ice storage templates for the Plant Wizard.
• Changed conversion for ft. of water in Rate Structure Library.
• Changed the Utility Rates Library to allow six significant digits after decimal.
• Fixed an error that reported excessive tower makeup water in the WSHP loop.
• Fixed an error that prevented the cooling tower unloading curve to unload correctly when using kW units.
• Fixed an error that incorrectly calculated the dry cooler energy consumption when set as a heat rejection device.
• Fixed an error for Mexican weather files due to unit conversion error that presented very low humidity ratio values.
• Fixed an error that defaulted to the library pump flow rate value when the hot water pump rate was entered as zero. User must select “none” in the pump field.
• Fixed an error in the Visualizer that did not reduce the electric demand when lighting demand was unselected from the graphs.
• Fixed an error where units of Hp and kW/cfm were not being converted correctly.
• Fixed an error that did not use the Vertical bore imported by the user.
• Fixed an error that incorrectly sized the chiller when only a base utility was assigned to it.
• Fixed an error that calculated incorrect energy consumption when a dry cooler was selected as a heat rejection device and a fluid cooler was selected as a free cooling device.
• Fixed an error that did not show the cooling tower heat rejection in the geothermal summary report.

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[Version 6.2.7] 7/12/11
This update contains the following items:

• Added geothermal library members.
• Expanded the cogen library to include two new members.
• Added the ability to modify system profiles.
• Fixed an error that incorrectly reported too much backup heating on geothermal systems with variable-volume chilled-water pumps.
• Fixed an error that resulted in too small of makeup water values in direct evaporative systems.
• Corrected the condensate return pump energy units.

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[Version 6.2.6.5] 10/5/10
This update contains the following items:

• Fixed an issue where the auxiliary heating equipment is not being used when condenser loop temperatures drop below their minimum.
• Fixed an issue that added the geothermal pump power to the auxiliary cooling and heating energy usage on the Energy Summary report.

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[Version 6.2.6] 9/1/10
This update contains the following items:

• The Fuel Source and Reject Condenser Heat to Reference Type fields have been updated to Heating Plant and Heat Rejection Equipment, respectively for:
  • Air to Air Heat Pump
  • Air to Air HP w/ Demand Defrost
  • VRF Heat Pump
  • VRF Heat Pump (digital scroll)
  • VRF Heat Pump (Variable Speed Compressor)
  • Default Water Source HP
  • Ground Source HP – High Effic
  • Ground Source HP – Reg Effic
  • Water Source HP – High Effic
  • Water Source HP – Reg Effic
• Added compressor energy breakout options for unitary equipment to allow for packaged energy rates to be entered without manual separation.
• Added the ability to model heat recovery VRF systems and two default VRF heat recovery plants.
• Moved Energy Source from the Controls section to the Cooling Equipment screen.
• Moved Reject Condenser Heat from the Controls section to the Cooling Equipment screen.
• Moved Reject Heat to Plant from the Controls section to the Cooling Equipment screen.
• Removed options to view archived or T600-named library entries.
• Increased the number of significant digits on the Economic Parameters report.
• Numerous updates for the Bidirectional Cascade flow scheme when modeling a central geothermal system.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the GLHE temperature from surpassing the design condenser entering or going below the design minimum temperature.
• Fixed an error that prevented the Plants Entered Values reports from being displayed.
• Fixed an error that prevented the design chilled water temperature from being copied from the library to the Controls screen.
• Corrected an error that doubled the oversizing for individual equipment on the Equipment Energy Consumption report when Link Airside Coil Capacities was enabled.
• Fixed an error where Chiller Tower Optimization was not properly used with respect to the chiller.
• Fixed an error that incorrectly calculated cooling tower make-up water when using gpm or lps.
• Fixed an error that increased the FL rate in heat recovery mode for a heat pump by 12.
• Fixed the DHW condenser heat recovery system when using Reject Cond Heat = Domestic Hot Water.

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[Version 6.2.5] 3/19/10
This update contains the following items:

• Numerous calculation speed enhancements.
• Added default closed-circuit cooling towers based upon ASHRAE 90.1-2007 equipment performance.
• Added ability to model Trane's Bidirectional Cascade system.
• Added ability to simulate a horizontal wellfield using IGSHPA calculations.
• Added ability to simulate a vertical wellfield using an imported IDF file from a wellfield design program.
• Added ability to simulate a custom wellfield by creating a custom Geothermal Schedule.
• Added ability to create custom chilled water reset curves in the Curves Library.
• Added ability to create custom condenser water reset curves in the Curves Library.
• Added a Flow Scheme option to switch between traditional Fully Mixed ground loop calculations and Bidirectional Cascade.
• Added new RTWD equipment for Bidirectional Cascade operations.
• Added new thermal storage types to simulate various ground loop heat exchangers.
• Added units of watts per gpm for chilled water and condenser water pump types.
• Added additional fields to the TRACE Visualizer (Graph Profiles and Energy) for cogeneration and geothermal selections.
• Added the ability to specify the file location for an imported weather file in the Weather Library.
• Fixed an error that would not display some energy usage when a heat pump airside system was used on the Equipment Energy Consumption report.
• Fixed an error that prevented load shedding economizers to work properly.
• Fixed an error that would not account for negative base utilities on the ECB report.
• Fixed an error that would oversize boilers when absorption chillers were used in conjunction with cogeneration equipment.
• Fixed an error that would prevent energy values to be calculated when the calendar definitions contained fewer than five daytypes.
• Fixed an error that incorrectly ratioed reduced year weather when derived from full year weather.
• Fixed an error in the Economic Summary report that would not display fuel sources other than electric in the graphs.

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[Version 6.2.4] 10/23/09
This update contains the following items:

• Added license activation to software installation.
• Fixed several errors displaying economic values with large files.
• Fixed an error displaying equipment energy consumption with SI units on the Equipment Energy Consumption report.
• Fixed a demand limiting error.
• Fixed a biquadratic curve unit conversion issue.
• Fixed a miscellaneous equipment curve issue.

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[Version 6.2.3, T7up623.exe] 09/2/09
This update contains the following items:

• Fixed an error that prevented full year weather files to be imported into Windows Vista in certain circumstances.
• Fixed an error preventing the importing of .lds and older TRACE archive files.

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[Version 6.2.2, T7up622.exe] 07/31/09
This update contains the following items:

• Added the ability to import multiple pieces of equipment simultaneously from TOPSS.
• Fixed an error that displays energy usage for an alternative when that alternative's Energy Simulation was not calculated.
• Fixed an error that would incorrectly display component energy usage in the Visualizer.
• Fixed several Plant Wizard templates to correctly assign capacity percentages to individual equipment.

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[Version 6.2.1, T7up621.exe] 03/31/09
This update contains the following items:

• Fixed an error that would prevent the system profile from being edited in Chiller Plant Analyzer.
• Fixed an error that would prevent the ASHRAE weather overrides from being saved in an archive file with imported weather.

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[Version 6.2, T7up62.exe] 12/10/08
Release 6.2 was distributed via CD to all active TRACE 700 customers December, 2008. This update contains the following items:

• Added ASHRAE weather from 2005 Handbook of Fundamentals
• Added water consumption algorithm for cooling tower to calculate water usage
• Added Scan for Errors feature which scans for common input errors or missing library information
• Added ability to input biquadratic unloading curves for cooling plants
• Added ability to model hot water reset and condensing boilers as a function of OADB
• Added ability to import several chiller selections from TOPSS
• Added a glossary of common terms to the help file
• Updated system graphics for Chiller Plant Analyzer
• Fixed an error that would omit the Summer Ground Reflectance when changed by a user
• Fixed an issue that would eliminate chiller energy usage with heat recovery machines and tank charging

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