The dining facilities (DFAC) of the U.S. Army and Air Force as well as other Department of Defense (DoD) organizations are excellent candidates for demand control kitchen ventilation (DCKV) type equipment to reduce energy use of the main kitchen hoods. This is because these facilities typically serve large numbers of meals at relatively short time periods three times a day. Cooking operations occur on schedule, and kitchen activity is reduced or curtailed during off-schedule periods. Since the ventilation equipment that exhausts air from the kitchen hoods generally operates at full airflow during kitchen operation, there are significant periods when the exhaust airflow can be greatly reduced. DCKV equipment accomplishes this automatically by monitoring cooking activity to increase the exhaust airflow when needed. DCKV equipment monitors cooking activity by measuring exhaust air temperature, and by sensing the infrared temperature of cooking surfaces and/or the presence of smoke/steam. This project installed DCKV systems on the main kitchen hoods in four dining facilities. The installed DCKV systems monitored opacity for the presence of smoke or steam, and temperature. The DCKV systems were installed at four different types of dining facilities located in several climate zones. The types included fast food restaurants, a dining establishment for a 240-person school, a medium-sized dining facility capable of serving 600 people, and a large dining facility that can serve 5,000. Two of the sites were located in Colorado, one in South Dakota, and one in Virginia. Before and after the installation of the DCKV systems, measurements were taken of make-up air unit fan motor electrical use, fan speed, make-up air unit supply temperatures, and kitchen space temperatures. The energy savings were determined after several months of measurements. The annual cost savings and economic payback were then calculated. This paper summarizes the measured values and the economics of installing DCKV equipment on kitchen hoods in dining facilities throughout the United States.
Citation: ASHRAE Papers: 2015 ASHRAE Annual Conference, Chicago, IL
Product Details
- Published:
- 2015
- Number of Pages:
- 8
- File Size:
- 1 file , 2.4 MB
- Product Code(s):
- D-CH-15-C035
