I was asked to make a presentation on the topic of commissioning central chilled water plants at this year's ASHRAE Summer Annual Meeting in June. When brainstorming about what might be "special" about commissioning chiller plants compared to other systems, there wasn't much from a process standpoint. That is, the commissioning process is the same whether you are commissioning hvac, plumbing, electrical, security, or any other type of facility "system."
Individual pieces of equipment such as chillers, cooling towers, pumps, heat exchangers, and thermal storage tanks are not systems. Central plant systems include the chilled water system, the condenser water system, the chemical treatment systems, refrigerant detection and emergency ventilation system, etc., all of which are made up of multiple components. However, do the central plant systems stop at the chiller plant walls?