Purchasing Energy

See figures 1-3 for images of air-cooled chiller plant diagrams and an installed air-cooled chiller. As a consulting engineer, knowing when to design an air-cooled chilled water plant or a water-cooled chilled water plant can be a challenge. While the systems are similar, they have fundamental differences that will address unique project goals. All of Berg’s water cooled chiller packages come equipped with high system efficiency features. This compression process raises the temperature and pressure of the refrigerant where it is discharged into the condenser coils. This heat transfer, from the process fluid, to the coils, to the refrigerant, causes the refrigerant to boil and turn into a vapor.

The all-inclusive nature of air-cooled chillers reduces maintenance costs. Their relative simplicity coupled with reduced space requirements produces great advantages in many types of installations. Air-cooled condensers resemble the “radiators” that cool automobile engines. They use a motorized blower to force air across a grid of refrigerant lines. Unless they are specially designed for high-ambient conditions, air-cooled condensers require ambient temperatures of 95°F (35°C) or below to operate effectively. With a factory-installed integrated communication card, connecting Carrier water-cooled chillers to a BACnet® system has never been easier.

Chillers function as cooling systems in nuclear reactors, making them critical to the safe operation of nuclear power plants. In the food industry, our chillers are used for countless food, beverage, and dairy processing applications such as temperature control, cooling tunnels, and distillation. Whether you’re in the plastics industry or pharmaceuticals, we can outfit your company with a product that works for you. Most industrial liquid chillers are rated to produce full capacity at ambient temperatures up to 95°F for air-cooled liquid chillers or 85°F cooling tower water for water-cooled liquid chillers. ICS Chillers also offers a full range of industrial water cooled chiller packages.

If highly pure water is not mandatory, RO water is a better option as the filtering process is not as defined as DI water. The Glycol to Water ratio is different depending on the customer’s coolant temperature needs as well as ambient temperatures being indoor or outdoor applications. Corrosion in the pipes is usually associated with bad water quality.

The operational machinery for CHW systems, except for cooling towers, is typically installed in a mechanical room, basement or other interior space. This means these complex components, such as evaporators and condensers, are less exposed to the outside elements that are mounted on rooftops or in exterior locations. Less exposure to rain, snow, ice and heat can extend the lives of these components by several years. Additionally, if it is well insulated, there’s no practical distance limitation to the length of a chilled water pipe.

 Water-Cooled Chillers

We have numerous types of water cooled chillers, and we can help you find the right one. In fact, we offer ChillersDirect™ to help keep your investment to a minimum. By dealing directly with the factory, you can consult with the experts who can help you get just the right chiller for your needs.

The total installed refrigeration compressor power in the chiller is 112 kW. At a power cost of $0.07/kWh the power savings for the tube mill were calculated to be approximately $32,412 per year, compared to the same capacity chiller without free cooling. The payback period for the free cooling option was less than the first year of operation. A typical design provides 50% free cooling when the ambient air is 10 °F below the supply chilled water temperature and 100% free cooling with a 20 °F differential.

These inspections — performed daily, weekly, monthly or annually — help to identify the health and operating efficiency of the chiller. Good chiller maintenance begins with keeping a chiller operating log. Recording chiller operating parameters regularly can provide maintenance personnel with a valuable diagnostic tool. By tracking chiller data and reviewing it regularly, operators can identify trends in chiller performance, helping maintenance personnel pinpoint the underlying cause.

The benefit of a water cooled chiller in a factory is that it helps create a precise and highly controllable environment where thermal concerns can be managed. The compressor draws the refrigerant vapor out of the evaporator and then pumps it to the condenser to raise both its pressure and temperature. When the refrigerant condenses in the tubes, it is forced to give up its heat to the cooling water.

This article will explain the components of each plant and present clear guidelines for optimized use of both plants, depending on the building type, size and client goals. This article will review the advantages and disadvantages of each system bases on size, noise control, cost and efficiencies. The primary argument is that in most cases water-cooled chilled water plants provide the most long-term benefits in terms of energy and cost savings, despite the higher upfront costs.

As some of the condenser water evaporates, heat is removed from the condenser water, and the cool condenser water flows back to the chiller. Air-cooled chillers are almost always located outside of a building and remove heat from the chilled water by exhausting the heat directly to the surrounding air. After exiting the heat exchanging coil, the chilled water return returns to the chiller, where it is cooled again, and the process repeats. While the heat exchanging coil is cooled by the chilled water, a fan blows air through the coil to provide cold air to the building’s space. The supply air temperature that is blown out of AHUs and FCUs is usually about 55 °F.

They aren’t exposed to outdoor elements such as rain, snow, ice, and heat, which makes them less vulnerable. Chilled water systems are typically used for cooling medium and large buildings. While the upfront cost of a water chilled system can be a lot, the greater energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs usually make up for it. When you consider that chillers are often one of the largest consumers of energy inside a building, their performance can have a huge impact on operational costs. For this reason, the efficiency of a chiller plant is often closely monitored for potential improvement. A chilled water system using a water-cooled chillerWater-cooled chiller systems are very energy efficient.

The cooling process begins when water enters the evaporator from the primary return where heat is transferred from the water to the refrigerant. Compressors for air conditioning, providing enhanced comfort, efficiency and sustainability for rooftops and chillers, commercial applications with refrigerants R410A, R407C, R134a and R22. Danfoss products and solutions make up to 70% of chiller systems and bring multiple benefits for OEMs, consulting engineers and building owners in various industries and building types. Dominating the upper end of the capacity range, screw-style compressors are typically used for applications requiring less than 300 tons of cooling capacity.