Water
Chillers are used in many
applications to cool or chill fluids. These applications include, but are not
limited to, manufacturing processes, comfort cooling and rental cooling systems.
The following information is
provided as a brief overview of water chiller features and operational characteristics.
What
is a Water Chiller?
A chiller
is a mechanical refrigeration
device, like an air conditioner,
except that it cools a fluid
(usually water) instead of cooling
air.
When a large air conditioner is required it is sometimes more feasible to
use one large chiller instead
of many small air conditioners.
Chillers are also used wherever there is a need for cooling a fluid such as a chemical
process or for plastics molding.
To simplify the concept of a chiller you should compare it to a
drinking fountain where you get cold “chilled”
water.
What
are the major components of a water chiller?
A chiller
consists of a few major components. A compressor,
an evaporator heat exchanger, a
condenser heat exchanger, an
expansion valve or two and some piping and controls are the basics.
Compressors are usually reciprocating, scroll, centrifugal, or rotary screw types.
The evaporator
heat exchanger is usually of shell & tube constructions and is the
exchanger where chilled water
would be produced.
The condenser
heat exchanger can be either air-cooled,
a coil or coils and a fan or fans, or water-cooled,
another shell & tube heat exchanger cooled by cooling tower
or other water.
How does the water
chiller produce chilled water?
A chiller
removes heat from a place where it is not needed or wanted and moves it to
a place where it doesn’t matter.
A chiller
produces cold water by the
transfer of heat from entering water to refrigerant in the evaporator heat exchanger.
A typical chiller
would for example chill 55°F EWT, (entering water temp.), down to 45°F
LWT, (leaving water temp.).
The refrigerant
would then carry the heat to the condenser
for it to be removed to the environment via an air-cooled coil or water-cooled
heat exchanger.
If a cooling
tower cools a water-cooled
heat exchanger, the cooling tower
will ultimately reject the heat to the environment.
Once the refrigerant
leaves the condenser heat exchanger it will be compressed and the cycle
continues.
What is the
difference between a water chiller and a cooling tower?
A cooling
tower is used to cool water
instead of chilling it. Cooling
towers use the evaporative cooling effect and transfer heat to the
environment.
Generally water is dropped through a fill
material while air is moved across the fill, transferring heat from the
water to the air.
The major component of a cooling tower is a fan to move the air across the fill
material. Cooling towers work
for cooling higher temperature water or fluids.
A typical cooling
tower would for example cool 95°F EWT down to 85°F LWT.
Cooling
towers are often used in
conjunction with water-cooled
chillers, but have many stand-alone uses as well.
How
do I know if I need a water chiller or a cooling tower?
Depending on the application and operating
conditions, chillers and cooling towers both have a place
and design applications they are best for.
Cooling
towers are most effective at
LWT temperatures of 75°F and higher, while you would most likely need a
chiller for LWT of 75°F or less.
For LWT temperatures of 65°F and lower, cooling towers would likely not be
an option, only a chiller can
produce LWT of 65°F and lower.
The following are some of the manufacturers and providers of water cooled chillers and water cooled chiller related parts,
equipment, and services:
AEC
AMI Cooling Systems
Aqua Chill Industries
Berg Chilling Systems
Bright HVAC Engineers Pvt. Ltd.
C & D International
Carrier
Century Refrigeration
Chiller Resources, Inc.
Cooling Technology
Daiken
Dunham Bush
ECONOCHILL
FES Systems
Frick
Guangdong Kelon Electrical holdings Co. Ltd
International Cooling Systems
Koolant Koolers
Lytron
McQuay
Mitsubishi
Multistack
Mydax
Neslab
Ningbo Aux Imp & Exp Co. Ltd
Noida Screw Chillers
Panasonic
Parkaire Engineering Co. Pvt. Ltd
Premier Refrigeration Ltd
Refrecon Majic Systems Pvt. Ltd
Toshiba
Trane
Vilter
York
Zhongshan Asiatic Electric Co.
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