Guide to Chillers
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| Chiller Types and Application Guide |
Types of coolers and application guide. In this article, we'll cover the different types of coolers available, where they're used, and the pros and cons of each type of cooler, along with some usage examples. We will cover air cooled chillers, water cooled chillers, centrifugal compressor chillers, turbocor compressor chillers, screw compressor chillers, scroll compressor chillers, reciprocating compressor chillers.
Scroll down the article to see the video tutorial
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| Purpose of a cooler |
Just to recap your prior knowledge of refrigerators. Chillers are simply machines used to generate chilled or chilled water that is distributed throughout buildings to provide air conditioning. They are also used in some industrial processes, but we will mainly focus on their application in the air conditioning of buildings, generally with air handling units and fan coils.
As you can imagine, there are many different types of refrigerators and they are categorized by type, so it is important that you understand what the names mean, the differences between them, and when and where they are used, as well as why.
The first way to categorize a chiller is to define whether it is a vapor compression or vapor absorption chiller.
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| Vapor Compression and Absorption Chillers |
Vapor Compression Chillers and Vapor Absorption Chillers
Vapor compression chillers use an electrically driven mechanical compressor to force a refrigerant around the system. These are the most common types of refrigerators. There are two subcategories of vapor compression chillers which are either water cooled or air cooled chillers
Vapor absorption chillers will use a heat source to move the refrigerant through the system instead of using a mechanical compressor. The refrigerant in these chillers moves between different temperature and pressure zones.
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| air-cooled and water-cooled chillers explained |
When it comes to vapor compression chillers, the two main types are air-cooled and water-cooled. Both types of chillers have the same essential components which are the evaporator, the compressor, the condenser and the expander. When we talk about air or water cooling, it simply refers to how unwanted heat is pushed out of the building through the chillers condenser.
The principle of operation of air and water coolers is the same. A compressor pushes refrigerant inside the cooler between the condenser, expander, evaporator, and back to the compressor. The only difference is that with an air-cooled chiller, fans force air through exposed condenser tubes that remove heat. Water-cooled chillers have a sealed condenser, and water is pumped to remove heat and disperse it throughout the cooling tower. The cooling tower will also use a fan to reject heat. Watch the video tutorial on how cooling towers work here
Where are these coolers normally used? – types of chillers and application guide
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| Chiller cooling loads, large, medium and small buildings |
Large buildings with cooling loads greater than 400 tons of refrigeration or 1,400 kW typically use water-cooled chillers with centrifugal compressors or Turbocor compressors in the plant's central cooling system. They can also use a smaller, stand-alone air-cooled chiller to handle critical cooling loads, such as computer and communications rooms. There may also be an absorption chiller in the central plant system, which uses waste heat, for example from a CHP motor, but these are mainly used with mechanical chillers.
Medium sized buildings with a cooling load of around 200-400 tons of refrigeration or 700-1400 kW will generally use screw compressors or Turbocor compressors, these can be water or air cooled, we'll see why that would be shortly. These buildings may also use an absorption chiller if sufficient high-quality heat is available.
Small buildings with cooling loads less than 200 tons or 700 kW typically use scroll compressors or Turbocor compressors and are often air-cooled in design. Again, we'll see why before long they could also use a different system, like VRF units, but it depends on the size of the building and the cooling load.
Absorption chillers should only be used where there is a large amount of high quality waste heat or cheap heat. They are often found in hospitals and buildings with heated swimming pools. If a commercial office building uses a combined heat and power (CHP) engine, it is often combined with an absorption chiller that uses waste heat from combustion, but in this scenario they are mostly used in conjunction with electric chillers. They are sometimes used during the hours of the day when electricity prices peak.
If you have a building with a medium to high cooling load, it is recommended that you do not use a single large chiller to handle the entire cooling load. It is not efficient and if it fails you will have no cooling capacity.
Instead, you must run multiple chillers, in parallel, of different sizes to meet the changing seasonal load at maximum performance with built-in redundancy. For example, you have a building with a cooling load of 2200 tons, so you need to use combinations like two 1200 900 ton chillers or two 900 ton and one 500 ton chillers or one 1000 ton and two 700 ton chillers etc. . The configuration options are almost limitless.
You also need to consider the criticality of the building and the required redundancy, known as N+1, where "N" is the number of chillers you need and the "+1" or "+2" or "+3" etc. is the number of backup chillers needed to continue to meet cooling capacity in the event of a failure.
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| failure and breakdown of the chiller |
This is used so that in the event of a chiller failure, you have a backup always ready to go online and handle the cooling load. You may need to use chillers with multiple compressors that can run independently of each other so that if one compressor fails, the chiller can still remain partially operational.
How to choose between air cooling and water cooling - Types of chillers and application guide
Water cooled chillers.
Advantage
· Water-cooled chillers are more efficient, especially for large cooling loads, they use the evaporation of water to dissipate heat, which uses less energy than blowing air over a hot surface like air-cooled chillers. Water also has a higher heat capacity than air, making it inherently easier to dissipate heat.
· Water-cooled chillers can handle larger loads, due to their floor space, compared to air-cooled chillers.
· Water coolers generally last longer because they are inside the building and therefore deteriorate much more slowly.
The drawbacks
· These use cooling towers and for this it is necessary to have access to a constant supply of clean water. If the cooler is going to be installed in an area with water restrictions, you won't want this type.
· Les refroidisseurs à eau are situés dans le bâtiment et sont de très grandes machines, donc selon la technologie de compresseur utilisée, ils peuvent créer beaucoup de bruit et de vibrations à l'intérieur du bâtiment, c'est pourquoi ils sont généralement situés au sous -I usually.
· Water chillers cost more to install and maintain
· Water coolers take up space in the building, they need technical rooms, more risers, more pumps, cooling towers and water treatment, so this space cannot be used for commercial purposes.
Air cooled chillers.
Advantage
· Air-cooled chillers cost less to install because they have less equipment.
· Air coolers require less space, can be placed on the roof, and do not require a machine room. This means more space in the building for business purposes.
· Air coolers require less maintenance than water coolers, again because they have less equipment.
· Air-cooled systems are much simpler in design and do not require another set of condenser pumps.
The drawbacks
· Air-cooled chillers are outside the building, their fans and compressors will generate noise that can be heard by surrounding areas, although some measures can be put in place to reduce this noise.
· Air coolers generally do not have as long a lifespan as water coolers because they are exposed to sun, rain, frost, snow, and wind, all of which deteriorate the materials.
· Air coolers can experience damage, blockage, and recirculation issues.
Unfortunately many building owners want the cheapest option up front but that is a bad idea because for a little more they could have bought a more efficient chiller which will be cheaper to run especially since chillers can last around 15-25 + years in operation. so it would have paid for itself many times over and would have resulted in reduced environmental emissions.
The different compressor technologies currently available: chiller types and application guide
centrifugal chillers
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| centrifugal chiller compressor |
· Water Cooled Chillers
· used in medium to heavy cooling loads
· Typically available in 150 – 6,000 TR, 530 – 21,000 kW
· Water cooled COP between 5.8 and 7.1
· Usually use a single compressor, sometimes two for exceptionally large capacity
· Works best at full load, VFD can be installed to improve part load
· Use one or two rotating impellers to compress the coolant and force it around the cooler
· Capacity control through speed control and pallet guides
Turbocor Coolers
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| turbocor compressor cooler |
· Air or water coolers
· It is used in all refrigeration loads, from large to small buildings
· Typically available in 60 – 1500 TR, 210 – 5200 kW
· COP from 4.6 to 10
· One or more used, stepped, variable speed compressors
· Variable speed controller, soft starter, magnetic bearings, one moving part, oil free
· Use two rotating turbines to compress the refrigerant
· Capacity control through speed control and pallet guides
piston coolers
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| reciprocating chiller compressor |
· Air or Water Cooled Chillers: Old Technology, Now Less Common
· Used in small to medium cooling loads, common in low-cost single-unit refrigerators
· Typically available in 50 – 500 TR, 170 – 1700 kW
· COP from 4.2 to 5.5
· Use piston and chamber to compress refrigerant
· Staging capacity control of compressor or cylinder unloading and speed control
scroll cooler
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| scroll chiller compressor |
· Air or water coolers
· Used in small to medium cooling loads
· Typically available 40 – 400 TR, 140 – 1400 kW
· Air cooled COP 3.2 – 4.86 Water cooled COP 4.45 – 6.2
· One or more compressors, fixed or variable speed, step or speed controlled
· Use two spiral plates to compress the refrigerant, one fixed in place and one rotating.
· Capacity control through momentary separation scrolls with solenoid valve and electronic modulation
screw cooler
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| screw chiller compressor |
· Air or water coolers
· Used in small to medium cooling loads
· Typically 70 – 600 TR, 250 – 2100 kW
· Air cooled COP 2.9 – 4.15 Water cooled COP: 4.7 – 6.07
· Normally 1 water cooled compressor, 1 or 2 air cooled compressors
· Uses two interlocking rotating helical rotors to compress refrigerant, capacity is controlled via speed control or slider
absorption chillers
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| absorption chiller |
· Using heat to drive the cooling process, usually steam or hot water
· Used in medium to large buildings, hospitals, swimming centers, heat networks
· Typically 70 – 1400 TR, 250 – 4900 kW
· COP of approx. 0.6 to 1.9
· Without compressor, direct or indirect. Controlled capacity through the amount of incoming heat
· Idea for using waste heat or cheap heat, sometimes used to offset spikes in electricity costs
· Usually combined with mechanical chillers
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