Basic Type of Chillers

• Water Cooled Chillers

• Air cooled Chillers
 Type of Chillers

Reciprocating Chillers…
Centrifugal Chillers…
Screw Chillers…
Rotary Chillers…
Scroll Chillers…
 Air cooled Chillers…Few facts

• Good performance at part load…

• Modulating compressors are also available instead of step down
• No cooling tower, condenser piping/pumps…
• No plant room required…
• No make up water requirement so useful where water is a
problem…
• Consume more power than water cooled because of increase in
lift…
• Generally water cooled systems outperform air-cooled but pay
back period for water cooled is high…
Reciprocating Chiller……A Picture
 Reciprocating Chillers – Few
General points....
Two Types
• Hermitically Sealed compressors
• Most commonly used
• Motor directly coupled to compressor in a single
casing/housing.
• Open construction Type
• Not very common
• Motor & compressor coupled by direct drive shaft or V-
Belt.
• Both are in different casing/housing.
• Higher operating efficiency.
• Longer life.
• Lower maintenance requirement.
 Reciprocating Chillers – Few
General points....
• Pistons driven in cylinders by crank shaft.
• Suction and discharge valves are thin plates, which open and
close easily.
• Step control by unloading the cylinders.
 Reciprocating Chillers – Few
Advantages....

Low initial cost for units up to 100 Tons or less.

 Higher condensing temperature than others so practically good
for air-cooled applications.
With multiple units varying loads can be matched.
 Reciprocating Chillers – Few
Disadvantages....

 High maintenance.
 More moving parts….so more wear.
 High level of noise and vibrations.
 High energy requirements by bigger capacity chillers.
 Not suitable for more than 200 T loads because of large space
requirements and higher first cost.
Centrifugal Chiller…….Single
Compressor….
Centrifugal Chiller – Dual
Compressor…
 Centrifugal Chillers – Few General
points....
These are variable Volume displacement units…
 One or more impellers are used …
 Centrifugal force is used to compress the refrigerant vapor…
 Cooling capacity is controlled through the use of inlet vanes on
the impeller that restricts refrigerant flow…
 From 90 – 1000 Tons capacity…
 Both Hermitically sealed and open construction type available…
 Again hermitically sealed is more common…
 Centrifugal Chillers – Few
Advantages...
 Low energy cost per Ton of cooling…
 Small size, for the same cooling capacity, compared to
reciprocating chillers…
 Not much of vibrations…
 VFD`s can be used to reduce the speed and in turn to save the
energy…
 Centrifugal Chillers – Few
Disadvantages...
 Bad part load efficiency…
 Can not go below 20% of its full capacity…
 Full load consumption – 0.6 KW/Ton & at 20% load its around
0.9 KW/ton…
 Surging at part loads……leads to chiller damage…
Screw Chiller….A Picture
 Screw Chillers – Few General
points...
 Positive displacement like reciprocating chiller…
 Two machined rotors that compresses refrigerant gas between
their Screws as they mesh…
 Both Hermitically sealed as well as Open construction
available…
 From 20 – 2000 tons…
 Approx power consumption 0.7 to 0.8 KW/Ton… Sometimes
better than this…
 More efficiency than reciprocating but less than Centrifugal…
Screw Chillers – Few Advantages...

 Light weight…
 Less space requirement…
 Less number of moving part….so less maintenance required…
 Quieter….Vibration free…
 Screw Chillers – Few
Disadvantages...
 High initial cost…
 For some capacities more power consuming…
Scroll Chiller…A Picture
Scroll Chiller…Concept
 Scroll Chiller…Few General Points

•Two helically shaped scrolls are interleaved in such a way that

as they rotate the space between them decreases from the
suction to the discharge openings and thus compresses the gas.
•Suitable for medium and large commercial applications.
•Generally available from 30 to 100 Tons.
•Both Air as well as water cooled.
•Better efficiency at part load also.
•Compact in size.
•Step unloading possible.
 Selection Criteria of Chillers….

 Capacity requirement…
 Space requirement…
 Electricity or alternate fuel…
 Diversity…
 Application….Low noise, vibrations….
 A/C Systems : General Formulae

Tons = GPM x T
24

GPM = Tons x 24
T
Note : 1 Gpm = 0.0631 l/s.
 A/C Systems : General Formulae

Example 1:
If the chiller is sized at 500 tons, T is 10 F, what is the flow
required?

Solution.

GPM = (Tons x 24) / T = ( 500 x 24 )/ 10 = 1200 Gpm

Convert GPM to m3/hr, 1200 Gpm = 272 m3/hr

Note : 1 USGpm = 0.0631 l/s.=0.227 M3/hr

 Fan coil
One way to transfer energy from the air to the chilled water is by using a fan coil.
The cooling transmission part of a fan coil is a cooling surface (a water to air exchanger) .

Cooling surface
(coil)
Chilled air
Flow pipe
Return pipe

Fan Drain pipe

Air filter
Warm air
 Control of Fan coil
2 way valve control means 3 way valve control means
variable flow in the main supply net constant flow in the main supply net

Temperature Temperature
Control sensor Control sensor
panel panel

M
AB A

Main Main B
M
supply supply

Variable Constant Variable

flow flow flow
 Air Handling Unit

 Used for cooling of larger areas.

 Needs large space in the area for mounting.
 With Variable speed fan or with normal fixed speed fans.
 RulesRules Of Thumb…
of Thumb …

Formulas you should know:

12000 Btu/hr = 1 refrigeration ton = 3.517kw

1 kw = 3412 Btu/hr

Total Heat Load = Latent Heat + Sensible Heat

 Rules of Thumb
Rules …
Of Thumb…

Customer ask ????? I have a ……

Building with offices and shopping mall and

Restaurant.
Office area 15000 sq.m
Restaurant 1200 sq.m
Department Stall 21000 sq.m:
2 floor basement, 1 main – same size

What is the total chiller size and pump size ???

Can we do anything ??
 Rules of Thumb
Rules …
Of Thumb…

Building Load Calculation …

•Climatic Condition – WB & DB temp

•Occupancy and purpose
•Facing of the Building
•Type Building Material:
Glass, Aluminium Cladding …
Use Psychometric Chart
Calculate Latent and Sensible load
Select equipment
 Rules
Rules Of Thumb…
of Thumb … Can we use this ???
 Rules of Thumb
Rules …
Of Thumb…

Building Area Use

Grand Total
Building Area Use Sq Ft Btuh/Sq Ft Total Btuh
Office area 15000 sq.m 161474 50 8073720.8
Restaurant 1200 sq.m 12918 85 1098026
Dept store 7000 sq.m main floor 75355 50 3767736.4
Dept Store 14000 sq.m basement 150709 45 6781925.4
Total 37200 sq.m 400457 19721409

Total Refrigeration Ton = 1643

 Rules
Rules Of Thumb…
of Thumb …

Total Refrigeration Ton = 1643

So what ??
Do you have a loading profile ??

We can use 2 chillers, or 3 chillers …

2 x 800 ton or 2 x 1000 ton

Or 3 x 600 ton or staging
Or 1 x 600 and 1 x 1000 ton
What is primary
Rules pump capacity ??
Of Thumb…

Rule of Thumb we can size the chilled

water pump base on 2-2.4 usgpm/ton
 Rules
Load Of??Thumb…
Profile
30

25

20
% Time
15

10

0
0-10 30-40 60-70 90-100
% Load

80% of the time load is between 40 – 70%

For simplicity we choose 2 x chillers of 800 ton
40% load = 657 ton, 70% = 1150 ton
 Rules Pumps
Secondary Of Thumb…

Total Refrigeration Ton = 1643

Now we have 2 x 800 tons chiller.

1) What about the head for primary pumps ??

2) Assuming it is primary secondary - VFD system,
what about the flow for the secondary pumps ??
3) Sec. Pump head ??
Ans : 1)Depends on the system – primary only,
primary-secondary or pri-sec zone…
2) Total secondary flow equals primary flow, individual
pump flow depends on number of sec. Pumps. Common
is 2 duty 1 standby.
3) Same as (1) but usually can be hydraulic calculated.
 Rules
Condenser Of Thumb…
Side
vapour Warm water
from Chiller is 1643 tons
the condenser
Fan

air air

Water back to
the condenser
 WhatRules Of Thumb…
is the condenser pump flow rate

Cooling Tower Capacity

Cooling Tower, gpm = Total Heat Reject Btu/h
500 x T
Total heat that has to be rejected = 1643 x 15000
= 24645000 Btu/h
Total Condenser Pump gpm = 24645000/(500 x 5 x
1.8)
= 5477 usgpm
 Rules
Where Ofplace
do we Thumb…
the sensor – Variable speed