Air Cooled Vs Water Cooled Chiller System

While upfront costs for a water cooled chiller are typically higher these systems often last longer than air based coolers resulting in a lower life cycle cost thereby offering increased roi.

Air cooled vs water cooled chiller system.

Water cooled chiller cost comparison. Air cooled vs water cooled air conditioning system in las vegas. The purpose of a heatsink is to dissipate heat with or without a fan attached. F air cooled reciprocating water chillers that have five years old installation operating at full load covering nominal cooling capacities from 17 kw to 525 kw.

If we only look at compressor costs this may be true. Having a fan is usually best though as it will allow the heatsink to be directly cooled and help remove hot air from the chassis in question. Water cooled chillers are more efficient because they condense depending on the ambient temperature bulb temperature which is lower than the ambient dry bulb temperature the lower a chiller condenses the more efficient it is. A water cooled chilled water plant consists of a water cooled chiller typically located inside the building.

They also can be placed outside the building and include chilled water pumps an expansion tank an air separator chemical treatment cooling towers located outside of the building condenser water pumps makeup water to accommodate evaporation of the condenser water and chemical. A water based cooling system requires cooling towers condenser water pumps reservoirs of cooling fluid and make up pumps. However using state of the art technology with centrifugal compressors and variable speed control air cooled chillers are often the better. However water cooled chillers allow the refrigeration system to operate at lower head pressure making them more efficient and less costly to operate than air cooled chillers.

The main difference in air vs water cooling is the presence of a heatsink. Figure 2 show that air cooled cooling systems that ranged from 17 kw to 525 kw when operated at tropical outdoor temperatures and with presence of sandy storms will have. Ac window units or portable acs are always powered by air because of the installation convenience and portability. There are distinct differences between the condenser of an air cooled chiller and a water cooled chiller.

In other words water cooled chillers can deliver higher cooling capacity with fewer units and a smaller footprint. Typically you ll find that smaller air coolers use condensers cooled by air while larger units are almost always water cooled. Conventional thinking has been that water cooled chillers are more efficient than air cooled chillers. Factors such as water costs efficiency ratings and electricity can dramatically change the lifetime price of a chiller.

Packaged water cooled chillers are typically available from 10 to 4 000 tons 35 to 14 000 kw. Air cooled chillers are equipped with condensers that utilize ambient air to reduce refrigerant temperatures.