Air Conditioning Chillers

Air conditioning involves cooling, heating, and humidifying the air inside a building. One of the most important goals of air conditioning, which is cooling the building, is achieved using special chillers designed and manufactured for this purpose. An air conditioning chiller is actually a vapor compression refrigeration chiller that has specific characteristics and features due to its type of application. The temperature range of the cooling fluid in air conditioning chillers, unlike industrial or process chillers, is in most cases well-defined.

How an Air Conditioning Chiller Works

The operation of an air conditioning chiller is like all vapor compression cycles. In these chillers, the vapor, after being compressed in the compressor, enters the condenser and is converted into a liquid by transferring heat out of the cycle. This liquid, which is at high pressure, is converted into a two-phase fluid in the pressure-reducing valve and is cooled due to evaporation. The chilled refrigerant then enters the evaporator after the pressure-reducing valve to receive the heat of the cooling fluid. After receiving the heat, the refrigerant turns into vapor and again enters the compressor. By continuing this cycle, the air conditioning chiller can cool the air in a building.

Types of Air Conditioning Chillers and How They Work

There are two types of air-cooled and water-cooled compression chillers, the difference between these chillers is in the way the condenser is cooled. In the condenser, the heat of the refrigerant is transferred outside the chiller cycle.

Air-cooled condensers are made up of tubes and fins through which the refrigerant moves inside the tubes and air is drawn over the fins using fans. This part of the chiller must be located outside the building so that the air that receives the heat of the refrigerant is sent to the outside air. The separate section that is installed outside the building in domestic gas coolers is this condenser.

In water-cooled chillers, the heat of the refrigerant is absorbed by water in a shell and tube or plate heat exchanger, and the heated water is pumped to a cooling tower.

In the cooling tower, outside air is drawn into the tower by fans and warm water is sprayed from the top of the tower. The flow of water and air is crosswise, and with the heat transfer that takes place, the water temperature decreases. The cooled water is then pumped back into the condenser to repeat this process. During the heat transfer of water and air, some of the water evaporates, which further lowers the water temperature. On the other hand, the lost water must be added to the system.

Water-cooled chillers will only be cost-effective if the required chiller capacity is high due to having more equipment. On the other hand, air-cooled chillers will have a low cost in low capacities but are not recommended for capacities above 500 tons of refrigeration. Since in most designs, the required cooling capacity of the building is less than this amount, air-cooled chillers are the first choice in the field of air conditioning.

Conclusion

Farasard is one of the most reputable companies operating in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. This company has designed and implemented various air conditioning projects for different buildings using compression chillers and is ready to provide various consultations and implement various projects with its extensive knowledge and experience in this field.