Necessity of using a concrete chilling system
The concrete production process generates a lot of heat. In addition, the thermal conductivity of concrete is very low, and after production, the outer parts cool down and act as an insulator, and the inner parts will not be able to transfer heat to the environment and cool down. The remaining heat in the inner part causes thermal stresses and cracking of the concrete, which is unacceptable. To solve this problem, a concrete chilling system is used to quickly and evenly reduce the temperature of the concrete. According to the standard, the produced concrete must be cooled to a temperature of 22 degrees Celsius for the bulky type and 26 degrees Celsius for the non-bulky type.
Farasard designs and manufactures ice machines and chillers in various sizes and capacities for concrete cooling, which have the highest quality and efficiency and require the least space and manpower.
Farasard Concrete Chilling System
The Farasard FCC series concrete chilling system reduces the water temperature in several steps to reach the desired conditions. In the first step, hot water with a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius enters the evaporative condenser to both condense the refrigerant and reduce its temperature to 35 degrees Celsius. After the condenser, the initial high-pressure chiller removes the heat from the water and cools it to 18 degrees Celsius. Then, this is done by the medium-pressure chiller.
Finally, the water enters the ice pond at a maximum temperature of 2 degrees Celsius and is ready to cool the concrete.
FCC series models have a cooling capacity of 182 to 455 kW, so the user can choose the appropriate model according to their needs.
The tanks of these devices, with a volume of 25 to 80 cubic meters, provide the user with a suitable space for storing water. It is also possible to cool liquid additives to concrete such as plasticizers by installing a heat exchanger in this system. The COP of FCC series chillers is between 3.96 and 3.5, which shows that these chillers have a good performance. The smallest model in this series can provide 4 tons and the largest model 10.5 tons of chilled water per hour.
Another method of cooling concrete is to use both cold water and ice. This method is more reliable than the previous method and the cooling capacity can also be increased in this method. For example, to cool one cubic meter of concrete to a temperature of 1 degree Celsius, 33 kg of cold water is required, but the same can be done with only 7.5 kg of ice.
In this method, due to the proximity of the ice machine and the production unit, little space is occupied. Ice machines are made up of various parts such as ice transfer equipment, ice crushers, and ice storage containers.
Farasard ice machines are designed and manufactured under the title FI series in block, flake, and crushed forms. Each of these models has different capacities, which makes the applications of FI series ice machines range from low-volume to very high-volume concrete production.
Concrete Chilling System Prices
The price range for concrete chilling systems is very wide, as these systems vary greatly in structure and type. The most common system used for this purpose is a compression refrigeration chiller with an evaporative condenser.
These types of chillers have the lowest cost among other chillers. They also have a high coefficient of performance (COP) and can provide reliable performance.
Another system used for concrete cooling is a combination of an ice bank and a chiller. Using an ice bank in conjunction with a chiller may increase the initial cost somewhat, but in return, running costs are significantly reduced.
In addition, in the chiller and ice bank system, the required chiller capacity is also reduced, which in turn reduces the initial cost of the chiller.
Another option for concrete cooling is ice machines, which also have different prices due to variations in structure and performance.
A point that must be considered when choosing chillers and other cooling systems is the efficiency of these systems. Systems that require lower input power also have lower power consumption and therefore lower running costs.
Another part of the running costs is related to the control and maintenance of these systems. The more complex the refrigeration systems are and the more parts they consist of, the more time and money it will take to maintain them.
Therefore, based on the reasons mentioned, it is recommended to consider the final cost as the sum of the initial cost or the price offered by the seller and the running costs in a suitable period (such as 10 years) in order to obtain the best option from an economic point of view.
Conclusion
Farasard, with several decades of experience in designing and manufacturing various cooling equipment, chillers, ice banks, and ice machines, is ready to provide a variety of design and manufacturing services in the field of concrete chilling systems.
Due to the variety of concrete chilling systems, choosing an optimal system in terms of economy and performance can be a complex and specialized process. For consultation on concrete cooling and the selection of various packages for this application, please contact Farasard experts.
