Air Cooled Vs Water Cooled Chiller System

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.

Air cooled vs water cooled chiller system. The main difference in air vs water cooling is the presence of a heatsink. In other words water cooled chillers can deliver higher cooling capacity with fewer units and a smaller footprint. A water cooled chilled water plant consists of a water cooled chiller typically located inside the building. There are distinct differences between the condenser of an air cooled chiller and a water cooled chiller.

Water cooled chiller cost comparison. Packaged air cooled chillers are typically available in sizes ranging from 7 5 to 500 tons 25 to 1 580 kw. Typically you ll find that smaller air coolers use condensers cooled by air while larger units are almost always water cooled. Factors such as water costs efficiency ratings and electricity can dramatically change the lifetime price of a chiller.

Fans are used to force the air over tubing containing refrigerant and therefore. 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. A water based cooling system requires cooling towers condenser water pumps reservoirs of cooling fluid and make up pumps. 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.

However using state of the art technology with centrifugal compressors and variable speed control air cooled chillers are often the better. Conventional thinking has been that water cooled chillers are more efficient than air cooled chillers. The purpose of a heatsink is to dissipate heat with or without a fan attached. 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.

Ac window units or portable acs are always powered by air because of the installation convenience and portability. 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. Water cooled chiller systems have a cooling tower thus they feature higher efficiency than air cooled chillers. 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.

If we only look at compressor costs this may be true. Air cooled chillers are equipped with condensers that utilize ambient air to reduce refrigerant temperatures.