Choosing a Chiller — Factors to Consider

28 Oct.,2024

 

Choosing a Chiller — Factors to Consider

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Selecting a chiller for a specific application requires planning. To purchase the correct chiller for your facility, you must account for factors such as temperature, location, purpose, cooling fluid, size, safety, voltage and cost. Keeping these details in mind ensures you invest in the option that best matches your unique specifications. Reviewing our chiller selection guide is an excellent starting point for purchasing your next cooling system.

What Do Chillers Do?

A chiller is a refrigeration system that cools equipment to maintain proper temperatures. Chillers prevent heat damage and ensure systems operate smoothly and efficiently. An industrial or commercial chiller system uses refrigerant to absorb heat. Water-cooled chillers use water towers to cool equipment, while air-cooled chillers rely on ambient airflow.

Factors to Consider When Buying an Industrial Chiller

Before purchasing an industrial chiller, determine the right type for your specifications and choose the highest-quality product possible. Here are some aspects that may influence your decision.

Application

Equipment use is one of the first variables to reflect on when buying a chiller. Various applications require different chillers, and understanding which kind you need is an excellent start to the buying process.

Size

For many unit applications, size and efficiency go hand in hand. An oversized chiller can consume more energy than necessary, cutting into your profit margins. Meanwhile, an undersized chiller may struggle to keep up with your facility&#;s needs. A compact chiller that removes the heat released from your equipment allows you to cool it effectively while saving energy and money. To determine the correct chiller size for your facility, you must figure out your equipment&#;s heat load, temperature, flow rate and coolant type required.

While many industrial chiller manufacturers offer mass-produced cooling products, it&#;s best to partner with one that offers customization. An experienced chiller manufacturer can provide cooling options that meet your industry specifications. When you order a custom-sized chiller, you can rely on it to support your unique needs.

Location

The ideal chiller for your company also relies on your equipment location. Outdoor applications are prone to fluctuating ambient temperatures, while the air surrounding indoor applications may reach excessively high temperatures. Because of these natural temperature differences, indoor or outdoor equipment may require particular sizing or specific accessories such as sump heaters, heat tracing, insulated components, or special controls for components.

Safety

Installing a safe chiller is crucial for your equipment, employees and facility. If you operate in hazardous conditions or process flammable chemicals, an explosion-proof chiller is essential to preventing potential explosions. Only consult with an experienced manufacturer that designs and builds systems to meet National Fire Protection Association standards.

Temperature Control Needs

Choosing a high-quality chiller is vital for work requiring precise temperature control. Reliable, custom-designed chiller systems offer this feature to prevent damage and ensure your equipment operates efficiently.

You may require a low-temperature chiller if your leaving temperature must remain below 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Choosing the correct chiller ensures your business operations continue smoothly without failure. Reputable manufacturers have the knowledge and technology to design and build quality low-temperature chiller systems, providing you with the necessary temperature control.

Cooling Fluid

Your cooling fluid can affect your chiller system, so don&#;t neglect this factor. Common cooling fluids are propylene glycol mix, Dynalene heat transfer fluids, water and specialized fluids. Your municipal water supply can contain contaminants that corrode chiller components.

While it&#;s always best to use a glycol-water mix, your cooling system may require additional filtration if you pull from a city water source. It&#;s also a good idea to consult with your manufacturer to determine if your operating temperatures can affect fluid viscosity.

Voltage

Some chillers may have voltages requiring specific electrical work. Determine what voltage your facility can support and how much electrical work your budget allows to decide which type of chiller you purchase. You should also talk to your manufacturer about which voltage options can support more efficient operation.

Cost

Cost is also a critical factor. Before purchasing a chiller, consider its upfront cost, operating costs, potential maintenance costs and expected life span. Air-cooled systems typically have a higher upfront cost and more installation work than water-cooled systems. Air-cooled systems also consume a significant amount of energy to power fans, but they can reduce operating costs because they lack the cooling tower that a water-cooled system requires.

Consider your daily usage. While a central chiller typically costs less than a portable chiller, a portable system may provide for your needs better than a central system if you need cooling for various purposes at different times.

A chiller&#;s return on investment depends on its life span. While one model may have a higher initial cost, it&#;s worthwhile to get a system with longevity. Comparing different models and designs can help you choose the system with the best financial benefits.

Why Work With Smart Family of Cooling Products?

Choosing a high-quality chiller is essential, and now you know how many factors influence your purchasing decision. Consulting with a reputable chiller manufacturer can help you navigate your options.

Smart Family of Cooling Products manufactures high-quality chillers and offers professional consultation to guide you through the purchasing process. We use our unique expertise to inform each client about available options and determine which systems can best meet their needs. When you work with Smart Family, you can discuss your specifications with a knowledgeable engineer who will help you make an informed decision.

Our experts focus on technical details such as application, sizing, location, cooling fluid, temperature control needs, voltage and safety features, equipping us with the information necessary to design and build effective systems.

As a leader in the cooling industry and one of the top chiller manufacturers in the USA, we have the experience necessary to manufacture chillers according to custom specifications. We are also one of the few manufacturers able to build explosion-proof and low-temperature systems according to strict codes and standards.

Find the Right Chiller With Smart Family of Cooling Products

Purchasing the chiller that meets your specifications allows you to cool your equipment while saving energy and money. Before committing to a product, always consider essential details and consult with a reputable manufacturer about your application.

Smart Family of Cooling Products can guide you through the purchasing process by focusing on your unique needs. We offer reliable, efficient chiller systems to provide your company&#;s equipment with the necessary cooling you can count on. Contact us to learn more about our wide range of commercial and industrial chillers.

 

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5 Tips to Reduce Costs in Process Cooling Systems

Refrigeration accounts for a high proportion of overall site energy costs, most notably cooling for pharmaceutical processes where up to 90% of energy costs can be accounted for by refrigeration. Ralph Howes, Cold Store Major Accounts Manager, ICS Cool Energy gives us 5 top tips for reducing costs process cooling systems in our latest EPM Online Insight.

1. Keep your chilled system maintained frequently

Industrial and process applications depend on process temperature control systems to keep their operations and businesses running. Equipment that is improperly maintained can fail to provide the required level of efficiency, shortening its lifespan and increasing operating costs.

Planned preventative maintenance carried out effectively by qualified engineers will give you the tools and support to keep the equipment in optimal shape, minimise the energy consumption and limit downtime. The frequency of this should align with how often the equipment is used and how critical it is to operations.

The expense of replacing parts that could have delivered a higher lifetime value, the time it takes to wait for the part and the subsequent multiple engineer call-outs, plus the cost to your business from downtime will far outweigh the cost of a preventative maintenance plan.

Outsourcing your chiller plant maintenance will help free up your internal resources, reduce your costs and keep your chiller performing at optimal conditions for longer.

With a service level tailored to your application and business needs, you can benefit from the assistance of an extensive team of qualified service technicians that provide 24/7, 365 emergency and planned support.

For your peace of mind, depend on technicians proficient in different makes and models of temperature control equipment and those that are also fully conversant with the current F-gas regulations safe handling of refrigerants, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) and Health and Safety Risk Assessment Regulations.

Learn more about chiller service and planned preventative maintenance.

2. Carry out water quality checks and treatment

Efficiency, longevity, and safe operation of closed-circuit process chillers is critical and should be top of mind for those who are responsible for them.

Water treatment is a fundamental part of a chiller&#;s operation and maintenance ensuring efficient and reliable operation. Your chilled system water needs to be treated with the correct dose of high-quality inhibited glycol to protect from freezing, bacteria build-up and corrosion.

Taking samples of your system water as part of your planned preventative maintenance program and carrying out pH tests will help you to determine the quality. If the water samples fall outside of the recommended pH level, a water treatment program can be followed to correct the problem. This could save you the cost of a breakdown and replacement of equipment and pipework.

Should your systems show signs of increased suspended solids, corrosion, or other debris, several devices can be used to remove such contamination. This includes strainers, filters, magnetic filters, dirt separators, combined air and dirt separators as well as commonly found side stream filtration.

A number of systems have side-stream filtration included at the design stage to safeguard some of these issues. Such equipment is simple easy to install and has a simple process of solids removal. Side stream filters are designed to constantly pass 5-15% of the circulating water through a filter housing resulting in the total system volume being filtered 2 to 3 times every 24 hours.

3. Upgrade your chiller to a high-efficiency and high-performance unit

The average lifespan of a chiller is dependent on how heavily it&#;s used and how well it is maintained. Manufacturing process chillers, for example, tend to be used much more heavily than chillers for comfort purposes.

As a guiding principle, if your chiller for process cooling is 8-10 years+, it is worth considering upgrading to the latest high-performance technologies such as the i-Chiller - designed with process applications in mind from the ground up.

This move can result in savings on your energy costs, maintenance costs and provide greater reassurance with a new 5-year warranty. The latest ICS temperature control solutions are available as part of the FLEX Membership, long-term exchange programme.

FLEX Membership subscription offering gives customers access to the latest equipment with the flexibility of an operating expense. As part of the flexible package customers receive the equipment, preventive and 24/7 emergency maintenance, replacements and upgrades for an all-inclusive monthly rate.

This allows them to transform their process temperature control system from a fixed asset into a dynamic solution that will be up-to-date with their changing business and process needs. FLEX is an all-inclusive service to remove risk and enables you to pay only for what you use.

4. Relocate your chiller plant externally and use a free cooling coil

As autumn and winter approach and the ambient temperature drops, preparing to capitalise on free cooling could save you up to 70% on your energy costs. As soon as the ambient temperature drops 1°C below your desired operating temperature, you can utilise partial free cooling to cool your process.

Free cooling is a concrete solution that will reduce mechanical energy consumption, lower the carbon footprint, reduce load on mechanical parts and therefore reduce maintenance cost and extend life of your cooling equipment.

You can read more about free cooling here.

5. Replace cooling towers

Cooling towers are expensive to run, maintain and waste a lot of water. To put this in monetary terms, for every £39k spent running a cooling tower, you would expect to spend £10k running an adiabatic cooler &#; providing a saving of around 75%.

And if the saving of money alone isn&#;t enough, you could seriously boost your environmental credentials too. Providing significant savings on water usage, they require significantly less maintenance and operational costs and no ongoing chemical treatment or registration with local authorities, while operating at optimal efficiency in high ambient temperatures.

For every 70 buckets of water used by a cooling tower, you would expect to use 1 with an adiabatic cooler &#; saving you 93% on your water costs and conserving a vital resource. Replacing your cooling towers will save you this cost annually and reduce your health and safety risks.

For more information, please visit process chiller manufacturers.