What is an Industrial Chiller?
- Industrial chillers are classified as refrigeration system that cools a process fluid or dehumidifies air in commercial and industrial facilities. A chiller will use either a vapor compression or absorption cycle to cool. Chilled water has a variety of applications from space cooling to process uses.
Types of Industrial Chillers:
- A chiller is rated between one to 1000 tons of cooling energy.
- There are three different types of chillers:
- air, water, and evaporative condensed chiller.
There are four subcategories in each of the above categories for industrial chillers:
- reciprocating,
- centrifugal,
- screw driven
- and absorption chillers.
The first three types are mechanical chillers which are powered by electric motors, steam, or gas turbines. An absorption chiller is powered by a heat source such as steam and uses no moving parts.
Components of an Industrial Chiller:
The mechanical compression cycle has four basic components through which the refrigerant passes:
- the evaporator
- the compressor
- the condenser
- the expansion valve
The evaporator in the chiller will operate at a lower pressure and lower temperature than the condenser.
