Chiller System Design & Consulting

You are building, planning, upgrading or redesigning your plant and you need industrial refrigeration at its best. This is the best time to get expert advice through consultation on the correct equipment and processes tailored to your needs.

Getting the balance right; the equipment and its management components - all critical if you are to stay within budget but more importantly attaining your temperature goals and objectives. This is the phase that matters the most and you are in the right hands.

Economics and a green footprint need to be factored in. Cost of ownership is as important as effective results. Your plant requires consistency, low-maintenance, high-output performance to make it viable.

Planning on the board for the best space design, layout and flowlines, to maximise efficiency and longevity is an executive decision. Call in the experience and expertise to add to your knowledge base, thereby bolstering your opportunity for greater ROI.

Chiller System Design

HVAC systems typically consume around 70% of a base building’s energy usage, with 25-35% of energy consumed by chillers producing chilled water for air-conditioning. Therefore, the efficiency of chillers and the optimisation of their performance within the HVAC systems they operate are important in achieving high performance.

Most chillers work on the vapour compression cycle, where a compressor circulates refrigerant through heat exchangers to produce chilled water, and a condenser where heat is rejected.

Chillers can be air or water cooled, depending how the heat is rejected. Water cooled chillers are more compact, less noisy, have longer operating lives and are more energy efficient than air cooled chillers.

As a general guide, chillers older than 15 years, typically contain ozone depleting refrigerants and are best replaced with more efficient modern units which use refrigerants with zero ozone depleting potential and lower global warming potential.

When it comes to the design of your chiller system, then careful attention needs to be paid to Cost of Ownership, efficiency, green footprint and brand selection - for support and servicing - parts and spares. Designing the ultimate chiller system for your plant is the goal, and this is where our expertise, experience, design software and in-depth knowledge of the different brands, options and the local market comes into play.

Increasing Chiller Plant Efficiency

Once the cooling system has been designed, we then seek to optimize the system by adding CAREL programmable controls - for ultimate chiller efficiency, lifespan and ROI. Making sure that loads and capacities are correctly spread, our calculations must make sense.

Clean power to the chiller is also to be factored into the efficiency calculations as this plays an important role. Part of the chiller equipment that is to be recommended would be a UPS system.

Chiller plant efficiency calculations are vital to increasing energy from the outset as this factors strongly in the design aspect.

When engineers and controls specialists focus on improving chiller efficiency, it is often at the detriment of the energy consumption of associated equipment such as cooling towers, air distribution fans, chilled water and condenser water pumps. Sometimes the net result is an increase in total energy consumption. It is important that a more holistic systems type approach is used when looking to improve chiller efficiency.

The cooling efficiency of a chiller is expressed as its coefficient of performance (COP) or energy efficiency ratio (EER) which is the refrigeration capacity at full load (in watts)/electrical input power (in watts). Chiller efficiency has steadily increased mainly due to improvements in compressor and heat exchanger technology, along with better controls.

Strategic refrigerant management is one of the most effective tools managers have to improve chiller efficiency. In fact, refrigerant management is a time-tested strategy that ensures equipment operates at its maximum efficiency. During operation, chillers develop small leaks in their sealed refrigerant systems.

Chiller Performance Management

Through the integration of the CAREL programmable controls we get the ideal Chiller Performance Management. This means that from the outset your cooling system runs and performs optimally, which adds to the ROI and lifespan of your equipment.

Having the right equipment, that you can scale up and into in the future, operating and being managed to get the best out of your system is the smart decision.

Focusing on the correct criteria sees the company invest in the right areas and the choices made now will reflect favourably in the future. Incorrect decisions can cost the company dearly up the line - not only in down time but in equipment upgrading too. Factoring in space management, equipment size and ability, running costs, temperature controls and management accuracy, plant expansion, ambient temperatures, global warming (rise in ambient temperatures in the future), installation and maintenance costs. Are they in the equation too?

The Importance of Getting a Tailored Design

Factoring in all the aspects for the forthcoming 10 – 15 years your equipment needs to serve you makes the design, selection of equipment and support company all the more important. In todays’ economy things are tight and the shareholders more demanding. Responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of management to perform. Now is the most important time – at design and planning – to get things right.

Have you Got Your Balance Right?

Getting the balance between efficiency and economics can be delicate. This is what makes the planning stages so important. At planning and design all aspects come into play. We look into the future - factoring in climate change, economics, cost of ownership, BMS, computerized controls (efficiency), expansion allowance, ROI, management and maintenance - and from these factors design the most ideal system for your exact needs. It doesn’t get better than that.

Experienced Advice

Take advantage of our experience and expertise in the field of air conditioning, chillers, and regrigeration. As a company that remanufactures compressors adn chillers, we understand what it takes to obtain optimum efficiency in your plant, have the knowledge and skill set to create the ideal, tailored solution that you can grow into, making your ROI (Return on Investment) a true investment in equipment.

Along with having the right system you have our support every step of the way. So going forward your journey to keeping your plant ideally chilled is walked with a competent partner.

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