A water chiller removes heat from water and returns it to the process at a controlled temperature. It is one of the most useful pieces of equipment in a factory, because chilled water can be piped to many machines and points of use from a single central plant. Herambh Coolingz manufactures water chillers for Indian industry from Aurangabad, Maharashtra.
Chilled water is a clean, safe and easily controlled cooling medium. Whether the duty is cooling a mould, a welding torch, a laser or a chemical reaction, a well-sized water chiller keeps the process stable and protects the equipment doing the work.
What a Water Chiller Does
The chiller circulates water through a closed circuit, absorbs heat from the process, and rejects that heat to a condenser. A refrigeration compressor, evaporator, condenser and expansion device form the loop, while a pump moves the chilled water to and from the load.
A controller watches the leaving water temperature and regulates compressor output to hold the set point. That steady supply of cold water is what makes the cooling reliable, whatever the load is doing moment to moment.
Water Cooled and Air Cooled Chillers
A water cooled chiller rejects heat to a secondary water circuit, usually through a cooling tower. It is compact, quiet and efficient where a tower is available. An air cooled chiller rejects heat directly to the atmosphere through finned coils and needs no condenser water at all.
Where water is scarce or a tower is not practical, the air cooled type is the natural choice. Where space is tight and tower water is available, water cooled units often give a lower running cost.
Process Cooling Applications
Plastic injection moulding uses chilled water to set parts quickly and to control warpage. Blow moulding, extrusion and thermoforming all benefit from steady mould temperatures. Heat treatment furnaces cool quench oil through water chillers, and printing, laminating and coating lines use chilled rolls to set inks and adhesives.
Other duties include cooling welding and induction heating equipment, chillers for laser cutting, and central chilled water for laboratories, clean rooms and food processing lines.
Components and Construction
A chiller brings together a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, an expansion device, a circulation pump, a reservoir and a control panel in one packaged unit. Piping is laid out for straightforward service access, and insulation limits condensation on cold surfaces.
Safety devices include high and low pressure cut-outs, over-current protection, flow interlocks and low temperature protection so the unit shuts down safely if something in the process changes.
Selecting a Water Chiller
Sizing starts with the cooling load in kilowatts or tonnes of refrigeration, the required chilled water temperature and flow, and the ambient or condenser water conditions. Allowance is made for piping losses and for the heat the pump itself adds to the circuit.
Because duties vary widely, Herambh Coolingz builds water chillers to suit the process rather than forcing the process to suit a standard box. Capacity, temperature range and controls are matched to the line being served.
Installation, Operation and Service
Installation needs adequate air or water flow to the condenser, a firm level base and correctly sized piping to the load. Commissioning confirms water flow, set points and safety interlocks before the plant is handed over.
Routine service covers condenser cleaning, refrigerant charge checks, filter and strainer cleaning and control verification. Keeping the condenser clean is the single biggest thing an operator can do to preserve chiller efficiency and capacity over the years.
Customised and Special Duties
Some processes need very low chilled water temperatures, others need a wide flow range or a corrosion-resistant wetted path. Chillers can be built with the heat exchanger material, insulation and control scheme matched to those conditions instead of being ordered as a fixed model.
Where several machines share one chiller, the unit is sized on coincident load rather than the sum of individual peaks, which avoids an oversized plant and wasted energy. Branch piping, valves and flow balancing then deliver the right share to each point of use.
- Injection moulding and plastics process cooling
- Heat treatment quench oil cooling
- Printing, coating and laminating rolls
- Welding, induction and laser equipment cooling
- Central chilled water for plants and laboratories
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Cooling medium | Chilled water in a closed circuit |
| Condenser | Air cooled or water cooled, as site allows |
| Main parts | Compressor, evaporator, condenser, expansion device, pump |
| Control | Leaving water temperature held at set point |
| Safety | High/low pressure, over-current, flow and low-temperature cut-outs |
| Build | Packaged unit, customised capacity and controls |
Share your cooling load, required water temperature and site conditions with Herambh Coolingz and we will match a water chiller to your process.