Heat balance
Demand from the load profile and simultaneity; water temperature taken from the process (7, 12 or 15 °C), not from the previous design.
INDUSTRIAL CHILLERS (CHILLED WATER UNITS) / DESIGN, INSTALLATION, SERVICE
Steady cooling.
Uninterrupted process.
We design, select and commission chilled water systems: from a 5 kW chiller at a single machine to plant rooms with several units of several hundred kW each, a buffer tank and free cooling. Selection starts from a heat balance, not from the sum of nameplate ratings. After commissioning we take the installation over for service, including leak checks.
Send an enquiry- Design parameter
- 12/7 °C, ΔT 5 K
- Capacity from flow
- 1.163 kW/(m³/h·K) → 5.8 kW per 1 m³/h
- Gain from the parameter
- +2–3% efficiency for every 1 K higher evaporating temperature
- Refrigerant GWP
- R410A 2088 · R32 675
- Leak checks
- 5 / 50 / 500 t CO₂e → every 12 / 6 / 3 months
- Refrigerant decision horizon
- 15–20 years of operation
CLIMA LINE / CHILLERS ON THE PLANT ROOFSee the project
THE SOLUTION STARTS WITH THE PROCESS
Capacity comes from flow and ΔT, not nameplates.
For water, 1 m³/h at ΔT 5 K carries about 5.8 kW. This relationship ties the chiller, pumps, pipework and controls into one system, and an error in one element shows up in the energy bill of the others.
Cooling source
Air-cooled chiller up to several hundred kW, or water-cooled with a cooling tower; scroll, screw or centrifugal compressors; comparison by ESEER/SEPR, not by EER.
Hydraulics
Single or dual pump circuit, a buffer tank of a few l/kW, manifold, expansion vessel; glycol with its effect on flow and pressure drop calculated.
Controls and service
Sequence control, BMS integration, equipment records and leak checks every 12, 6 or 3 months depending on the charge in t CO₂e.
REQUIREMENT → PARAMETER → DELIVERY → PROOF
Parameters,
not promises.
Every requirement has a parameter, a delivery method and proof that can be checked after commissioning.
| Requirement | Parameter | How we deliver | How we prove it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Constant water temperature at the process consumer | ±0.5 K under variable load | Dual pump circuit with a buffer tank or hydraulic separator; compressor capacity control instead of cycling | Supply and return temperature log in the controller; commissioning report with ΔT measurement |
| Cooling capacity in line with the balance | ΔT 5 K at 12/7 °C, i.e. 5.8 kW per 1 m³/h | Hydraulic balancing, control valves at every consumer, no bypass mixing supply with return | Measurement of the actual return ΔT and of the flow through the evaporator |
| Capacity maintained in hot weather | Condenser selected for 35 °C air, not 30 °C | Air-cooled chiller with a capacity reserve at the design temperature; condenser cleaning at every inspection | Manufacturer’s selection sheet for 35 °C; condensing pressure in the inspection report |
| Compliance with F-gas obligations | Charge in kg × GWP / 1000 → threshold of 5, 50 or 500 t CO₂e | Lower GWP refrigerant (R32 at 675 instead of R410A at 2088) or a fixed leak detection system, which doubles the check interval | Equipment record, leak check reports, entry in the Central Register of Operators (CRO) |
| Freeze-resistant external circuit | Glycol freezing point below the winter design temperature | Pumps selected for the solution, not for plain water; concentration and inhibitor checks at every inspection | Concentration and freezing point measurement in the inspection report |
How do you size a chilled water unit?
Chiller capacity comes from the heat balance, not from the sum of the machines’ rated powers. Consumers do not all run at full load at the same time, and part of the electrical power does not turn into heat taken up by the water; the sum of nameplates gives an oversized unit that cycles and shortens compressor life. Chillers of 5, 10, 12 or 20 kW serve single injection moulding machines, lasers and spindles; the balance of a hall or line starts at several tens of kW.
The capacity of a water system is flow times temperature difference: 1.163 kW for every m³/h and every kelvin, so at 12/7 °C (ΔT 5 K) 1 m³/h of water carries about 5.8 kW. An installation running at ΔT 2 K instead of 5 K needs 2.5 times the flow for the same capacity, and pump consumption rises by the same factor. A low return ΔT points to fouled heat exchangers, valves passing excess flow or a bypass mixing supply with return. Our audit starts by measuring it.
For selection we need five inputs: supply temperature (the same unit has clearly higher capacity at 15 °C than at 6 °C), the load profile over time, the parameter tolerance (a ±0.5 K process needs different control than ±3 K), installation conditions (space for the unit, air access to the condenser, noise at the site boundary, grid connection capacity) and whether a cooling outage stops production. That decides redundancy: two smaller units instead of one.
Air-cooled or water-cooled chiller, and which compressor?
An air-cooled chiller is the industrial standard up to several hundred kW: it runs once water and power are connected, with no cooling tower. The price is a loss of capacity in hot weather: a unit selected for 35 °C air holds a capacity that a unit selected for 30 °C will not, and the difference can exceed ten percent. A water-cooled chiller has a lower condensing temperature and higher efficiency all year round; the price is a circuit with a cooling tower or dry cooler, water treatment and Legionella risk control, so it pays off when the unit runs for most of the year.
Scroll compressors dominate small and medium units because they are quiet, cheap to service and control capacity by switching successive circuits; screw compressors are used from several hundred kW, with stepless control and better part-load operation; centrifugal compressors, including magnetic bearing designs, at the highest capacities and where part-load efficiency is the priority. We compare offers by ESEER (comfort) and SEPR (process), not by EER at the nominal point, because an industrial chiller runs at full load for a negligible part of the year, and two units with identical EER can differ in annual energy consumption by more than ten percent.
Which water temperature and free cooling will cut the electricity bill?
Every kelvin of higher evaporating temperature improves chiller efficiency by about 2–3%. The 7/12 °C standard comes from air dehumidification in comfort air conditioning, not from the process; moving from 6 °C to 12 °C cuts power consumption by more than ten percent at the same cooling capacity. Installations often run at 7 °C inherited from a previous design, while the machines need 15 °C. In that case the upgrade means retuning setpoints and replacing a few heat exchangers, not the chiller. Upgrades of existing systems also cover chiller replacement, adding free cooling or a buffer tank, and refrigerant replacement.
Free cooling rejects heat from the water to outdoor air, bypassing the compressors, whenever the air is colder than the return water: in Poland fully in winter, partly in autumn and spring. The best case is a process running 24 hours a day all year on 15 °C water; the worst is summer-only operation at 6 °C, where the module will never pay back. A separate dry cooler connected into the circuit is cheaper in a retrofit than an integrated module.
Why a buffer tank, what does glycol change and which refrigerant should you choose?
A buffer tank increases the water volume of the system and stops cycling: a high-capacity unit on an installation with little water content switches on and off every few minutes. The rule of thumb is a few litres of volume per kilowatt of cooling capacity, many times more with highly dynamic loads; the manufacturer’s value is binding. Glycol protects against freezing, but lowers capacity by a few percent and noticeably raises pressure drop, so pumps selected for plain water will not reach their duty point. A solution diluted by water top-ups stops protecting against freezing and risks a frozen evaporator in winter operation, while aged glycol loses its anti-corrosion properties. This is one of the more common causes of heat exchanger leaks after winter. That is why we check concentration and freezing point at every inspection.
Refrigerant choice is a decision for 15–20 years of operation: EU F-gas quotas are being cut, so high-GWP refrigerants are getting more expensive. A unit on R410A (GWP 2088) and an identical one on R32 (GWP 675) have the same capacity and a different cost profile. The charge in CO₂ equivalent (kg × GWP / 1000) sets the leak checks: 5–50 t CO₂e every 12 months, 50–500 t CO₂e every 6 months, above 500 t CO₂e every 3 months with a mandatory fixed leak detection system. Such a system installed on the equipment doubles the check intervals. We keep equipment records and entries in the Central Register of Operators as part of the service contract.
FROM BRIEF TO COMMISSIONING
A coherent design.
Clear next steps.
- 01
Balance and concept
Measurement of the actual ΔT and load profile, choice of water temperature, system options with pricing and running costs.
- 02
Design and installation
Plant room design, pumps, buffer tank, valves, controls with BMS integration; installation with pressure testing and flushing.
- 03
Commissioning and service
Hydraulic balancing, ΔT and capacity measurement, report with parameters; inspections and leak checks under an SLA contract.
BEFORE WE START
Good to
know.
RELATED SOLUTIONS AND PROJECTS
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