A process chiller removes heat from an industrial process by circulating chilled water or a water/glycol mixture through a cooling loop that serves reactors, jacketed tanks, heat exchangers, condensers, and production equipment. Paul Industries sizes, installs, and ties process chillers into new or existing process cooling loops across the United States, and pairs every installation with a preventive-maintenance contract so the cooling that protects your production also protects your uptime. We bring more than 30 years of cGMP/FDA-compliant process-equipment experience to each project.
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How a process chiller works
A process chiller uses a vapor-compression refrigeration circuit — compressor, condenser, expansion device, and evaporator — to pull heat out of a circulating fluid. That fluid, typically water or a water/glycol mixture, is pumped through an insulated cooling loop to the points of use, absorbs process heat at reactor jackets, exchangers, or condensers, and returns warmer to the chiller’s evaporator to be cooled again. Maintaining a stable supply temperature and adequate flow at every point of use is what keeps reaction temperatures, product quality, and equipment within their operating windows.
The chiller rejects the heat it collects either to the surrounding air (air-cooled) or to a separate condenser-water circuit served by a cooling tower (water-cooled). The rest of the system — loop piping, a pump package, a buffer or storage tank, an expansion device, glycol for freeze protection, and a controls package — is what turns a chiller into a reliable process-cooling utility. Paul Industries engineers the whole loop, not just the box, so supply temperature holds under real production load.
Motor chiller arrangements and water box options
Two details on a large chiller submittal change how it is installed and serviced for its whole life: how the compressor motor is cooled, and how the heat exchanger heads open.
| Item | Hermetic motor chiller | Open motor chiller |
|---|---|---|
| Motor location | Sealed inside the refrigerant circuit | Outside the casing, driving through a coupling and shaft seal |
| Where motor heat goes | Into the refrigerant and out through the condenser | Into the mechanical room, so ventilation has to remove it |
| After a motor failure | The refrigerant circuit is contaminated and needs cleanup | The motor can be changed without opening the circuit |
| Routine attention | No shaft seal or coupling alignment | Shaft seal and coupling alignment checks |
On a marine water box chiller, the pipe connects to the side of the box, so the cover comes off for tube cleaning with the piping left in place. On a compact box the nozzle is part of the cover, so the pipe has to be unbolted first, and the layout needs removable spools or couplings at each connection. Check the water box pressure rating against static head on a tall building as well, because a machine low in a high-rise can see far more than its pump head. Paul lays out those clearances and spools during design, which keeps later chiller repair work from turning into a piping job.
Air-cooled vs. water-cooled chillers
The first design decision is how the chiller rejects heat. Air-cooled units are self-contained and simpler to install; water-cooled units are more efficient at scale but require a cooling tower and condenser-water system. The right choice depends on capacity, available space, water and utility costs, and site conditions.
| Air-cooled | Water-cooled | |
|---|---|---|
| Heat rejection | To ambient air via integral condenser fans | To condenser water served by a cooling tower |
| Installation | Self-contained; often outdoor/rooftop | Needs cooling tower, condenser pumps & piping |
| Efficiency | Good; drops on hot days | Higher, especially at larger capacities |
| Footprint & water use | Larger air footprint; little/no process water | Compact chiller; uses tower make-up water |
| Best fit | Small–mid loads, limited water, simpler sites | Larger loads, central plants, year-round duty |
Commercial water chillers by size
A commercial water chiller is a packaged refrigeration machine that cools water for building coils, process equipment or both, and its capacity largely sets the compressor type, water flow, electrical service and rigging plan.
| Capacity | Heat removed | Flow at a 10 degree F rise | Usual compressor | Usual setting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 tons | 120,000 Btu/h (35 kW) | 24 gpm | Scroll | Beside one machine or in a small mechanical space |
| 100 tons | 1.2 million Btu/h (352 kW) | 240 gpm | Scroll or screw | Pad, roof or mechanical room |
| 500 tons | 6 million Btu/h (1,759 kW) | 1,200 gpm | Screw or centrifugal | Mechanical room or large pad |
| 5,000 tons | 60 million Btu/h (17,585 kW) | 12,000 gpm | Centrifugal | Dedicated central plant |
A 10 ton water chiller is often a single-machine package with its own pump and tank, and it can usually be set without a crane. Commercial water chillers in the hundreds of tons bring in structural checks, dedicated electrical feeds and a piped distribution loop. A large water chiller above 1,000 tons is normally water-cooled and takes a planned rigging path through the building.
A 5000 ton chiller sits near the top of catalogued water-cooled centrifugal ranges and is built to order, usually at medium voltage, with a condenser flow near 15,000 gpm at 3 gpm per ton. Lead time, floor loading, tube pull space and the temporary cooling plan all need settling before the machine is purchased. Several smaller water chiller units in parallel are the usual alternative, since they give better turndown and let one machine stop for service. Paul sets and pipes all of these sizes, and machinery moving crews handle the rigging under the same contract.
Liquid chiller and water to water chiller: what the terms mean
A liquid chiller cools any circulating fluid, such as water, a glycol mix or a heat transfer oil, for use elsewhere in the plant. A water to water chiller takes heat from one water circuit and rejects it to another, so it has no condenser fans and needs a tower, dry cooler or other heat sink on its condenser side. Heat recovery duty is a common reason to choose one, because the warm condenser water can feed a process or a preheat load.
Rooftop chiller units
Rooftop chiller units are air-cooled packages set on structural steel or curbs, so roof capacity, vibration isolation and crane access usually decide the installation. Allow clear air on every side so discharge air does not recirculate into the coils, which raises head pressure on the hottest days. Winter service calls for glycol or drained outdoor sections, along with heat tracing and insulation on exposed pipe. Paul plans the crane pick, the roof penetrations and the piping together.
Sizing a process chiller
Correct sizing is the difference between stable production and a chiller that short-cycles or can’t hold temperature. Undersizing starves the process on hot days; oversizing wastes energy and causes short-cycling that shortens compressor life. We calculate the real cooling load from the process, then apply the site and fluid factors below.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Process heat load | The actual kW/BTU the process rejects sets the base capacity. |
| Supply temperature | Lower setpoints reduce a chiller’s effective capacity and may require glycol. |
| Flow rate & ΔT | Required GPM and temperature rise size the pump, piping, and evaporator. |
| Fluid type | Water/glycol mixtures lower freeze point but reduce heat-transfer capacity. |
| Ambient/site conditions | Peak summer air temperature derates air-cooled capacity. |
| Load profile | Steady vs. batch peaks drives buffer-tank volume and staging. |
Industrial process chillers for pharma & biotech
An industrial process chiller is a packaged refrigeration system that removes heat from production equipment rather than from building air conditioning. In pharmaceutical, biotech, and life-science plants, an industrial process chiller holds precise, stable temperatures on jacketed reactors and fermenters, condensers and receivers, tablet-coating and granulation equipment, WFI and clean-steam condensate cooling, and analytical or utility loads. Because temperature is frequently a process-critical parameter, an industrial process chiller is selected for control stability and reliability, not just peak tonnage — a chiller that hits its setpoint but hunts by several degrees can put a batch out of spec.
Industrial process chillers come in air-cooled and water-cooled configurations, and as central plants serving many loads or as dedicated units at a single machine. Air-cooled industrial chillers are self-contained and simpler to install; water-cooled units paired with a cooling tower are more efficient at larger tonnages and reject heat outside the space. Many life-science loads also need a water/glycol mixture for low-temperature or freeze-protected service. We help you weigh capacity, redundancy, footprint, and utility cost, then size the industrial process chiller and its pumps, buffer tank, and distribution so the loop delivers stable temperature at every point of use.
Our process chiller services
Paul Industries delivers process cooling as a single-source scope, so one team is accountable from the load calculation to a running, maintained loop:
- Load analysis & sizing — process heat-load calculation, setpoint and ΔT review, and fluid selection.
- Chiller selection — air-cooled or water-cooled, central or portable, matched to load profile and site.
- Cooling-loop piping — supply/return piping, pump packages, buffer tanks, and tie-ins to existing equipment, built to ASME B31.3.
- Glycol & low-temp loops — freeze-protected and low-temperature loops with correct glycol concentration and derated sizing.
- Controls & monitoring — temperature and flow control, staging, alarms, and data logging for cGMP records.
- Redundancy & TES — N+1 chiller staging, backup cooling, and thermal energy storage where uptime is critical.
- Preventive maintenance — scheduled service and contracts that keep the cooling system reliable and protect production uptime.
Industries we serve
We install and maintain process chillers for pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturing (reactor and jacketed-vessel cooling, condenser and process-water loops), cosmetic and personal-care blending and filling, nutraceutical production, and food & beverage plants, as well as general industrial process cooling. Each has different setpoints, cleanliness, and documentation needs, and pharmaceutical cooling in particular must fit within a validated, cGMP-controlled environment — which shapes how we design the loop and its controls.
Standards & compliance
- ASHRAE
- Industry guidance for refrigeration, chilled-water systems, and energy performance that informs equipment selection, loop design, and efficiency of the cooling system.
- ASME B31.3 (Process Piping)
- The pressure-piping code governing safe design, materials, and installation of the chilled-water and glycol piping that carries process cooling media.
- cGMP / 21 CFR 211
- For pharmaceutical cooling, FDA current Good Manufacturing Practice requires that process utilities affecting product be controlled, monitored, and documented — so a pharma chiller loop is a qualified utility, not just plumbing.
- Refrigerant & efficiency regulations
- Modern chillers use lower-GWP refrigerants and must meet current energy-efficiency rules; we account for refrigerant type and efficiency in selection so the system stays compliant and economical to run.
How to compare chiller brands and air cooled chiller manufacturers
Compare chiller brands on certified performance at your own design conditions, part-load efficiency, refrigerant, controls and parts support, because nameplate tons alone say little about how a machine will run.
| Comparison point | What to ask for |
|---|---|
| Rated performance | An AHRI 550/590 certified selection, rerun at the site design temperature and fluid |
| Part-load efficiency | Efficiency at the loads the plant will actually see, including minimum stable load |
| Refrigerant | Type, charge and regulatory outlook over the expected service life |
| Controls | Native connection to the building or plant system, and which points are published |
| Service | Parts lead times, local stock and how long the model family will be supported |
| Sound | Rated levels at the property line or nearest occupied space |
Air cooled chiller manufacturers commonly publish ratings at 95 degrees F ambient and 44 degrees F leaving water, so a site with a higher design temperature or a glycol loop needs its own selection before prices are compared. Paul runs that comparison across makers, supplies the machine that fits and installs it, so the selection stays tied to the loop it has to serve.
Why Paul Industries
A process chiller is only as reliable as the loop and controls around it. Because the sizing, piping fabrication, installation, controls tie-in, and ongoing maintenance all stay with Paul Industries, one team owns the cooling from the load calculation to the last point of use — no gaps between the equipment supplier, the pipefitter, and the service company. With more than three decades building process systems across the United States, we design in redundancy and drainability from the start and back the installation with a preventive-maintenance contract, because unplanned cooling downtime is what stops production. We provide capability statements, equipment and piping documentation on request, while keeping client project details confidential.
Standards referenced: ASME B31.3 · 21 CFR 211 · ASME BPE
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What to require in a chiller and cooling-loop handover package
A chiller is accepted on measured performance at the points of use, not on a nameplate rating. Put the following in the purchase order so the evidence exists before the crew leaves site.
- Witness a capacity test at the design condition and again at reduced load, recording entering and leaving fluid temperature, flow and compressor stage, so part-load behavior is known before the first hot week of the year.
- Record approach temperature at commissioning and keep it as the baseline. A drifting approach is the earliest signal of a fouling condenser or a low charge.
- Measure glycol concentration with a refractometer at the loop rather than reading the drum label, and state the freeze point and the derated capacity that concentration produces.
- Prove flow and supply temperature at every point of use with the largest consumers open at the same time, since a loop that holds setpoint at one jacket can starve another.
- Get the buffer volume and the resulting minimum compressor cycle time stated in writing, with the calculation behind it, so short cycling is designed out instead of discovered in service.
- Require a refrigerant record naming the charge weight, the refrigerant type and its current regulatory status, plus the leak test result and the method used to obtain it.
- Verify the alarm and interlock schedule by forcing each condition: low loop flow, high supply temperature, freeze protection, pump failure and phase loss. A list on a drawing is not a test.
- Confirm the controls publish the tags your quality system has to log, at the interval it needs them, with loop temperature sensors checked against a certified reference before and after any adjustment.
- Inspect insulation and vapor barrier continuity on every chilled surface, valve bodies and pipe supports included, because condensation on a bare fitting becomes a hygiene observation in a classified space.
- Collect the pressure test record for the loop piping to ASME B31.3, the electrical terminations, and a named spares list with lead times, before the warranty clock starts.
Two of these carry the most weight in a regulated plant: the calibrated temperature record at the process, and the forced alarm test. Those are the documents asked for when a batch temperature excursion is traced back to the utility that caused it.
Industrial chiller repair, service and replacement
Industrial chiller repair restores a chiller that has lost capacity, tripped or started leaking; chiller replacement swaps out a machine that is no longer worth repairing, along with the piping, controls and supports around it. Paul Industries handles both on process and utility chillers, plus the installation, testing and maintenance that keep a new machine from failing early.
Chiller repair service: what we fix
A chiller repair service call starts at the process and works inward: is the load higher than the design, is flow right, are the heat exchangers clean, and only then is the refrigeration circuit faulty. That order matters, because many “chiller” problems are pump, strainer, glycol or control problems. Our industrial chiller service covers the whole loop as well as the machine.
| Symptom | Common causes | Typical repair |
|---|---|---|
| Will not reach setpoint | Fouled evaporator or condenser, low refrigerant charge, low flow, wrong glycol mix | Clean tubes, find and fix the leak, rebalance flow, correct the mix |
| High head pressure trips | Dirty condenser coil or tubes, failed condenser fan, tower water too warm | Coil or tube cleaning, fan motor repair, tower and water treatment checks |
| Low pressure or freeze trips | Low flow through the evaporator, low charge, failed sensor | Strainer and pump checks, leak repair, sensor replacement |
| Compressor noise, high amps or failure | Liquid floodback, oil loss, worn bearings, electrical faults | Chiller compressor repair or replacement, oil and acid test, root-cause fix |
| Water or glycol in the refrigerant, or refrigerant in the water | Tube failure in a shell and tube heat exchanger | Tube plugging or chiller tube replacement, then dehydration and recharge |
Chiller leak repair has to find the leak, not just add refrigerant, because a recharge without a repair repeats in weeks and may breach refrigerant leak-rate rules for larger systems. For an industrial water chiller repair involving a failed evaporator or condenser tube, tubes are eddy current tested and failed tubes plugged within the manufacturer’s limit or replaced. Chiller compressor repair includes an oil and acid test, because a burnout leaves acid in the circuit that will destroy a new compressor unless it is cleaned out.
Industrial chiller maintenance
Industrial chiller maintenance is cheaper than any repair on this page. The essentials are clean heat transfer surfaces, correct flow, a tight refrigerant circuit, treated water and logged readings that show drift before it becomes a trip. Approach temperatures that creep upward are the earliest warning of fouling. Our preventive maintenance page covers scheduled programs.
Chiller replacement: when to replace instead of repair
How long do industrial chillers last? Commonly cited ASHRAE service-life figures put packaged chillers at a median of roughly 20 to 23 years, and a well-maintained machine on clean water can run longer. So how often do chillers need to be replaced? Not on a fixed schedule. Industrial chiller replacement makes sense when one or more of these is true:
- A major failure, such as a compressor or heat exchanger, costs a large share of a new machine on an old one.
- The refrigerant is being phased down and is getting expensive and harder to source.
- Measured efficiency has fallen far enough that the energy penalty funds much of a new unit over a few years.
- The process load has grown or changed temperature and the chiller no longer fits it.
- Parts and controls support from the manufacturer has ended.
Chiller replacement cost depends less on the machine than on the work around it: rigging access, removal and refrigerant recovery, new piping and valves, electrical and controls, temporary cooling during the changeover, and startup. A clear chiller replacement scope of work lists each of those, says who supplies temporary cooling and for how long, and defines the acceptance test. That avoids the most common change orders.
Chiller installation procedure and checklist
How long does it take to install a chiller? A like-for-like swap of a packaged air-cooled unit can be done over a short planned shutdown when the pad, power and piping are ready. A large water-cooled machine in a mechanical room, with new piping and controls, takes weeks of preparation and a longer cutover. Our chiller installation procedure follows the same order every time: confirm the pad or supports, rig and set the unit level, install isolation and piping with proper support so no weight bears on the chiller nozzles, connect electrical and controls, pressure test and flush the loop, fill with the right fluid, then start up with the manufacturer and record performance.
The chiller installation checklist we close out before handover includes vibration isolation and clearances for service access, strainers and flow verification, glycol concentration test, refrigerant charge and leak check, safety and alarm tests, and a baseline log of approach temperatures and amps. That baseline is what the next technician compares against.
Frequently asked questions
What is a process chiller?
What is the difference between air-cooled and water-cooled chillers?
Why do process chillers use glycol?
What is a chiller’s approach temperature?
What causes a process chiller to lose cooling capacity?
What temperature can a process chiller reach?
What is the difference between a chiller and a cooling tower?
How is a process chiller installed?
Do you need a buffer tank with a process chiller?
What maintenance do process chillers require?
What is the difference between a chiller and a heat exchanger?
Can one chiller serve multiple pieces of equipment?
What refrigerants do modern process chillers use?
Mostly hydrofluoroolefins and lower-global-warming blends now, as the phase-down of high-GWP hydrofluorocarbons progresses under the AIM Act in the United States. The consequence for a buyer is commercial rather than environmental: a chiller bought today on a refrigerant being phased down faces rising service gas costs and eventual scarcity across a fifteen to twenty year life. Ask what the unit is charged with and what the supplier expects availability to be in ten years.
Do you install process chillers nationwide?
How do I choose the right process chiller?
Start from the heat load and the required supply temperature, not from a tonnage figure. Establish the load profile, particularly how much of the time the plant runs at part load, since chillers sized on peak alone spend most of their life short cycling. Then decide air-cooled against water-cooled: air-cooled is simpler with no tower or water treatment but loses efficiency exactly when ambient is hottest; water-cooled is more efficient at larger capacities but brings tower maintenance and legionella management.
What is an industrial process chiller?
Should I choose an air-cooled or water-cooled chiller?
How do you size a process chiller?
Do you offer maintenance contracts?
Can you add redundancy or backup cooling?
Do you handle glycol and low-temperature loops?
Which states do you serve?
Every state, as scheduled installation work. Chillers are a full-scope area for us: we set, pipe, connect and commission them within a process utility scope, and we provide ongoing refrigeration service with same-day emergency response. Setting up a Paul Industries service agreement at handover rather than at first breakdown is the practical advice.
What is the difference between chiller repair and chiller replacement?
Can a chiller be replaced without stopping production?
What causes a chiller compressor to fail?
Get a process chiller quote
Tell us about your process load, required supply temperature, and site — a Paul Industries engineer will follow up to discuss sizing, configuration, and a maintenance plan.
Request a Project Quote or call 201-450-8280How much does a process chiller cost per ton of cooling?
Installed cost typically runs $1,300 to $3,100 per ton for an air-cooled packaged unit and $1,000 to $2,400 per ton for water-cooled, before piping and controls, with sanitary or process-critical applications at the upper end. A 100 ton installation therefore commonly lands between $130,000 and $310,000 installed. The figure that matters far more over a plant life is energy: a 100 ton chiller running continuously consumes roughly $55,000 to $130,000 per year in electricity depending on regional rates and efficiency, so ten year energy cost typically exceeds installed cost by several times. That is why efficiency, variable speed drives and correct sizing pay back faster than any negotiation on first cost.
How often should a process chiller be serviced?
Quarterly inspection and annual comprehensive service is the practical baseline, with condition rather than calendar driving the detail. Quarterly: check refrigerant charge and superheat, condenser and evaporator approach temperatures against commissioning baselines, water treatment condition, and strainer and filter status. Annually: clean condenser tubes, verify safety and control setpoints, test relief devices, analyze compressor oil where applicable, and compare performance against the original commissioning data. Approach temperature drift is the single most useful early indicator, because a fouling condenser raises energy consumption long before it causes a fault. Plants that never recorded commissioning baselines have no reference and end up servicing on failure instead.
What happens if process cooling fails during production?
The consequence depends entirely on what the cooling protects, which is worth mapping before it happens. On a bioreactor, loss of temperature control puts the batch at immediate risk and the value of one batch usually exceeds any redundancy investment. On jacketed reaction vessels running an exothermic reaction, loss of cooling is a process safety event rather than a production one. On a compendial water system, loss of cooling downstream of distillation puts water out of temperature specification and stops the loop feeding production. The engineering responses rank by consequence: N plus one redundancy, a thermal storage buffer giving operators response time, city water emergency backup where the process permits, and at minimum an alarm that warns before the process is affected.
What does approach temperature mean on a chiller?
Approach temperature is the difference between the refrigerant saturation temperature in a heat exchanger and the temperature of the fluid leaving it, measured separately at the condenser and the evaporator. It is the most useful diagnostic number a chiller produces, because it directly reflects heat transfer effectiveness. A rising condenser approach means the condenser is fouling, scaling or short of airflow or water flow, and every degree of approach increase raises compressor lift and therefore energy consumption. A rising evaporator approach suggests fouling on the process side or low refrigerant charge. Recorded against commissioning baselines, approach temperatures let a plant see degradation months before it becomes a fault, which is what makes chiller maintenance predictive rather than reactive.
What are the alternatives to a mechanical chiller for process cooling?
Four alternatives suit particular conditions. Cooling towers with plate heat exchangers, sometimes called free cooling or water-side economizing, use ambient wet bulb rather than mechanical refrigeration and are dramatically cheaper to run whenever ambient conditions allow, which in northern climates is a large part of the year. Dry coolers or air-side economizers do the same with ambient air where process temperatures permit. Absorption chillers use waste heat or steam rather than electricity and suit sites with surplus thermal energy. Once-through city water cooling is simple and is used where permitted and where water cost and discharge rules allow, though most jurisdictions now restrict it. Most plants end up with a hybrid, using free cooling when ambient allows and mechanical cooling when it does not.
Who is responsible for chiller water treatment?
Water treatment often falls between the plant, the chiller supplier and the installer, and that gap causes most premature failures, so Paul Industries covers it in the chiller scope. The supplier warrants the machine, the installer warrants the installation, and those warranties exclude scale, corrosion or biological fouling arising from untreated or poorly treated loop water, which is what actually destroys condensers and why Paul’s chiller scope includes the treatment. In practice the treatment program should be specified at the same time as the chiller, with a named party responsible for dosing, testing and record keeping. Legionella risk management on open cooling towers is a separate and non-negotiable obligation; the site holds the duty, and Paul builds and runs the water management work behind it. Agreeing this in writing before commissioning avoids a warranty dispute after a fouled condenser.
How long does a process chiller last?
A well-maintained water-cooled centrifugal chiller commonly runs twenty to thirty years, and an air-cooled scroll or screw packaged unit typically fifteen to twenty. Those figures assume treated water, clean condensers and correct sizing. The two things that shorten life most are short cycling from oversizing, which wears compressors far faster than continuous running, and untreated water fouling and corroding heat exchangers. Replacement is usually triggered by efficiency rather than failure: an old chiller running with degraded approach temperatures can cost enough in additional energy each year to fund a substantial part of a new machine, which is why a like-for-like replacement decision should be made on measured performance rather than on age alone.
How do you troubleshoot a chiller that will not hold setpoint?
Work outward from the process rather than starting inside the machine. Confirm the actual load has not changed, since added equipment or a process change frequently exceeds the original design duty. Check flow rate through the evaporator, because low flow is a very common cause and is often a partially closed valve, a fouled strainer or a failing pump rather than anything in the chiller. Compare condenser and evaporator approach temperatures against commissioning baselines to see whether heat transfer has degraded. Check refrigerant charge and superheat. Check control setpoints and staging, especially on multi-chiller plants where sequencing faults are common. Only after those does compressor performance become the likely cause.
What should be on a chiller specification checklist?
Duty at the actual design condition rather than nominal tons, including entering and leaving fluid temperatures and ambient design conditions. Part-load performance, since most chillers spend most of their life below full load and integrated part-load value matters more than peak efficiency. Turndown capability and minimum stable load, because a machine that cannot modulate will short cycle. Refrigerant type and its regulatory outlook, given ongoing phase-downs. Materials on the process side where fluid compatibility matters. Redundancy strategy, meaning whether N plus one is justified by the consequence of an outage. Sound and vibration limits where the unit is near occupied or sensitive space. And the water treatment program, specified rather than assumed.
Why do process chillers fail prematurely?
Four causes dominate. Oversizing, which causes short cycling and wears compressors far faster than steady operation; a chiller sized for a peak that never occurs spends its life starting and stopping. Poor or absent water treatment, which scales and corrodes condenser tubes, raising approach temperature, energy consumption and eventually causing failure. Inadequate condenser airflow or water flow, frequently from fouling, restricted intakes on air-cooled units or a failing pump. And control problems, particularly sequencing faults on multi-chiller installations that leave one machine doing all the work. Genuine component manufacturing defects are a small minority by comparison, which is why an investigation should start with load, flow and water quality.
Who are the best industrial process chiller companies?
Distinguish between equipment manufacturers, who design and build the machine, and contractors who size it, install it, pipe it and commission it. Most chiller problems in service trace to sizing, flow, water treatment or control sequencing rather than to the machine, all of which sit with the second group. Screen accordingly: ask how they establish the actual design duty rather than accepting a stated tonnage, what part-load performance they design for, how the loop is piped and balanced, what water treatment program they specify, and who commissions and records baseline approach temperatures. That last item is what makes future maintenance predictive. Paul Industries delivers sizing, piping, installation, controls integration and commissioning under one contract nationwide.
What flow does a 10 ton water chiller need?
At a 10 degree F rise it needs about 24 gpm, using gallons per minute equal to 24 times tons divided by the temperature rise. Glycol mixes need more flow for the same duty, so Paul reruns the figure for the actual fluid and setpoint.
What does a 5000 ton chiller need on site?
Plan for about 12,000 gpm on the chilled side at a 10 degree F rise, about 15,000 gpm on the condenser side at 3 gpm per ton, a medium voltage feed, a floor rated for the operating weight, tube pull space and a rigging route. Paul settles these items with the owner before the order is placed.
Can rooftop chiller units run through winter?
Yes, with the right protection. Outdoor sections take glycol or a drain-down plan, exposed pipe gets heat tracing and insulation, and the machine needs low-ambient controls if it has to run in freezing weather.
How does a liquid chiller differ from a cooling tower?
A liquid chiller uses a refrigeration cycle to reach temperatures below ambient, while a tower cools by evaporation and stops at a few degrees above wet bulb. Many plants pair them, with the tower carrying the heat from the chiller condenser.