CHILLED WATER AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

System that employ water chillers are commonly called chilled water systems. As its name suggest, this
system makes use of water as its secondary refrigerant. Chiller is used to remove heat from the water
which is then circulated through other components to absorb heat from the space.

COMPONENTS
Water Chiller A water chiller is a mechanical device used to facilitate heat exchange from water to
a refrigerant in a closed loop system. The refrigerant is then pumped to a location where the waste
heat is transferred to the atmosphere.

a. AIR cooled
b. Water cooled

Evaporator The evaporator works the opposite of the condenser, here refrigerant liquid is converted to
gas, absorbing heat from the air in the compartment.

Compressor receives low pressure refrigerant vapor from the evaporator and converts it to high
pressure. As the vapor is compressed, the temperature rises and pumps it to the reversing valve.

Condenser Is an equipment that converts a gas to a liquid to obtain either the substance or the released
heat

a) Air-cooled condenser – condenser in which refrigerant flows through the tubes

and rejects heat to air that is drawn across the tubes

b) Water-cooled condenser – condenser that rejects the heat of the refrigerant to

water flowing through it.

 Cooling Tower - Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to
reject process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air
temperature or rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb
air temperature.

Expansion valve - a valve through which liquid or gas under pressure is allowed to expand to a lower
pressure and greater volume.

AHU - or air handling unit often abbreviated to AHU, is a device used to condition and circulate air as
part of HVAC system. Air handlers usually connect to ductwork that distributes the conditioned air
through the building, and returns it to the AHU.

Refrigerant Flow

The refrigerant in a chilled water air conditioning system is water the water is compressed in a
compressor increasing its temperature and pressure and goes through the condenser where the heat of
the refrigerant is heat transferred through the pipes of a cooling tower. After cooling the Refrigerant it
goes through the expansion valve where its temperature and pressure is lowered and then it goes to the
evaporator where the cooled air is distributed to the room with an air handling unit and the
temperature of the room is absorbed by the cooled water. Then the refrigerant goes to the compressor
again.

Maintenance procedure/schedule

WEEKLY MAINTENANCE

 Check the compressor oil level

 Only use oils recommended by the manufacturer.
 Check the oil pressure.
 The flow of liquid refrigerant through the sight glass should be steady and
without bubbles.
 Check operating pressures.
 Inspect the entire system so as to detect any eventual abnormality
 Record temperatures, pressures, dates et times and any other observations in
the service log.

ANNUAL MAINTENANCE

 Inspect valves and piping. Clean the filters if necessary, clean the condenser tubes. Clean the
chilled water piping filters.
 Clean any corroded surfaces and repaint them.
 Inspect the chilled water circuit for any signs of leakage.

CENTRALIZED AIR CONDITIONING

A method of structural cooling in which a centralized unit cools and dehumidifies air before circulating it
throughout the building. The main unit is located outdoors or in an isolated area of a building.

A central air conditioning system is comprised of a huge compressor that has the capacity to produce
hundreds of tons of air conditioning. Cooling big halls, malls, huge spaces, galleries etc is usually only
feasible with this type of air conditioning system.

TWO TYPES OF CENTRALIZED AIR CONDITIONING

 DIRECT EXPANSION (DX) TYPE

Air is cooled directly by the refrigerant therefore the cooling efficiency of the DX plants
is higher. However, it is not always feasible to carry the refrigerant piping to the large
distances hence, direct expansion or the DX type of central air conditioning system is
usually used for cooling the small buildings or the rooms on the single floor.
 Chilled Water Type (Indirect)
-In chilled water plants, the ordinary water or brine solution is chilled to very low
temperatures of about 6 to 8 degree Celsius by the refrigeration plant. This chilled water
is pumped to various floors of the building and its different parts.

THREE COMPARTMENTS OF CENTRALIZED AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM

 Condensing Unit/Room
 Air-Handling Unit/Room
 Air Conditioned Room

PARTS OF THE PLANT ROOM/ CONDENSING UNIT

 Compressor
 Condenser
 Evaporator/ Cooling Coils
 Thermostatic Expansion Valve
 Fan or Blower
 Air Filter
 Box Enclosure
 Ducts

Procedures and Guidelines for Installation

1. Plan and install the ducts

2. Put in the air handler near a condensation drain.
3. Install the compressor
4. Drill holes through the outer wall
5. Check with an electrician
Evaporative Cooling

 Evaporative Cooling is the reduction in temperature resulting from the evaporation of liquid,
which removes latent heat from the surface from which evaporation takes place.

Evaporative air conditioning uses evaporation to cool the air. In an evaporative cooler:

1. A pump circulates water from the reservoir on to a cooling pad, which in turn becomes very wet.

2. A fan draws air from outside the unit through the moistened pad. As it passes through the pad
the air is cooled by evaporation.

3. A blower then distributes the cooled air into the desired space to be conditioned.

This type of cooling system works by

1. Running water over special filter pads and drawing in huge volumes of air through the wet pads.

2. The air passage through the pads causes some of the water to evaporate and thus cool the air.

3. A cost-effective alternative for cooling the entire house, evaporative cooling is a ducted system
through the ceiling that operates on air change or flushing, thus reducing the temperature in the
house and drawing in fresh, healthy cool air. The hotter the outside air, the better will be the
cooling effect.’

Types of Evaporative Cooling

Direct evaporative cooling

With direct evaporative cooling, outside air is blown through a water-saturated medium (usually
cellulose) and cooled by evaporation. The cooled air is circulated by a blower.

Indirect evaporative cooling

With indirect evaporative cooling, a secondary (scavenger) air stream is cooled by water. The
cooled secondary air stream goes through a heat exchanger, where it cools the primary air
stream. The cooled primary air stream is circulated by a blower.

Portable Evaporative Coolers

Advantages

• Cost effective

• No Installation

• Cools air supply up to 15000 m3/ hr.

Disadvantages
 • Consumes water- needs toping

• Needs good natural ventilation

• Is trying to cool very warm air

• Performance dependent on ambient humidity

• Noisy

External Evaporative Coolers

Advantages

• Cost effective cooling

• Cools outside air (which is already cooler than inside air)

• Cool air ducted to where it is needed

• Warm air displaced outside

• Cool air supply up to 60000 m3/ hr. per unit

Compared to mobile coolers

• Less noise( fan is outside)

• Permanently connected to water supply

• More efficient cooling

• Out of sight, out of mind cooling

VARIABLE REFRIGERANT VOLUME OR VARIABLE REFRIGERANT FLOW

 are a direct-expansion (DX) heat pump technology platform built on the standard reverse
Rankine vapor compression cycle.

 These systems are thermodynamically similar to unitary and other common DX systems, and
share many of the same components (i.e., compressor, expansion device, heat exchangers).

 VRF systems transport heat between an outdoor condensing unit and a network of indoor units
located near or within the conditioned space through refrigerant piping installed in the building.

VRV/VRF systems can be used for cooling only, heat pumping and heat recovery. On heat pump models
indoor units can be in either mode but all must be in the same mode if served by the same out door
unit. The cooling only and heat pump models are basically large, sophisticated, efficient multi-splits. The
heat recovery or simultaneous mode systems provide both heating and cooling from the same outdoor
unit and thus exploit this technology most effectively. They offer considerable potential for energy
savings in many applications.

TWO PIPE VRF PIPING CONFIGURATION

1. The high-pressure, high-temperature vapor is discharged from the compressors INV and STD and
flows to reversing valve RV1.

2. The refrigerant is directed to the outdoor coil, which is functioning as the condenser. It is here
that system heat is rejected.

3. At the outlet of the outdoor coil, the refrigerant bypasses the outdoor metering device as it
flows though the check valve piped in parallel with the metering device.

4. The high-pressure, high-temperature liquid then flows to the indoor coil.

5. Solenoids at the indoor unit open to allow refrigerant to flow through the metering device and
onto the evaporator coil.

6. The low-pressure, low-temperature vapor leaves the evaporator and flows through reversing
valve.

7. From the valve the suction gas returns to the compressors, inverter compressor and standard
compressor.

THREE-PIPE VRF PIPING CONFIGURATION

1. When all indoor units are calling for heating, both of the outdoor coils will function as
evaporators, while the indoor coils function as condensers.

2. The refrigerant at the discharge of the compressors join at an equalizer line where the hot gas is
directed through a four-way valve. .

3. This valve directs the high-pressure, high-temperature discharge gas to the branch selector
boxes via the dual-pressure gas line.
 4. The branch selector boxes pass the hot gas to the indoor coils to heat the space. After passing
through the indoor condenser coil, the high-pressure liquid bypasses the indoor EXVs by means
of check valves.

5. The liquid lines at the outlets of the branch selector boxes form a common liquid line that
carries the refrigerant to the outdoor coils.

6. The refrigerant passes through the outdoor EXVs and passes low-temperature saturated liquid
into the outdoor evaporator coils.

7. At the outdoor coils, the refrigerant vaporizes and then returns to the compressors.

Installation

Select an installation site that meets the following requirements:

• The space around the unit is adequate for maintenance and servicing.

• The space around the unit allows for sufficient air circulation.

• All piping lengths and distances have been taken into consideration.

• When installing the unit in a small room, take measures in order to keep the refrigerant
concentration from exceeding allowable safety limits in the event of a refrigerant leak,

Do not install in the following locations where:

• sulphurous acids and other corrosive gases may be present in the atmosphere.

• flammable gases may leak, where thinner, gasoline and other volatile substances are handled,
or where carbon dust and other incendiary substances are found in the atmosphere. Leaked gas
may accumulate around the unit, causing an explosion.