An industrial chiller keeps the industrial equipment from overheating, and ensures its steady performance. It is a necessary requirement, especially in pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturing companies and breweries. Keeping its significance in view, it must be sized accurately. To size a chiller perfectly, it is of vital importance to understand the factors affecting its performance.  

Let’s take a look at some of the essential chiller sizing factors.

The Fluid to Be Used

It is tricky to determine the ideal fluid, which needs to be used for your chiller. The fluid must be able to offer compatibility and enhance the performance of the chiller. It is also important to know about performance of the fluid when it comes to the long term integrity of the machine. To protect the metallic parts of the chiller from early damage, a corrosion inhibiter is a valuable investment. If the fluid fails to adapt to the inhibitor, you need to start looking for a new fluid right away.

Furthermore, it is important for you to understand the freezing and boiling points of the fluid. It is also important to understand the fluid behavior in various temperatures and environments. Water is the advised fluid for fluid temperatures above 4 degrees, for water has good physical and thermal properties. However, water cannot be used for lower temperatures. For such situations, a mixture of water and glycol is advised.

Air Conditions

Another factor that affects the sizing of a chiller is the ambient temperature. With an increase in the ambient dry bulb or wet bulb temperatures, the chiller’s energy consumption also increases. The ambient temperature also affects the components of a chiller, such as compressors, pumps and other temperature sensitive equipment. An increase in ambient temperature, combined with temperature increased during the operation, can shorten the lifespan of these components. 

Chiller Cooling Capacity

To size a chiller the right way, it is very important to calculate the cooling load properly. A thermometer or a thermocouple should be used to measure the differences in temperature. Such readings need to be taken at the water inlet and exit points. To measure the outflow of water, a flow meter must be used at the outline of the equipment.

Reasons to Size a Chiller

Here are some reasons to size a chiller.

·         Oversizing and undersizing of the chillers is a common problem in almost every other industry. People tend to oversize the chiller for they think that cooling load will increase with the passage of time.

·         Another reason for proper sizing of the chiller is because oversizing increases the energy costs.  

·         Last but not the least, if the chillers are undersized that will not provide the amount of cooling they are expected to provide.