Chiller maintenance and energy conservation
Domestic and commercial establishments consume large amounts of electric energy daily. Many home owners and industrial buildings use air conditioning chillers to provide comfort and remove unwanted heat. Aside from cooling the air, this electrical device works as an air purifier too. The built in disinfectant removes unwanted smells, mildew and pollen attack present in the air to maintain clean air inside the home or in establishments.
In larger facilities that consume larger space, air cooling systems are bigger and they operate at larger capacities. Water cooled chillers provide ten times more cooling capacity in public spaces like theme parks, museums, hospitals, government offices and private firms. Compared to air cooled chiller, industrial water chillers allow 15% energy saving efficiency. The reason behind this is the smaller physical dimensions found in water based condensers and the lack of fans that create a noisy sound.
As important as it is to clean the air inside the home, maintaining the conditions of old chillers is vital. The lack of cleanup will lead to accumulated dirt and grime on the coolers fan and condensers. To remove this, maintenance must be done.
There are two types of maintenance checkups for chillers, namely: preventive and predictive. Preventive is the annual checkup on all chiller components. This includes cleaning the condenser heat exchanger, changing the oil filter, refrigerant filters and lubricating the compressor and pumps depending on the manufacturer’s specifications and model. Predictive maintenance on the other hand is the thorough examination of the chiller and its parts. A technician sees to it that all parts are properly working and there are no unusual changes in the equipments’ performance.
Improper operating practices are the major cause of poor chiller efficiency. One common example is trying to put more water to an industrial water chiller in the belief that if more water is available, the faster is the air cooling process. The lack of awareness and the poor operating practice impacts on the chiller operation and shortens equipment life.
The proper use and timely maintenance of chillers on the other hand leads to energy proficiency and conservation which is measured in terms of electrical use per ton of cooling (kW/ton). A well maintained chiller cools daytime temperature faster and in turn brings about significant savings on low power usage. While used chillers benefit from repair to maximize operating costs, older chillers need replacement in order to function well.
Christopher Miguel is a writer for a Industrial Water Chiller.
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