How do centrifugal chillers work?

Centrifugal chillers work by converting liquid refrigerant into a gaseous state through a process of compression, cooling, and expansion, which absorbs heat and lowers the temperature. Here is how each component of a centrifugal chiller works:

●Evaporator: The evaporator is one of the important parts of the centrifugal chiller, which converts the liquid refrigerant into a gaseous state by absorbing heat.

●Centrifugal Compressor: The compressor is the heart of the centrifugal chiller, which is used to compress the low-temperature and low-pressure gaseous refrigerant into a high-temperature and high-pressure state.

●Condenser: In the condenser, the high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is transformed into a high-pressure liquid by releasing heat through contact with the cooling medium.

●Expansion valve: The cooled liquid refrigerant enters the evaporator through the expansion valve (throttle valve). In the evaporator, the refrigerant absorbs the heat of the surrounding environment, thus evaporating into a low-temperature and low-pressure gas.

Types of Centrifugal Chillers

Centrifugal air-cooled chiller

●Characteristics: Utilizing air as the cooling source, the surrounding air is blown over the surface of the condenser and discharges the heat through the fan built into the unit.

●Application Scenario: Suitable for outdoor or well-ventilated areas; the ambient temperature should preferably not exceed 40°C. At higher temperatures, the cooling effect of the fan will be reduced, which may affect the cooling effect of the centrifugal air-cooled chiller.

Centrifugal water-cooled chiller

●Characteristics: the use of cooling water composition cooling source, cooling water temperature ranges from 0 ℃ ~ -45 ℃. Centrifugal water-cooled chiller achieves refrigeration by heat exchange between cooling water and refrigerant in the condenser.

Centrifugal Chillers VS Screw Chillers

●Centrifugal chiller is suitable for application scenarios with very large cooling loads.

Maintenance Comparison

●Screw chillers are simple, with fewer moving parts and less contact surface between the rotating components of the screw, which results in a lower failure rate and relatively lower maintenance cost.

Centrifugal chiller maintenance checklists

●Regularly clean the condenser pipeline dirt, to avoid pipeline clogging caused by the condenser heat transfer efficiency reduction.

●Regular cleaning and inspection of the evaporator, to avoid the evaporator surface accumulating too much dirt leads to the refrigerant in the evaporator surface ice or frost, which leads to the evaporator's thermal efficiency being reduced, the system energy consumption increasing.

●Regular cleaning and replacement of filters.

●Regularly check and repair wires, relays, fuses, capacitors, and other electrical components for faults or wear and tear.

●Regularly check the lubricating oil of the compressor, if the lubricating oil is found to be cloudy, the lubricating oil needs to be replaced in time; if the lubricating oil is found to be insufficient, the lubricating oil needs to be replenished in time.

●Regularly check the compressor joints, seals, valves, and other components for leakage points using a pressure tester or a tool such as a foaming agent, and repair the leakage points in time.

Consult your professional industrial chiller expert

Kassel Machinery is a professional chiller manufacturer, specializing in air-cooled, water-cooled, screw, scroll and centrifugal chiller products. We are committed to providing our customers with high-quality refrigeration equipment with the best service.