What are chillers?
Buildings need air-conditioning, and A/C units are what usually accommodate the smaller buildings. Choosing a centralized system for bigger buildings or commercial centers is more cost-effective. Centralized systems use ‘chillers’ that are nothing but huge A/C units, and they work slightly differently considering the size they come in.
Difference between cooling tower and chiller
Chillers remove heat directly from the coolant passed to the surrounding air, which is usually an essential part of any cooling process. On the other hand, cooling towers remove heat from water directly discharged from a condenser. An inappropriately chosen system for a particular area may have some trouble in properly cooling their surroundings.
Chillers and cooling towers both produce nearly similar results; the only thing that makes them different from one another is the reason they are used in various settings.
Cooling towers are found in industries like thermal power stations, oil and gas refineries, and power plants that are by the side of bodies of water. On the other hand, the chillers are usually used in wineries, microbreweries, and plastic-industry applications.
Types of chillers
- Air-Cooled Chillers
Air-cooled chillers transfer heat outside of the system through soaking-up heat from the water. Then the heat flows back into the air around the unit, and once the air transfers outside, it immediately drops the temperature too majorly. The industries that do not require to produce a lot of ideas usually opt for these models.
- Water-cooled chillers
Water-cooled chillers are typically combined with different types of cooling towers like crossflow cooling towers and then used for large-capacity applications. These are used in applications like food processing plants and water-jet cutting. Being a good combination of both cooling towers and chillers, it becomes all the more efficient and cost-effective for larger industries. The only downfall of water-cooled chillers is that they sometimes produce an excess of heat.
Types of Cooling Towers
- Counterflow Cooling Towers
The counterflow cooling towers work as the hot process water flows down the drain towards the cold water basin. The air then enters the lower section, which is different from the crossflow cooling towers. The airflow in counterflow units is unrestricted and not restricted, so the air flows upward, passing through the water in the fill, reaching the end result of a cooling down phase.
- Crossflow Cooling Towers
Cross-flow cooling towers are designed in a way that allows the hot process water to flow down the media fill. It cools the water down when air blows horizontally, and that is how the tower gets its name due to the airflow direction. The hot water basins in the cooling towers are placed just above the fill so as to let the water be evenly distributed.
- Induced Draft Cooling Towers
In induced draft cooling towers, also known as round cooling towers, are built with a fan at the top of the tower that draws the air upward. The fan in the cooling tower induces the hot and moist air out of the discharge. The end result here, in this process, is a powerful air velocity. The induced drafts will likely keep the discharged air from flowing back into the intake point.
- Forced Draft Cooling Towers
Forced draft cooling towers are usually used on a large-scale industrial level. These are robust kinds of cooling towers and are still cost-effective at the same time. These towers have low-potential heat already removed during the production process. The heat transfer occurs due to the counterflow of water and air. Industries that produce paper and chemicals mostly opt for forced draft cooling towers.
- Factory Assembled Cooling Towers
Factory assembled cooling towers are custom-made cooling towers made to fit your individual needs. The industrial applications that usually don’t require a high cooling efficiency go for these factory assembled cooling towers. The two benefits of these cooling towers are that they are easy to install and transport.
