Differences between air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers

The working principles of air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers are different:


The air-cooled chiller is mechanically circulated by air. The condensing coil of the chiller directly expels heat and is cooled by atmospheric air. The source of heat exchange is gas. It is equipped with a special electric fan; The water-cooled chiller is used to extract hot water for heat dissipation through the cooling tower and water pump, so that the refrigeration process can be circulated. The source of heat exchange is water, and a special cooling tower is equipped.


Air cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers have different performances:


The heat transfer efficiency of water is much higher than that of air. The heat transfer temperature difference of condenser of water-cooled units is generally 4~8 ℃, while that of air-cooled units is generally 8~15 ℃. Under the same outdoor ambient temperature, the temperature of cooling circulating water is lower than that of outdoor air, so the condensation temperature of air-cooled units in normal operation is much higher than that of water-cooled units, Therefore, under the same refrigeration capacity, the power consumption of air cooled units is larger than that of water cooled units.


The costs of air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers are different:


In terms of initial equipment investment, plus the scale of the same parameters, the air cooled condenser is larger, and the total equipment cost of the water-cooled chiller is about 20% lower than that of the air cooled chiller of the same specification; In terms of operation cost, the water-cooled chiller has high cooling efficiency and low power consumption for unit operation. The power consumption of water-cooled chillers with the same refrigeration capacity is 30% lower than that of air coolers.

Air cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers have different mobility:

The air-cooled chiller is movable, while the water-cooled chiller requires a water tower and a pool outside. Therefore, if the water-cooled chiller is to be used, a machine room should be provided. If the building cannot provide a machine room, the air-cooled chiller is more suitable.


The maintenance difficulty of air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers is different:


The shell and tube condenser used in the water-cooled unit has little impact on the heat exchange efficiency within a certain range of dirt accumulation, so the unit performance decreases slightly with the generation of dirt, the cleaning cycle is long, and the relative maintenance cost will be low; The heat exchange efficiency of air-cooled water chillers is greatly affected by the accumulation of ash scale, which requires regular cleaning. As the air-cooled water chillers are generally installed outdoors, the operating environment is poor, so the maintenance is more troublesome.


The above is the difference between air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers. So is it better to use air-cooled chillers or water-cooled chillers?


Whether the chiller is water-cooled or air-cooled is better:


Air cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is uncertain which is better. Considering the refrigeration efficiency, operating cost and other aspects, under the same specification level, water-cooled chillers are better than air-cooled chillers, but from a practical point of view, it is not certain; The water cooler should be connected to the cooling tower, and it is not convenient to move after the installation position is fixed. The air-cooled chiller has its own heat dissipation device, which does not require external cooling water and is easy to move. Therefore, if you need to move the chiller frequently in areas where water is scarce, it is certainly better to use the air-cooled chiller.