Chilled Water Central Air Conditioning Systems

The chilled water types of central air conditioning plants are installed in the place where whole large buildings, shopping mall, airport, hotel, etc, comprising of several floors are to be air conditioned. While in the direct expansion type of central air conditioning plants, refrigerant is directly used to cool the room air; in the chilled water plants the refrigerant first chills the water, which in turn chills the room air.

In chilled water plants, the ordinary water or brine solution is chilled to very low temperatures of about 6 to 8 degree Celsius by the refrigeration plant. This chilled water is pumped to various floors of the building and its different parts. In each of these parts the air handling units are installed, which comprise of the cooling coil, blower and the ducts. The chilled water flows through the cooling coil. The blower absorbs return air from the air conditioned rooms that are to be cooled via the ducts. This air passes over the cooling coil and gets cooled and is then passed to the air conditioned space.

All the important parts of the chilled water air conditioning plant are shown in the above figure and described in detail below:

The plant room comprises of all the important components of the chilled water air conditioning plant. These include the compressor, condenser, thermostatic expansion valve and the evaporator or the chiller. The compressor is of open type and can be driven by the motor directly or by the belt via pulley arrangement connected to the motor. It is cooled by the water just like the automotive engine.

The condenser and the evaporator are of shell and tube type. The condenser is cooled by the water, with water flowing along the shell side and refrigerant along the tube side.The thermostatic expansion valve is operated automatically by the solenoid valve.

The evaporator is also called as the chiller, because it chills the water. If the water flows along the shell side and refrigerant on the tube side, it is called as the dry expansion type of chiller. If the water flows along tube side and the refrigerant along the shell side, it is called as the flooded chiller. The water chilled in the chiller is pumped to various parts of the building that are to be air conditioned. It enters the air handling unit, cools the air in cooling coil, absorbs the heat and returns back to the plant room to get chilled again. The amount of water passing into the chiller is controlled by the flow switch.

In the central air conditioning plant room all the components, the compressor, condenser, thermostatic expansion valve, and the chiller are assembled in the structural steel framework making a complete compact refrigeration plant, known as the chiller package. Piping required to connect these parts is also enclosed in this unit making a highly compact central air conditioning plant.