3325 -- Test Facility for Water-Cooled Water Chiller PDF

A test facility for testing a water-cooled water chiller in an economical manner has been developed and used for rating a chiller. The test facility makes use of a mixing tank and a cooling tower and does not require any mechanical cooling or heating. The condenser heat is used to neutralise the cooling effect and the rest is rejected in the cooling tower. Programmable PID controllers are used to maintain the temperatures of water supplied to the evaporator and condenser constant within a tolerance of + or - 0.36°F (0.2°C). To show the working principle, a semi-hermetic reciprocating chiller which had a displacement volume of 15.8 ft³/min (26.8 m³/h) was tested. The cooling capacity can reach a steady state in less than 30 minutes for each set of water temperature settings.

KEYWORDS: testing, water cooled condensers, chillers, semi hermetic compressors, hermetic compressors, controls, steady state, cooling towers, programmable controllers.