Selecting a Cooling System: Ambient Cooling System | Recirculating Chiller | Liquid-to-Liquid Cooling System | Recirculating Chiller or Liquid-to-Liquid Cooling System

Recirculating chillers offer precise temperature control (within 0.1°C) and cooling below ambient temperature. They are quiet, cover a wide range of cooling capacities, and are available with many different options and additional features. Recirculating chillers are compact, quiet and easy to install.

Recirculating chillers use refrigerant for cooling. They operate in a similar way to your refrigerator at home, except that they cool water instead of air. The process water circuit includes an evaporator, tank, and pump. The water is cooled by the refrigerant as it passes through the evaporator. On the other side of the evaporator the refrigerant evaporates to cool the water, then passes through a compressor and condenser, rejecting the heat to the ambient air.

Figure 2 - Schematic of a Recirculating Chiller 
When heat loads get high, chillers can cause the room's air conditioning system to become overloaded as they reject the waste heat into the ambient environment. One option is to use a chiller with a liquid-cooled condenser. In this case, the refrigerant is cooled by facility-chilled water instead of air, making the chiller quieter and avoiding room-warming problems.

Another alternative for high heat loads is a liquid-to-liquid cooling system.