Who are some of the common of cooling equipment;Cooling Towers and Chillers

[MHall]

I started a thread similar to this regarding boilers. Since I’m still learning about commercial HVAC I’m hoping to get better accustomed to the commercial brands out there.

So, who are the common manufactures of Cooling Towers and Chillers? Who do you recommend as the best? Does it make a difference whether your facility uses a chiller or a cooling tower?

I know chillers are typically installed within the boiler room, and cooling towers outside the building, please elaborate more on the differences in function between the two as well as advantages/disadvantages.

Are Chillers and Cooling Towers typically used only in older pneumatic systems (due to presence of chilled water) or are they being installed today in new construction. It seems as though all new construction uses high-efficiency roof top units for the most part. Also these days architects tend to not want large mechanical objects around their new building!

Thanks for all your help

Best

[MHall]

Sorry about the title. It was supposed to read; Who are some of the common manufactures of Cooling equipment; Cooling Towers and Chillers.

Thanks for your understanding!

[basshound71]

Chillers: Trane, Carrier, McQuay, York, Frick
Cooling Towers: Evapco

[Southern Mech]

B.A.C , Delta, towers

[jemawalton]

I started a thread similar to this regarding boilers. Since I’m still learning about commercial HVAC I’m hoping to get better accustomed to the commercial brands out there.

So, who are the common manufactures of Cooling Towers and Chillers? Who do you recommend as the best? Does it make a difference whether your facility uses a chiller or a cooling tower?

I know chillers are typically installed within the boiler room, and cooling towers outside the building, please elaborate more on the differences in function between the two as well as advantages/disadvantages.

Are Chillers and Cooling Towers typically used only in older pneumatic systems (due to presence of chilled water) or are they being installed today in new construction. It seems as though all new construction uses high-efficiency roof top units for the most part. Also these days architects tend to not want large mechanical objects around their new building!

Thanks for all your help

Best

Not to be rude but I think you need to spend some more time researching and reading on this site. All the questions you asked have been answered several times over here. Use the search function and go to town.

[basshound71]

Try searching this equipment online

[emcontrols]

Manufactures: Water cooled chillers in this order Quality and Dollar. Trane, Carrier, York & Mcquack or Mcquit. (Tower evapco or Marley). Air cooled chillers(no cooling tower) Trane, Carrier & York

Depending on the application and tonage determines whether you use a water cooled chiller with cooling tower or an air cooled chiller. Smaller chilled water applications use air cooled and larger applications used water cooled. A diiference between 400ton and 1200ton. I have seen air cooled chillers on large applications but it takes up a lot of square footage.

[supertek65]

You seem like a nice guy?

that being said!

you should be asking what a cooling tower is and how does it work?

then ask brand names!

[Control Man]

Are Chillers and Cooling Towers typically used only in older pneumatic systems (due to presence of chilled water)

Again PNEUMATICS have nothing to do with the reason they install Chillers and Cooling towers, chilled water is produced for COOLING, the controls for the Chillers / Towers were Pneumatic , then Electric , then DDC as technology advanced.

[yellowirenut]

Tecogen:eek2:

[cfmech04]

A chiller and cooling tower could be installed in a building as one system. The chiller being your mechanical cooling and the cooling tower would be its source of cooling for the condenser. It could also be a source of "free" cooling but would most definitely not be the only form of cooling. As stated earlier pneumatics are a control system and have nothing to do with if you do or dont have a chiller or cooling tower, it is a control system (which could be used to control such things in older buildings generally). As far as advantages of chillers/cooling towers to an air cooled chiller or even a roof top all depends on what your application is as well as whats practical for where its being installed. All of them have there ups and downs.

[deltacooling]

Hi. Delta Cooling Towers is a manufacturer of seamless, never rust, 15-yr warranty, High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) cooling towers. Thanks.

[BaldLoonie]

How often is free cooling used? There's a big new "City Center" complex with an energy plant at one corner near us. Noticed today that they had both a tower steaming and steam coming out of a boiler stack. Wondered if they might have both chillers and boilers on at the same time or if they were efficient enough to have the tower cooling the water.

[MHall]

My comment regarding the pneumatic controls was prompted by the fact that you seem to see Cooling Towers typically in older buildings, i.e.) schools, office buildings, hotels, built in the 1950s or early 60s.
Perhaps a better way to ask it is; would you see this type of equipment in buildings built after this time period, particularly in the 1980s office buildings? Buildings built during that time period (and after) tend to feature lots of glass, and hide any hint of mechanical equipment. So would this type of equipment typically be seen in such an installation, or were RTUs used for the most part?
Thanks for your interest,
Best

[powell]

MHall,

Try a visit to this site which has a listing of HVAC/R manufactures links.

www.hvacrinfo.com

powell

[ISAMemphis]

Chillers are absolutely still used today. A lot of the decision is based on what you want to do with your A/C. The most important variable is cost and DX rooftop units are cheaper to install which lowers intial cost.

[deltacooling]

Free cooling is used all the time...when conditions permit, water from the cooling tower can bypass the chiller, eliminating that expense and thus getting 'free' cooling...

[keeplearnin]

the application of air cooled condensers and water cooled condensers also has to do with the year round climate. some chillers work better with the air cooled and in other climates a more mild climate where free cooling in summer time a water tower would work better.

[Jeff Fisher]

How often is free cooling used? There's a big new "City Center" complex with an energy plant at one corner near us. Noticed today that they had both a tower steaming and steam coming out of a boiler stack. Wondered if they might have both chillers and boilers on at the same time or if they were efficient enough to have the tower cooling the water.

"Free Cooling" for some is utilized during "shoulder" periods of time. Outside air temps are cool enough that the cooling demands can be met merely by using a plate and frame type heat exchanger in place of a chiller. Lots of energy savings to be had as long as chilled water temps can be maintained. We typically can run our plate and frame (free cooling) at OATs of <65 degrees.

Using a boiler and a chiller at the same time really doesn't have a connection unless of course the chillers are absorption units vs centrifugals. Chilled water may be needed year round.

In our application we make steam year round, winter heating of course and all times for heating water for showers, autoclaves. Cooling we run the free cooling for a month or two in the spring, chillers all summer long, back to free cooling for a month or two in the fall, then completely off for the remainder of the winter. Some applications will require cooling year round for who knows. Most likely for cooling a data/server room or some such thing.

If I read your question correctly.... Then, yes, there are plenty of good reasons for running a chiller/free cooling over a tower and a boiler at the same time.

Hope this helps.
Jeff

[waleedwmi]

the air cooled chillers used with load up to 500TR of some thing like that but we need to 60 sq. meter on the roof.
the water cooled chillers used with high capacity up to 3000 TR and more but we need to plant room and may be 60 sq. meter on the roof for cooling towers.

[Coalman]

We also use a plate and frame when the OA temp allows. It is set up to switch at 38 F.
Our steam boilers and HTHW boilers run year round.
This is in support of the hospital on campus and to feed the outlaying buildings.
( the hospital is the driver for this temp setting )
Older brick building with 3 towers and basins right above the chillers.
3 Trane CenTraVac (1200 ton) in use as of now.