Water Cooled Centralized Air Conditioning System Works

This table compares air cooled and water cooled systems using national averages for a 400 ton cooling system.

Water cooled centralized air conditioning system works.

The chilled water branches off the risers into smaller diameter pipes which head to the fan coil units fcu s and air handling units ahu s to provide air conditioning. The difference is that they remove heat from chilled water by exhausting the heat to a second isolated water line called the condenser water line. Water cooled air conditioner is also called water cooled condenser as its function is to reject the heat that was absorbed by the refrigerant in the evaporator. Parts of a central ac system to get a better sense of how your air is cooled it helps to know a little bit about the parts that make up the air conditioning system.

There are several different ways that water is used in air conditioning. Chilled water systems in a chilled water system the entire air conditioner is installed on the roof or behind the building. 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. In the chilled water plants the refrigerant first chills the water.

The chilled water is then piped throughout the building and connected to air handlers. Water cooled chillers are almost always located inside of a building. A central air conditioner is like a giant refrigerator for your house. In most chiller applications a water cooled condenser uses a cooling tower to reduce the temperature of the condenser.

The ahu s and fcu s are basically boxes with fans inside that suck air in from the building and push it across the heating or cooling coils to change the temperature. In fact it employs the same types of components materials and systems as a refrigerator including a refrigerant that changes from liquid to gas and back to liquid as it travels through a system of tubes and coils or fins that collect and give off heat. The most common use is in cooling towers a cooling tower can be any size from really gigantic down to the size of an automobile. They work almost the same way as air cooled chillers.

It cools water to between 40 and 45 degrees fahrenheit 4 4 and 7 2 degrees celsius. A typical central air conditioning system is a two part or split system that includes. Note that each specific cooling system should be analyzed because of variances mineral content of make up water system load annual hours of operation etc to determine site specific energy savings greenhouse gas ghg reductions. In this case the water loop system is separated from the chilled water that goes to the building.

The water that has been cooled by the evaporated water at the cooling tower will enter the condenser at 85 f or 29 c. A chilled water system using an air cooled chiller water cooled chiller. Water is used to cool the hot air refrigerant 180 f or 82 c from the compressor by pumping counter flow water in the condenser.