Industrial Applications for Industrial Water Chillers – What’s the Process?

Industrial water chillers are widely used in many types of processes and industries.  Their purpose is – quite simply – to remove heat from wherever there is excessive or undesirable build-up.  Many industrial processes generate excess amounts of heat, which must be removed for the process to run correctly and at its highest efficiency.

Let’s look at several processes where water chillers are essential for cooling and keeping systems running at optimal levels. Our chiller systems have been used in these and many other applications in the industry.

Plastic Manufacturing

This is a very heat-intensive process where a heater melts the plastic resin to a liquid state, for injection into the mould.  Chilled water is utilized to speed the moulding process.  A more efficient cooling system leads to a faster moulding process, creating a shorter cycle time, which is always desirable. Thus, the chiller helps increase production output.

Metal Plating Industry

Metal plating processes make extensive use of hydraulic systems.  The oil in these hydraulics needs an effective way to cool down for the whole system to work properly.  Water chiller systems are an effective way to cool the hydraulic oil.

Industrial Welding Processes

Industrial welding processes operate on very tight temperature tolerances.  A proper cooling system is essential to maintain a correct temperature to achieve effective bonding.  Without the chiller system in support of the process, the welding torch could overheat, causing a stoppage of the process.  Water chiller systems become especially important in robotic welding processes, where systems run uninterrupted for long periods of time.  

Working Conditions in Industrial Processes

Very often, water chiller systems are used to moderate interior conditions from an industrial facility where processes generate excessive levels of heat.  Left unaddressed, both the occupants and equipment could be negatively impacted by unacceptably high-temperature conditions on, for example, a factory floor.  In this regard, they perform a similar function to a water cooled HVAC system in a large commercial, residential, or institutional facility.

Power Generation Applications

Vapour compression chillers are frequently employed in turbine inlet cooling processes, as used in power generation plants.  The concept is to cool down the intake air of a gas turbine, to augment the system’s power output; it can also improve the energy efficiency of the system.

Chiller systems are also utilized in the biogas industry, as a means of dehumidifying, purifying and conditioning the biogas as an end product, for use in engines.  The chiller cooling system allows for the removal of water vapour, carbon dioxide, sulphur, and siloxane.  This application differs significantly from typical industrial water chiller processes.  We consider ourselves pioneers in the development of this type of use for our chiller systems; they are currently widely used in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.  It is an emerging market.

Industrial Medical Processes

Industrial medical chillers are utilized in extremely sensitive processes and applications, including surgical suites, CT scan and MRI machines, and oncology equipment.  They must meet very specific thermal requirements, and operate under very strict parameters, in clearly very sensitive conditions.

Concrete Batching Processes

Strict temperature control is essential in the production of concrete batches.  The ideal temperature during manufacture must be a constant +/- 35C.  The tolerance of the chilled water has to be a tight 0 to 2 degrees Celsius. During the batching process, chilled water is used in the cement, aggregate, and sand mix, along with some chemical additives, to become what is known as low-temperature concrete. In order to achieve extra, special strength for the concrete, the use of such tightly controlled chilled water is absolutely essential.

Chemical and Paint Processing Lines

Water chiller systems are widely used in all types of chemical and paint processing lines.  Heat is generated during the mixing of chemicals or coating raw materials, which must be extracted.  Chilled water is required to circulate through the jacketed tank so that temperatures are controlled during the mixing process.  Leaving such chemical reactions unchecked could result in both improper final product and hazardous conditions due to the heat generation.  Water Chiller systems play a vital role in these types of applications.

Food Production and Storage Facilities

Chilled water plays a very important role in just about any food processing plant or large-scale operation.  One example is in dairy processing.  During milk production, the raw product goes through a heating process called pasteurization, where an ultra-heat treatment (UHT) is used to kill bacteria in the milk.  Following this process, the milk product is at a high temperature, which must be reduced for further processing and packaging.  Chilled water is critical to bring down the product temperature, back to ambient levels, where its refinement can be completed; the finished product is packaged, and finally stored or shipped.

Pharmaceutical Production and Storage

Water chiller systems are very frequently used in many types of pharmaceutical production and storage.  Many of these processes are similar to the chemical processing applications already mentioned – heat generated by the chemical reactions during manufacturing of pharmaceutical products must be extracted to ensure the proper end result, very often to tight tolerances.  Chiller systems are also put into place for the exact temperature storage of finished products.

Laser Processes

Lasers are used in many processes, most common among them laser engraving machinery.  Most laser engraving machinery manufacturers stipulate that industrial water chiller systems be used for maximum efficiency of their products.  The chiller system is used to maintain and control the temperature of the laser.  The chiller system typically costs only a fraction of the cost of, for example, a laser engraving machine.  So it’s a very wise investment, and crucial to keeping such machinery running properly and safely.

These are just a few of the major applications for industrial water chillers, in various processes and how they are utilized to control and extract heat from them.  Clearly, they play an essential role in any industrial application that requires precise, cost-effective temperature control.  Without having chiller systems in place, most of the processes we’ve discussed would be unable to operate for any length of time, let alone at peak efficiency.

We hope you have found this summary useful.  We would be glad to hear from you, and respond to any questions or comments you may have.  Contact our team today.