Robson Industries Inc. will recommend the best Process Water Cooling System for your application. We integrate Chillers, Cooling Towers, and Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers as needed for each system. Below you will find some general guidelines to choose between the systems.
A good starting point is to determine the temperature you need to cool your fluid down to. Your geographic location will come into play, but if temperatures of 100°F and above are acceptable, an Air-Cooled Heat Exchanger System will work well with a low operating cost and zero water usage. If you need your fluid to be cool, meaning reliably 75°F and below, a Chiller System may be the right selection. For in-between temperature requirements, depending on your climate, the Evaporative Cooling Tower based solutions are effective.
A simple comparison of these cooling technologies:
- Mechanical chillers compress a refrigerant to allow cooling well below the ambient temperature
- Heat is usually exchanged to the atmosphere by condenser fans (air-cooled) or cooling towers (water-cooled)
- Can be used in almost any climate
- Cools process fluids below 0°F
- Automatic capacity controls cool precisely without wasteful over-cooling
- This can be the most expensive cooling technology to purchase
- Operating Expenses are higher in comparison to Cooling Towers and Heat Exchangers
Cooling Towers / Dual Loop Cooling Systems
- An Evaporative Cooling Tower can cool process fluids to below the ambient temperature depending on the humidity
- Water flows through the tower where it is cooled and evaporated by fans
- Evaporated water needs to be replaced during operation
- Process Fluids are usually isolated from the cooling tower loop by means of a Plate & Frame Heat Exchanger
- A Cooling Tower is most effective in a dry climate, but works almost anywhere
- Automatic capacity controls cool precisely without wasteful over-cooling
- Process temperatures of 85°F – 95°F are often ideal for this type of system
- The initial equipment cost is often the lowest of these systems
- Operating Expenses are lower than Chillers and can be similar to Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers
- An Air-Cooled Heat Exchanger works like a radiator to exchange heat from the process fluid to the atmosphere by blowing on tubes with fans
- Heat Exchangers can cool the process fluid to within 10°F of the ambient temperature
- The Heat Exchanger size increases depending on how close you need to be to the ambient temperature
- There is zero water loss using this technology, and generally only one loop of fluid
- If your process can tolerate 105°F+ temperatures during the hottest times of the year, this can be an effective solution
- Automatic capacity controls cool precisely without wasteful over-cooling
- The initial equipment cost is lower than a Chiller and can be similar to a Cooling Tower based system
Hybrid Systems
Robson Industries Inc. designs and manufactures hybrid cooling systems which include multiple cooling technologies. If you need 60°F water, for instance, our system would use a Chiller to cool the process during the summer months, but in the winter when it’s cooler outside, Air-Cooled Heat Exchangers will automatically switch on to provide the cooling required at a much lower operating expense.
Our engineers are Robson Industries Inc. will be happy to discuss your project and help you choose the type of system that works best for you.