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System water considerations
All chilled water systems need adequate time to recognize a load
change, respond to the change and stabilize to avoid undesirable
compressor short cycling or loss of temperature control.
In air conditioning systems, the potential for short cycling often
occurs when the building load drops below the minimum capacity
of the chiller plant or in tightly coupled systems with very small
water volumes. Some of the aspects that the designer should
consider when studying water volume are the minimum cooling
load, the minimum capacity of the chiller plant during the low-load
period, and the desired cycle time for the compressors. Assuming
there are no sudden loads and the chiller plant has a reasonable
drawdown, the rule of thumb of “water volume in gallons equals
two to three times the chilled water flow rate in gpm” is often used.
A storage tank may have to be added to the system to achieve the
recommended volume.
The quality of water supplied by the owner/occupant/operator/
user to a cooling system should minimize corrosion, scale
buildup, erosion, and biological growth to achieve optimum
efficiency of HVAC equipment without creating a hazard to
operating personnel or the environment. Filters should be used to
protect cooling systems from waterborne debris. Clima Flex is not
responsible for damage caused by waterborne debris or damage
to chiller heat exchangers due to improper water treatment.
Water systems should be cleaned and flushed prior to chiller
installation. Testing and water treatment should be verified during
initial chiller installation/commissioning and should be maintained
on an ongoing basis by water treatment professionals.
! CAUTION !
Improper use of detergents, chemicals and additives in the
cooling system water can adversely affect the performance
of the chiller and potentially result in repair costs not covered
under warranty. Any decision to use these products is at
the discretion of the owner/occupant/operator/user, and the
owner/occupant/operator/user assumes full responsibility for
any damage that may occur due to their use.
Evaporator freeze protection
Evaporator freezing can be a problem in the application of air-
cooled water chillers in sub-zero temperature areas. To protect
against freezing, the evaporator comes with insulation.
Although the evaporator is equipped with freeze protection, it does
not protect the water piping external to the unit or the evaporator
itself if there is a power failure or heater burnout, or if the chiller
cannot control the chilled water pumps.
It is important that the chilled water pumps are connected to and
controlled by the chiller’s microprocessor. The controller will
activate the pump whenever at least one chiller circuit is enabled
for operation.
This helps ensure proper start-up sequence of the unit. The
pump will also turn on when the water temperature is below the
freeze set point for longer than the specified time to help prevent
evaporator freeze-up. Connection points are shown in the field
wiring diagram beginning on page 34+.
! CAUTION !
Adding glycol or draining the system is the recommended
method of freeze protection. If the chiller does not have
the ability to control the pumps and the water system is not
drained or does not have adequate glycol at subfreezing
temperatures, catastrophic evaporator failure can occur.
If the chiller is not allowed to control the pump, the following
problems may occur:
1. If the chiller attempts to start without first starting the pump,
the chiller will lock up with the no flow alarm and require a
manual restart.
2. If the chiller evaporator water temperature drops below the
“freezing set point”, the chiller will attempt to start the water
pumps to prevent evaporator freezing.
3. If the chiller does not have the ability to start the pumps, the
chiller will alarm for lack of water flow.
4. If the chiller does not have the ability to control the pumps
and the water system must not be drained in freezing tem-
peratures or contain glycol, the chiller may be subject to cata-
strophic evaporator failure due to freezing.
FLOW SWITCH
All chillers require a chilled water flow switch to verify that there
is adequate water flow through the evaporator and to shut down
the unit if necessary to prevent evaporator freeze-up under low or
no flow conditions.
A factory-installed thermal dispersion flow switch will be installed
on packaged models. On remote evaporator models, the flow
switch can be supplied separately in the field, or optionally
shipped loose for field installation. Terminals for field mounting
Ten percent of 200 gpm equals a change of 20 gpm per minute,
or a minimum of three minutes to go from the maximum flow to
the desired flow.
If the flow rate falls below the minimum allowable, large reductions
in heat transfer can occur. If the flow rate exceeds the maximum,
excessive pressure drop and tube erosion can occur.
Use one of the following recommendations for additional freeze
protection:
1. If the unit will not operate during the winter, drain the evapora-
tor and chilled water lines and flush them with glycol.
2. Add a glycol solution to the cold water system. Breakage pro-
tection should be approximately 10°F below the minimum de-
sign ambient temperature.
3. Insulate exposed piping.
4. Add thermostatically controlled heat by wrapping lines with
heat tape.
5. When glycol is added to the water system for freeze protec-
tion, the refrigerant suction pressure will be lower, the cooling
performance will be lower, and the water side pressure drop
will be higher.