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Effects of Glycol in Chiller Tonnage

Chillers (cooled with either air or water) add an extension component to cooling systems, such as commercial Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning systems or manufacturing cooling networks. Water-cooled chillers often contain an antifreeze mixture, such as glycol, in the water. Glycol produces many effects within the chiller, depending on the system's tonnage rating.

Chiller Features
- A chiller functions much like a standard air conditioning system by producing a cold water mixture that circulates through a processing machine or commercial forced air conditioning system. The chiller's cold water cools the machine or building. As a result, the water that returns to the chiller is warm. The chiller uses a compressor, condenser and evaporator to convert the warm water back into cold water, cooling the machine or building once again.
Chiller Tonnage and Glycol
- Chillers are installed based on a tonnage value. Tonnage refers to the cooling capacity of the particular chiller. A chiller with a large tonnage value, such as 2,000 tons, will cool a large machine or commercial building, whereas a tonnage value of 150 tons will cool only a tiny machine or small room. Adding glycol to a chiller lowers the water's freezing point, preventing freeze-ups within the chiller's evaporator portion. Preventing evaporator freezing helps prolong the chiller's lifespan. It also makes the chiller more efficient. Typically, 40 percent of the water mixture in a chiller is glycol.
Glycol Considerations
- Although glycol prevents evaporator freezing, the mixture negatively affects energy costs. Glycol adds extra viscosity to the moving chiller water. As a result, more force must be applied to the water in order to move it through the chiller's system. Overall, more energy is required to run a chiller with a glycol solution than one with a pure water flow.
Installation Considerations
- Each chiller installation is unique to the system it is intended to cool. As a result, calculations must be made to choose the correct chiller tonnage to effectively cool the machine or building without wasting energy. An extremely large chiller tonnage can waste energy if applied to a small machine, especially if glycol is part of the system. In contrast, using a small chiller tonnage with glycol to cool a large machine or building will require more energy to run and may damage the chiller by overworking its components.

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