German manufacturer Efficient Energy has introduced a new chiller with a 120kW (34.1TR) cooling capacity suitable for industrial cooling and using only water (R718) as refrigerant.
The new eChiller120 is up to 82% more energy efficient than conventional chiller systems, Efficient Energy said in a press release announcing the launch.
The eChiller120 model is suitable for process and machine cooling applications like laser heads, rollers and cooling basins; it can also be used for technical air conditioning of data centers and server rooms. The eChiller is best equipped to produce chilled-water temperatures between 16°C (61°F) and 22°C (72°F),
Efficient Energy, based in Feldkirchen, Germany, is ready to take orders for the new eChiller120, and expects to begin delivery in the summer of 2021.
“Our eChiller is the only series product worldwide that works with water as a refrigerant and therefore does not generate any direct CO2 emissions,” said Georg Dietrich, Efficient Energy GmbH’s CEO and Managing Director.
“With the eChiller120, we’ve diversified our product portfolio with a more powerful model which, thanks to a redesign, retains its compact form factor thereby improving flexibility of deployment,” Dietrich added.
The eChiller120 will complement Efficient Energy’s current range, which includes 35kW and 45kW (10 to 12.8TR) R718 chillers. Those units can be combined and scaled up to 300kW (85TR).
The previous units have been used for applications like data centers, industrial process cooling and high-temperature heat pumps, said Efficient Energy.
In the last six years, the company has implemented around 25 data center projects with eChillers in major data centers like British Telecom, a London-based telecommunications and broadband provider, the company said in July.
Very low pressures
So, how does the eChiller work? The eChillers use very low pressure and water vapor to create cooling, and only need one filling of softened tap water before being put into operation.
Water enters the evaporator, where around 1% of the water evaporates, drawing energy from the remaining water and cooling it down. The pressure inside the evaporator is around 18mbar (0.26psi). This near-total vacuum is created by the rotating impeller in the unit’s centrifugal compressor.
In the compressor, the pressure is then increased to 136mbar (1.97psi) and the temperature rises from 16°C (61°F) to 52°C (126°F). The water vapor is cooled down, condensed, and fed back into the evaporator through the expansion device.
The eChillers are not just suitable as standalone systems. They can also be connected to existing coolers, and for example do subcooling for transcritical CO2 systems.
Operating with water vapor in a near vacuum means that leakage tests, and gas sensor maintenance, aren’t needed. Also, because there is no risk of leakages and because of the low operating pressures, the European EN378 Safety Standard is not applicable.
With the eChiller120, we’ve diversified our product portfolio with a more powerful model which, thanks to a redesign, retains its compact form factor thereby improving flexibility of deployment
Georg Dietrich, Efficient Energy
