How to Connect the Refrigerant Pipes of Large Water Chillers?

 In large-scale ice water chillers such as industrial water chillers, explosion-proof screw water chillers, low-temperature water chillers (adjustable from -40°C to -5°C), special water chillers for the electroplating industry (acid and alkali resistant), and other products have been doing the following tests and provide personnel to the site to guide the installation.

The connection method of the refrigerant pipe. Before connecting the chiller to the pipe of the system, we must first release the nitrogen stored in the chiller (the pressure is about 0.5bar). The requirement for the refrigerant system is that it must maintain a high degree of cleanliness, so the inside of the chiller must be dry and clean, with no deposits, and no oxygen. During soldering, dry nitrogen, use low-melting silver-copper alloy solder, and control its melting degree to reduce the generation of dirt in the pipeline. There are two other situations that can cause fouling.

1. The refrigerant remaining in the pipeline of the chiller (even in a non-pressure state) must be vacuumed and purged with nitrogen. It is not easy to produce acidic substances after heating due to refrigerant, lubricating oil, etc.

2. If the chiller cannot confirm that the inside of the refrigeration system is completely clean, it is recommended to install a large-capacity filter near the suction line of the compressor and remove it after the system runs for a period of time.

Next, the liquid refrigerant pipe connected by the chiller should not exceed the outlet pipe of the chiller to reduce the loss of cooling capacity. If you want to improve the oil return performance of the chiller system, it is necessary to minimize the inner diameter of the rising suction pipe under the premise of controlling the pressure drop and noise to ensure sufficient refrigerant oil flow rate. In addition, in order to prevent the lubricating oil from being carried by the refrigerant back to the compressor cylinder head through the exhaust pipe, an oil trap or a one-way valve should sometimes be used on the exhaust pipe. When using thread or flange connection, pay attention to the correct fastening method to avoid distortion and damage to the pipeline, and to ensure the flatness and tightness of the joint. Connecting pipes should use appropriate fixing clamps to reduce vibration transmission and pipeline damage caused by vibration.

The inlet/outlet pipe of the condenser of the chiller can be galvanized steel pipe, stainless steel pipe, plastic hose or copper pipe, etc. After the system test runs, the pipeline between the evaporator outlet and the compressor can be covered or wrapped with insulation material.

The above information is provided by water-cooled chiller factory.