Air Conditioning Systems Using Modular Chillers

For many in the air conditioning industry, modular chillers are a dream come true. As cooling and air
conditioning systems continue to age and the demand on them rises, chiller conversion and
replacement decisions are imminent for most building and facility managers. There are many options
to choose from and choosing the right solution means a lot of research. When it comes to building
renovations, retrofits, or the replacing of existing cooling systems that are either too expensive to
repair or operate, modular chillers are often the perfect solution. Our modular chillers are a popular
alternative to conventional chilling systems for three main reasons: low installation costs, low
operating costs and low maintenance or repair costs.
1. Low installation costs are an important consideration for anyone who has to install a cooling
system in the basement of an older building or in a mechanical room on the top floor of a multi-story
building without altering the building. This applies to anyone, for that matter, who has to install an air
conditioning system in a place that is hard to reach without major renovations. Modular chillers can be
installed without any significant interruption to your business and without incurring the enormous cost
of renovating your building. Because of their small footprint, they can easily fit through most standard
doorways, hallways or stairwells and even in the smallest of equipment rooms. You won't need any
special moving equipment, except perhaps a dolly, and these modular chillers are compatible with
most existing water piping systems.
2. Low operation costs are just as important, if you want a cooling system that is energy efficient,
expandable, reliable, quiet and environmentally friendly. A modular chiller is more efficient than the
older centrifugal chiller under full and part-load conditions, which can mean significant savings given
that most chillers operate 95 percent of the time or more under part-load conditions. Modular chillers
use a refrigerant that is more environmentally friendly than most and usually consumes only one-fifth
of the refrigerant that is consumed by conventional chillers. They are more environmentally sound in
the sense that they give you more control over how and when your building is cooled, thereby
reducing any wasteful use of energy. Thanks to their built-in microprocessor controls, it is much easier
for you to match your cooling load and to cool a room when needed. These chillers are also super quiet
(79 dB(A)), allowing you to put them where you want. They are reliable to the extent that the cooling
process never needs to be interrupted, even if there is an equipment breakdown and they are
compatible with most building automation systems for remote on/off control. All these features mean
much lower operating costs than you would ever find with conventional cooling systems.
3. Low maintenance and repair costs are one more reason to go with a modular chilling solution.
This cost, however, is not the same for every modular chiller design. Some designs absorb the cost
associated with equipment failure, by giving you the option to purchase a backup unit in case the
primary chiller breaks down. Other designs, like the one by Tandem Chillers, make it possible to
remove the defective piece of equipment, repair it and then reinstall it, all without interrupting the
cooling process. Having this option saves on buying extra chillers for stand-by. In addition to this,
modular chillers are generally designed so that most parts can be purchased at your local wholesaler
and fixed by a qualified local HVAC professional.

Replacing Existing Air Conditioning Systems

Replacing your air conditioning system with a modular chiller is not a decision you can make until you
are confident that this solution will work for your own particular building. Older buildings, hi-rise
apartments, office buildings, hospitals and casinos each present their own unique challenges. Each
building has its own distinctive function and structure, which will have an impact on your decision.
More often than not, the decision to replace is driven by long-term costs. Aside from lower installation
and maintenance costs, a new modular chiller gives you the opportunity to better match current and
future cooling demands. Older cooling systems were often sized for the original load of a facility.
However, since installation, many facilities require a greater cooling load because of more people,
technology and square footage. By better matching current loads with new units, you can get better
performance and operating efficiencies. Regardless of what type of building you are dealing with, there
are three things to consider before you can decide if a modular chiller is for you.
1. Determine Your Cooling Load
Determine how many tons of cooling are required to meet the variable cooling loads created by the
building, such as climate, number of people traveling through the building, the type of equipment , etc.
2. Estimate Accessibility
Determine how difficult it will be to install a chiller in your building. In most cases the room where the
chiller is going to be installed is accessed through a narrow staircase, hallway or by elevator. In many
instances, buildings were constructed around the cooling system, making it virtually impossible to
extract the old system and replace it with a new one. Physical site constraints often demand that the
installation of a modular chiller unit must be done in stages where modules are delivered in sections
and assembled on site.
3. Calculate Your Cooling Load Variation
Determine whether or not there are activities in the building that will create an occupant load within
the building which varies greatly throughout the day and the week. This results in a wider than usual
range of cooling loads and complex operating and technical requirements for the chiller plant which are
most efficiently met through the use of a modular chiller. Try, if you can, to calculate future cooling
load ranges, given that there will probably be more people in your building, newer equipment, and
expansion. Whatever you decide, make sure that the cooling system you purchase has all the controls
needed to handle these cooling variations.

Health Facilities -hospitals, retirement homes, clinics.

When it comes to upgrading existing air conditioning systems in a health facility such as a hospital,
retirement home or clinic, there are several requirements that must be met. Given that most health
facilities are largely underfunded, most buildings are older and still rely on air conditioning technology
that is no longer energy efficient. Since the facilities are usually in a business which deals with large
numbers of people with health related problems, the buildings are large, multi-storied facilities
containing a lot of equipment that generates heat. In most cases, the building was built around the
cooling system in either a small mechanical room in the basement or in a small room near the top of
the building.
Replacing this system with a conventional chiller is going to be difficult without using heavy moving
equipment, i.e., helicopters or cranes, and knocking down many walls to get the chiller into the

basement. Not only is this going to be expensive and time consuming, it also means a major disruption
to the daily operation of the facility and is very hard on the patients themselves. In cases like this, the
only solution is one that does not involve excessive reconstruction or any major disruption of the
facility's daily operation. Moreover, the cooling system must be relatively quiet and safe so as not to
disturb the building occupants. The unit must be compact since space will be extremely limited and it
has to be able to tie into existing water piping.
Historical Buildings - state capitol buildings, museums, churches.
When you have an older building with no air conditioning or an obsolete system that can no longer do
the job, you are often talking about a building that was built before air conditioning was even invented.
It is usually a building where corridors and doors are only designed only for human passage. Walls are
thick, and often the main element of support, as in a brick-built house, making them hard to remove
or tear down. The cooling system, if there is one, is in a very small room in the basement. Upgrading
the cooling system or installing a new system in an older building is going to be overly expensive and
time consuming unless you can do the job without a ny renovations. The new system will have to be
small enough to fit in the equipment room and it will have to fit through small doorways and stairways.
In some cases, the new system will have to sit beside the old system because the old system can't be
extracted without removing walls and widening doorways.
In an older building, there are obvious clues that a chiller is ready to be replaced: it has exceeded its
expected service life,it is costing more to maintain the system and it is wasting energy. A new chiller is
more energy efficient, will eliminate the CFC problem, reduce maintenance costs and is more compact,
allowing you to put 2,500 tons of cooling in the footprint of a 1,500-ton chiller. This gives more you
more capacity without sacrificing more space. This is an important consideration when space is an
issue.

buildings, banks.

Government and Commercial Buildings - courts, office

In any government or commercial building, the biggest obstacle to replacing the cooling system will to
be the impact on the daily operation of the building. With so much depending on the operation of a
government or a business, any interruption in the daily activity of the building is to be avoided at all
costs. The second major problem is the fact that these buildings require cooling all year long even
though these requirements can vary rapidly at any given moment. Extreme wide load variations
throughout the year demand that you have more control over the cooling system than is possible.
Cooling systems for government and commercial buildings are often located in basement mechanical
rooms and are accessed through a narrow staircase, hallway, or by elevator. Non-modular chillers
have larger physical dimensions, requiring structural alterations to the foundation walls and the
construction of an area well to allow for the delivery of the unit. Significant renovations within areas
such as a basement mechanical room, and storage areas, including the relocation of major electrical
and mechanical equipment on site, would also be necessary to allow for the installation of a larger
unit. The additional construction work would nearly double the chiller installation costs and potentially
disrupt everyday operations.
Entertainment Venues - casinos, restaurants, bars, halls, hotels, art galleries.

In buildings such as casinos, restaurants and hotels there are often cooling requirements that are
unique to all entertainment venues. Entertainment venues are often places that hold many people or
often see an extremely large transfer of people. Since the amount of traffic can change quickly, the
building usually requires a rapidly changing cooling load that can change to suit each room in the
building. Because most entertainment venues are constantly growing, expandability is desirable and
necessary.
Cooling systems for hotels and casinos are often located in basement mechanical rooms and are
accessed through a narrow staircase, hallway or by elevator. Non-modular chillers have larger physical
dimensions, requiring structural alterations to the foundation walls and the construction of an area well
to allow for the delivery of the unit. Significant renovations within areas such as a basement
mechanical room, and storage areas, including the relocation of major electrical and mechanical
equipment on site would also be necessary to allow for the installation of a larger unit. The additional
construction work would nearly double the chiller installation costs and potentially disrupt operations.

colleges, schools, labs, data centres.

Education and Technical Institutions - universities,

In most educational and technical facilities, the same problems are often encountered when it comes
to upgrading the cooling system. The systems are usually located in the basement in a mechanical
room that is small and awkward to access. These systems are often unreliable, inefficient and would
cost too much to replace even if that were possible. In some cases, a single cooling source is
responsible for supplying air conditioning to multiple buildings. These institutions are unique in their
functions for several reasons. Being designed for education and experimentation, they have a large
need for heat generating equipment such as computers and lasers, are often in need of expansion, and
require a comfortable working environment for students, teachers, scientists, etc.
These factors make selecting the right cooling solution a challenge. The daily activities of these
institutions cannot be disrupted. The cooling system must be reliable, safe, quiet and environmentally
sound, given the nature of the work that goes on in these types of buildings. The biggest obstacle is
the matter of control. Control over the cooling, where and when it takes place, is more important than
in any other setting. Rigid standards must be in place to ensure that normal everyday functions
continue to operate without any problems. It has to be possible to cool each room according to the
needs of its occupants and equipment. Since these buildings are in operation year round, these
controls have to be in place for the entire year and capable of handling a wide range of cooling needs.
Industrial Processes - plastics, rubber, metal working, plating, die casting, printing, food,
pharmaceutical, cosmetics, chemical and petrochemical.
It is a common mistake in any typical industrial setting to install a cooling system that is eventually
incapable of providing the required process cooling due to expansion. If you have an industrial process
where expansion is inevitable but difficult to anticipate or calculate, a modular chilling system is the
perfect answer.
Designed specifically for future expansion, with fully assembled external water piping our modular
chillers are easy to install, remove and re-install for service when required. When you expand your
process, a new module can be brought in and installed within a matter of hours with little downtime.

Our high efficiency - high EER (energy efficiency ratio) modular chiller system is designed so that
chiller units can be field-coupled to meet large tonnage requirements with an ongoing energy
savings throughout the life of the chilling system. With a small footprint, these units occupy less
space than a larger tonnage unit or units. Our system is specifically designed for future expansions by
allowing chiller units to be added in stages to precisely match cooling load requirements.
With our microprocessor controller in each chiller and a master control unit incorporating our exclusive
"intelligent chiller control program", we can signal potential problems before they happen, saving
costly down time, and stage compressors on system temperature, thereby accurately maintaining the
leaving water temperature and saving energy by operating compressors only as they are required.
Our control system has its own unique maintenance program operating in the background to manage
the following functions: lead-lag compressors, equalize compressor run time, totalize compressor run
time for viewing, monitor phase loss and reversal, under and over voltage, and voltage imbalance,
prevent compressor short cycling (minimum run time and off time) and stage compressor starts so
that one compressor at a time starts to ease inrush current.
Tandem Chillers, 111 Esna Park Drive, Unit 7, Markham, Ontario, L3R 1H2
Toll Free: 1.877.513.8310 ~ Email: sales@tandemchillers.com

Equipment

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Free Cooling
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Applications:

Computer Room
Process
Plastics
Air Conditioning
Ice Making
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