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Chillers

Chillers, air handling units (AHU), and rooftop units (RTU) are commonly used in HVAC systems for commercial buildings. Chillers generate chilled water which is circulated to AHUs and FCUs to extract heat from air before it is distributed. Water-cooled chillers use cooling towers to reject heat, while air-cooled chillers use fans. AHUs are usually inside and connected to chillers, while RTUs are self-contained units on rooftops with integrated cooling and fans. Both AHUs and RTUs distribute conditioned air through ductwork.

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69 views7 pages

Chillers

Chillers, air handling units (AHU), and rooftop units (RTU) are commonly used in HVAC systems for commercial buildings. Chillers generate chilled water which is circulated to AHUs and FCUs to extract heat from air before it is distributed. Water-cooled chillers use cooling towers to reject heat, while air-cooled chillers use fans. AHUs are usually inside and connected to chillers, while RTUs are self-contained units on rooftops with integrated cooling and fans. Both AHUs and RTUs distribute conditioned air through ductwork.

Uploaded by

BRANDON
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chillers, AHU, RTU How they work

In this article we will be looking at how chillers, AHU’s and RTU’s work together, the
difference between them and the basic working principles behind each of them. Chillers, Air
Handling Units and Rooftop units are used extensively within HVAC systems for commercial
properties. You can watch the video on this article by scrolling to the bottom!

If you’re looking for high quality refrigeration components and solutions, then I recommend
checking out what Danfoss has to offer. Danfoss has a wide variety of air conditioning solutions
available for Chillers, Air Handling Units (AHU’s) and Rofftop Units (RTU’s). Their parts
portfolio includes compressors, heat exchangers, drives, electronics and sensors, valves, and
system protectors, all designed to help you boost efficiency and bring your systems in line with
current and future refrigerant regulations. Learn more about Danfoss air conditioning solutions
at http://www.airconditioning.Danfoss.com

Chillers

Chillers are used to generate chilled, or cold, water which is pumped around the building to
provide air conditioning by collecting unwanted heat.

There are two main types of chillers, Air cooled and Water cooled. The term “Air” or “Water”
cooled just tells the engineer how the chillers condenser is rejecting heat from the building.
Water cooled Chillers

Water cooled chillers are typically located in the basement or lowest floor of a building. This
type of chiller needs a cooling tower to reject the heat from the building. The chiller produces
chilled water and pushes this around the building to Air Handling Units (AHU’s) and Fan Coil
Units (FCU’s) etc. These units circulate air around the local space as well as the building. The air
is forced across heat exchangers, containing the chilled water, which extracts the unwanted heat
before the air is distributed throughout the building.

The unwanted heat that is extracted from the air collects in the chilled water loop. This loop
circulates back to the chiller and once it reaches the evaporator, the unwanted heat will be
transferred over to the chillers condenser via a refrigerant loop.

The condenser absorbs this heat and then dumps it into the “condenser water” loop which runs
between the chillers condenser and the cooling tower. The cooling tower will force ambient air
across the condenser water to extract the unwanted heat. The fan within the cooling tower forces
this heat to leave the system, and building, and is ejected into the atmosphere. In this instance the
condenser of the chiller has been cooled by water so it is a water cooled chiller.
Water cooled chillers are typically used on large commercial properties with high cooling loads,
you can tell if a building has a water cooled chiller because it will need cooling towers which are
typically on the roof. There will usually be more than 1 chiller and cooling tower, its not
uncommon to have at least 2 or 3 or even more just for redundancy as well as variations in
cooling demand.

Air cooled chillers

The air is forced to circulate around the building, and local space, and will pass across heat
exchangers within the AHU and FCU’s. This unwanted heat is again transferred over to the
condenser of the chiller from the evaporator. It is transferred via a refrigerant which loops
continuously between the evaporator and condenser and is forced by the compressor. The
difference with this type of chiller is that a fan blows air over the condenser which removes the
heat. So in this instance the condenser of the chiller has been cooled by air, therefore it is an air
cooled chiller.

Air cooled chillers are typically located outside because they need access to a lot of ambient air
in order to reject the heat. This type of chiller can usually be found on medium to large
commercial properties.

Air Handling Units & Rooftop Units

These two system both serve a very similar purpose and can look fairly alike. Both of these are
used to distribute air around the building and will contain fans to achieve this. They will both
take in fresh ambient air and clean this through a filter before heating or cooling the air to suit
the demands within the building. The main difference between the two is how the air is heated or
cooled and we’ll look at each of these to learn the basics of how the work.

Air handling units (AHU’s)

Air handling units are also referred to as AHU’s for short. AHU’s are typically located inside the
building although you can also find these within rooftop plant rooms and its becoming more
common to find robust, weather tight, AHU’s sitting out in the open on the roof, to free up
valuable space inside the building. Their purpose is to distribute air around defined areas within
the building.

Sometimes one AHU will supply the whole building but its common in newer buildings to have
multiple smaller AHU’s feeding different parts to provide a better indoor environment as well as
energy savings. AHU’s typically do not have their own cooling system built in, instead they will
be connected to a central plant water or air cooled chiller, occasionally they will use some sort of
split a/c unit and you can also find these connected to district cooling networks.
How AHU works, Air Handling Unit

AHU’s are connected to duct work which provides a defined route for the air to travel around the
building. In a simple form, an AHU will use a fan to suck in fresh ambient outside air which will
then pass through some filters to remove any dirt and dust. It will then pass through the cooling
and heating coil heat exchangers which, as discussed, are typically fed from central plant units.
Once the air has passed over these coils it will be pushed out around the building. Another set of
duct work will be collecting the warm used air from the rooms and will bring this back to the
AHU via another fan. This fan will then eject the air from the AHU and building.

Rooftop units (RTU’s)


RTU on roof
These units are always located on the roof, as the name suggests. They are very common in
shops and small commercial properties and are popular because they are simple, compact, self-
contained, all in one HVAC units. Their purpose is to distribute conditioned air around define
areas within a building. RTU’s are also connected to duct work which provides a defined route
for the conditioned air to travel along. RTU’s typically have their own inbuilt refrigeration
system to provide cooling only, but they can also contain a heat pump or a separate heat source
such as gas fired heater.

RTU Rooftop Unit animation


RTU’s house all the components within the rooftop unit. This contains a number of dampers to
control the flow of air and can allow air re circulation, if conditions are right. The unit will also
contain filters, to clean the air, as well as heating and cooling coils and at least 1 central fan. The
refrigeration system is also connected, typically to the back or side, to control the temperature.

The fresh ambient air is sucked in via the fan and passes across the dampers. It then passes
through the filters to remove any dust and dirt before its temperature is adjusted in the heat
exchanger. The fan then pushes this out into the building to condition the space. Another duct
will collect the warm used air from the rooms and will distribute this back to the rooftop unit
where it will be ejected or recirculated, if that option is available and conditions are right.

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