This guide gives an overview of chillers and how to select the right one for your specific application. Also included is a list of recommended chiller/equipment pairings.
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When you’re new to extraction, it feels overwhelming enough to discover that you may need a chiller system—let alone that there are a whole bunch of different types of chillers available for purchase. To start, it helps to know that the words “chiller,” “refrigerated circulator.” and “recirculating chiller” virtually mean the same thing. Determining the right one for your needs can be as simple as asking yourself a few starter questions:
Let’s find your answers together.
The temperature you’re trying to reach and the capacity of your system are large factors in determining the kind of extraction chiller needed. Consider that you’re looking to dewax solvent with a 4" x 24" fully jacketed column.
Will there be any heat load on the chiller from this application? The answer is no: the solvent is not being evaporated so there is no heat load to the recirculating chiller.
When dewaxing, you’re looking to achieve the coldest temperature possible. Because you own a fully jacketed column, a chiller like our AD 15L—instead of something like a —would be your best bet. That’s because its temperature range is -30℃-200℃. That means that you should be able to reach as low as -30℃ since there’s no heat load.
Use the volume capacity of the jacket to select an extraction chiller that’ll hold about twice as much liquid volume. This should ensure that enough cold liquid is circulating throughout the column so it reaches the correct temperature sooner.
If you’d also like to use a chiller for a solvent tank, use the same calculation to find the jacket or internal coil volume: whichever the cold liquid will circulate through. This number should tell you whether your chiller has enough fluid capacity and a low-enough temperature range to cool a solvent tank too.
Chiller systems can work by using either vapor absorption or vapor compression. Vapor absorption chillers run on heat to maneuver a cooling agent across the system, while vapor compression chillers rely on an electro-mechanical compressor to do so.
The two types of vapor compression chillers are air chillers and water chillers. Here, air and water are used respectively to remove heat from the chiller system. The fan of an air chiller takes more energy to blow air on the condenser tubes than a water chiller would, but it’s an easy stationary installation job.
In a water chiller, water is pumped throughout a cooling tower by a sealed condenser. Dissipating heat via evaporation takes less energy because water has a high heat capacity. In general, a water recirculating chiller should outlast an air chiller.
Rotovaps need circulator chillers to maintain certain temperatures and recover solvents. During the evaporation of solvents in a rotovap, the solvent vapor will be quite warm. This means there’ll be a larger heat load on the chiller than with other applications, so it’ll require a high cooling capacity. Because of this, it’ll probably have a smaller temperature range, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Maintaining 10℃ is much easier than maintaining -40℃.
When using a rotovap, the goal is to be as close to 0℃ as possible, although anything up to 15℃ will work. Applications with larger heat loads will require higher cooling capacities. Most chiller manufacturers provide cooling capacities at different set temperatures which can be used to compare and select the correct chiller for your application.
When deciding what type of fluid to buy for your extraction chiller, start with the temperature range that matches up with it. We always recommend Dynalene HC-50 for its low toxicity and non-flammability. HC-50 will start to congeal around -50℃. It’s a good choice for applications that don't need to get colder than this.
If you need lower temperatures—go with an ethanol mixture. Although ethanol won’t freeze until -173℉: it’s highly flammable. Extreme caution should be taken while using it as a chilling fluid. When selecting chiller tubing, look at your chiller’s pump specifications. That’ll give you a good idea of the pressure the pump is putting behind the liquid.
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Ensure the tubing selected by chemical compatibility with the chiller fluid being used, temperature range of the application, and pressure rated higher than the max operating pressure of the chiller. Failure to pair the correct tubing will cause the tubing to burst immediately or over a longer period of time. If you are operating at low temperature, there are insulated hoses that can reduce thermal losses to ambient exposure. Condensation forming on the tubing or the jacket of a column are signs that there are thermal losses in your setup and it requires insulation. Insulating all components that will be chilled increases efficiency of the chiller to reach the desired temperature.
For certain recirculating chiller system applications, we might only really need a heater. An example of this would be when you’re heating a jacketed base during recovery. Heating is simpler to figure out because it’s much easier to heat a liquid than cool it while at room temperature. You’ll notice some of the extraction chillers we’ve already discussed, such as the Polyscience 15L AD, have a large temperature range. This one heats up to 200℃. This means you could use this chiller for both heating and cooling.
During the recovery process the evaporation of solvent creates a cooling load on the internal components of the vessel, this is known as evaporative cooling. This puts a cooling load on the heater and will lower the temperature. Having a higher heating capacity will help you maintain the temperature and speed up the recovery process.
Heaters can also be used in the decarboxylation and distillation process. Under both of these processes a cooling load may be minimal or not present at all depending if solvent is still present. For these applications a higher temperature range heater is needed. If the reactor is larger, more heating capacity is needed at the desired temperature. Distillation temperatures are higher, but the heater still acts as a means of condensing hot vapors. Some heater manufacturers also provide cooling capacities at higher temperatures. However, if this is not available then the correct heater can be selected by temperature range and heating capacity.
Buying just a heater will always be more affordable than a chiller. However, if you have multiple applications requiring both heating and cooling, it’s better to buy a chiller with a large temperature range to achieve both.
When deciding what type of fluid to buy for your heater, start with the desired operating temperature that will be used in your application. The most common fluid used for heaters operating over 100°C are silicone based. BVV also provides Therminol XP Heat Transfer Fluid for high temperature applications. The reason these fluids are used is because of their specific heat. Specific heat is a measurement that measures the amount of energy required to raise the fluid temperature by 1°C. If the heater requires less energy to raise the temperature, then the more efficient it will be to reach and maintain those temperatures. Make sure you are also using an approved fluid by the heating circulator manufacturer. Fluids may be corrosive or too thick for the heater pump.
Ensure the tubing selected by chemical compatibility with the heating fluid being used, temperature range of the application, and pressure rated higher than the max operating pressure of the heater. Failure to pair the correct tubing will cause the tubing to burst/melt immediately or over a longer period of time. If you are operating at high temperature there are insulated hoses that can reduce thermal losses to ambient exposure. Insulating all components that will be heated increases efficiency of the heater to reach the desired temperature.
Shop all these recommended chillers and more at BVV.
Chillers are effective at cooling in commercial environments. Chillers require chemical water treatment maintenance to perform efficiently and to prevent problems.
Chillers are common in various commercial and industrial applications such as HVAC cooling, manufacturing machinery cooling, ice rink cooling, and much more. Water and glycol are used as the medium to transfer heat. Chillers utilize refrigerant, a commonly utilized chemical that is able to transfer heat. The refrigerant in the chiller will change from liquid to gas, or from gas to liquid. Inside a chiller, water or glycol enters the evaporator heating the refrigerant. Then the refrigerant boils and changes from a state of liquid to a gas. This gas then moves to the compressor where it adds significant pressure. Next, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gets cooled in the condenser. In the condenser, the gas changes its state back into a liquid. Finally, the liquid is sent to the expansion valve which reduces its pressure. The cycle then begins again as it moves into the evaporator. To keep a chiller cooling efficiently with minimal energy and water usage, a chemical water treatment program is needed. Common issues such as corrosion, scale, and bacteria fouling will cause inefficiency and damage to your chiller system without chemicals.
US Ethylene Glycol Price Index Over Six Years
Glycol is an effective liquid medium of heat transfer with antifreeze properties for chiller systems. Its drawbacks include its low thermal conductivity compared to water and its price, which has increased significantly in recent years. There are two main types of glycols, ethylene and propylene. Ethylene is not food-grade and is less expensive than its counterpart. Additionally, ethylene glycol is more efficient at conducting heat. Propylene Glycol is food-safe and does not have as many regulations when it comes to flushing it. Glycols are mixed with water at different concentrations.
Chillers can either have just water or a combination of water and glycol. It is important that the temperature does not reach freezing or below or it is susceptible to damage and reduced water flow if only water is used. Cheap, and highly conductive, having a higher concentration of water flowing in your chiller system does come with benefits. Not all water is the same, however. High pH, or hard water, will not be as efficient as softer water. At Chardon Labs, we have noticed how much more chemicals and flushing are required in our hard water locations such as Indianapolis, vs our soft water locations such as Newark. In chiller systems with cooling towers, more regular flushing is required to maintain water quality, the number of flushes required is significantly reduced by chemical treatment, however.
A chiller can be utilized with a cooling tower, in an open loop. It can also be used without one, in a closed loop system. A closed loop system does not flush the water (usually for a long period of time), and it recirculates. In contrast, an open loop system has a cooling tower or water reservoir that exposes the water to the air. Open loop chiller systems require more chemicals to continually feed into the system, vs closed loops where this is mostly done initially.
Chardon Labs offers routine chemical testing and treatment services for chillers. In addition to this, we also treat the loops and cooling towers, taking care of all of the water treatment processes. We set up chemical feed pumps and controllers with remote monitoring. We select the appropriate chemicals necessary for your application, make regular adjustments based on on-site water tests, feed the chemicals at specific intervals, and then take care of the disposal of all chemical tanks. Need help? Contact Chardon Labs with a short contact form or call (380) 224-. Either way, we will get in touch with one of our expert local service managers.
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