What Is an Industrial Water Chiller and Why Do We Need It?

30 Jun.,2025

 

What Is an Industrial Water Chiller and Why Do We Need It?

An industrial water chiller is necessary for any factory with large machinery that generates constant heat. It helps keep your facility at a low temperature and cool down your internal machine equipment. So, understanding how these chillers work will help you make the right decision for your cooling needs. In this article, we will focus on industrial water chillers.

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What Is a Chiller? 

Chillers are widely used in commercial and industrial facilities. A chiller is a refrigeration system used to cool down liquid processes or mechanical equipment. The chiller’s primary function is to remove unwanted heat while maintaining a stable temperature, pressure, and current in the machine or production process. This is achieved by circulating the heat-absorbing process with the refrigeration cycle inside a chiller. 

Industrial chillers are used to control the cooling (direct or indirect) of products, mechanisms, and machinery in a variety of industries. Although there are different types of industrial chillers, all chillers use air or water as a cooling method during the refrigeration cycle. 

For example, the air-cooled chiller cools the chiller system with fans, while a water-cooled chiller cools the chiller system with circulated water from the cooling tower. These chiller systems are able to cool the water to below ambient temperature or below zero. Water chiller capacities are commonly measured in cooling tons, KCAL/hr, or BTU/hr.

Why Do You Need A Chiller System?

Industrial operations emit heat through the use of friction and high-powered equipment, such as furnaces or engines, or temperature-sensitive materials like plastics. To increase the lifespan of heavy-duty equipment, as well as to speed up production via a shortened cycle time, chiller units are installed to circulate cooled liquid through equipment. 

Selecting the right chiller for your application will help you save costs, reduce downtime, as well and elevate production capacity and operational efficiency. The two major industrial chillers applied in most facilities today are air-cooled and water-cooled chillers, which we will discuss further in the following section.

Types of Industrial Chillers: Air-Cooled & Water-Cooled Chillers

There are two types of condensers used in chillers: water-cooled and air-cooled. In a refrigerant cycle, the hot freon from the compressor has to be cooled in the condenser.  And then, it enters the expression valve into the evaporator to generate chilled water in the chiller and achieve the desired cooling cycle. 

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Air-Cooled Chillers

An air-cooled chiller is equipped with a condenser that uses ambient air to cool the hot refrigerant gas. It is usually installed in an area with good airflow, as it relies on the use of fans, instead of cooling towers, to facilitate heat dissipation. An air-cooled chiller unit actively absorbs the heat from the processed water and then transfers this heat into the air.

Water-Cooled Chillers

A water-cooled chiller is equipped with a condenser that uses water from a cooling tower to cool the refrigerant gas. After the refrigerant is cooled and released via an extension valve, it will cool down the water that circulates in the chiller and reach the target temperature. In other words, the processed water works as a medium for heat transfers. 

Air or Water Chillers: Which Better Suits Your Needs? 

Both air-cooled chillers and water-cooled chillers are designed to facilitate the discharged heat from the production process. Both types of chiller produce the same cooling capacity under the same power as the compressor. Hence, it is the working environment and the purpose of use that should dictate your decision-making process. 

Flying Tiger is a top manufacturer with over 40 years of experience in the water/air chiller business. Globally, it represents a prestigious name in the market. Our water chiller design can control the target temperature between +-0.5°C (able to be customized the tolerance to +-0.1°C). Also, we can modify the water tank (internal or external) to prevent temperature spikes. To understand how we build reliable and customizable chillers to fulfill cooling needs in various sectors, follow the link and explore our Chiller & Cooling Water Series.

How Do Industrial Water Chillers Work?

Nearly every industrial process generates heat. If this unwanted byproduct accumulates over time, inefficiency can drag down the productivity of your machinery and factory; excessive heat could even lead to shutdowns or early equipment failure. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the cooling process into your industrial process system design to avoid these issues. 

The essential components of a chiller are a compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator. They work in unison to circulate a refrigerant that removes heat from a process, operation, or space.

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