Chiller Service Company Visit

Large chiller, refrigerant cylinder, brazing equipment and tools during chiller service company visit

Chiller Service Company Visit

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A typical rainy day in the North West, perfect for a chiller service company visit.

News Article No.11

Electrical Faults during Chiller Service Company Visit

This was a return visit to do a refrigerant leak, but the customer alerted our engineer’s attention to an electrical fault. System 2 was found to be locked out in fault on the recent maintenance visit, but now System 1 was being held off too. The fault message on the controller was High Pressure. The controller sends a 240v fault feedback signal, through the high pressure switch which returns to the controller. Our engineer had a look at the wiring diagram to find the number on the terminal strip and checked it out with his multimeter. As he suspected, there were volts going out, but not coming back. He removed the side panel for system 1 and found the switch on the discharge pipe. It was the type that has a red button on the top. When he pressed it, there was a click and volts returned to the controller.

Alarm Reset during Chiller Company Service Visit

He interrogated the Carel controller and followed the reset procedure. The controls went through a timer and then the start sequence was initiated.

Run Testing during Chiller Company Service Visit

After the first scroll compressor started, the head pressure started to build up, but the condenser fans did not start. The on board high pressure gauge carried on rising until the high pressure switch was tripped again.

Head Pressure Control

A transducer on the discharge is used by the controller to sense the pressure in the condenser. When our engineer looked for this in the controller, it was found to be reading wrong by a considerable amount. There is a facility to enter a password and recalibrate the transducer, but this only allows for a small adjustment.

Test Instrument

Our engineers carry various kinds of test instruments which can be used to give a temporary false reading to the controller. This gets the customer up and running and back in production whilst a new transducer is ordered and sent to site.

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Chiller Company Service Low Pressure Visit

Now on with the job to resolve the low pressure issue with the chiller.

Refrigerant Pump Out

Our engineer lifted the liquid line solenoid valve and decanted the remaining refrigerant into a vessel using his recovery unit. He only got out 7kg of a charge of 36kg.

Leak Testing during Chiller Company Service Visit

We use nitrogen for the leak testing as it is an inert gas that will not cause problems with the refrigerant system. There was a sign of the leak in between the steel frame at the middle of the condenser and the condenser tubes. We always strip the chiller down and leak test the entire system though. This is so that the job does not end up going round in circles. At first the leak could not be found, so the pressure was built up in stages, taking into account industry recommended guidelines for a chiller. Sure enough the leak was where it was suspected to be. The occurrence of this kind of leak can be reduced with the use of vibration eliminators.

Brazing during Chiller Company Service Visit

The location of the leak was reported to the maintenance engineer onsite and a hot work permit obtained. The equipment we use is tested at regular intervals to be safe and in good working order. A half hour fire watch was stipulated in the permit, along with the removal of combustible materials from the work location. Correct PPE being donned, he brazed the leak to the required industry standards.

F-gas Pressure Test

A chiller has a different pressure test procedure to other systems, so our engineer built the pressure up according to industry standards, then recorded it on his pressure test certificate. After the required time had elapsed, he rechecked the readings which were found to be satisfactory.

Vac Pump

Each of our engineers carries a state of the art 10 cfm vacuum pump to speed up the dehydration process. We use high quality Torr gauges too, so as to get an accurate pressure reading. A good read back was achieved at the end of the process.

Recharge and Run Test

After the refrigerant recharge was carried out, a satisfactory run test was achieved.

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Refrigerant Economizers

This particular chiller uses an economizer to further subcool the refrigerant. Chiller designers have worked out that the end user can save a considerable amount of money over 10 years if these components are used. After the subcooled liquid refrigerant leaves the condenser, it goes through a plate heat exchanger. Some of this refrigerant, however, is diverted through a thermostatic expansion valve, to the other side of this plate heat exchanger. Further subcooling occurring through the plates.

Expansion Valve

The refrigerant drops in pressure as it goes through the expansion valve. A bulb is fitted to the suction pipe on the outlet of the heat exchanger. The bulb has to be at the correct 'o clock position as oil insulation will affect the operation of the valve. A capillary tube connects the bulb to the valve. Inside the bulb, the same kind of refrigerant that is running in the system is present in its liquid state. As the temperature rises in the suction pipe, this refrigerant boils off, adding pressure into the capillary tube. This added pressure forces the power element down on the valve body and a needle forces the valve open.

Flash Gas

Imagine if the refrigerant was not subcooled at all. It would be around its saturation point with a lot of it flashing off into its vapour phase. Not good when you have warm water coming back from the process. The refrigerant would not absorb very much latent heat into the refrigerant system.

Efficiency

Imagine, on the other hand, the economizer which is fitted to this chiller. Now we have a good proportion of refrigerant in its liquid phase, on the low side of the system, with a minimum amount of flash gas. The warm process water has more chance to cool and the refrigerant absorbs a lot more latent heat. The chiller achieves set point easier and therefore saves a considerable amount of electricity. With this further subcooling monitored for a while, time for a signature from the customer and another job well done!

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Oil return solenoid removed during industrial chiller service

Industrial Chiller Service

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Category : Articles

On an industrial chiller service visit, the ammonia alarm was found to have been triggered.

News Article No.10

Industrial Chiller Service Faults

The onsite engineer had fault found the chiller and silenced the alarm, the yellow light was still flashing. The red light was lit on the panel and the red LED was illuminated on the ammonia alarm console. He had reported a smell of ammonia to us over the phone. This gave us a priority of getting to site, as many other alarms of this nature are often spurious. Our engineer attended site within an hour and confirmed that the fault finding was correct as described by the onsite engineer. The chiller is containerized in design as it is situated outside. All around the chiller are door panels for access to the various system components.

Breathing Apparatus and PPE

He donned his mask and full length ammonia resistant PPE before opening one of the panel doors. This was to ensure that he did not get overwhelmed by the refrigerant when he opened the door. He started with the door into the storage area of the containerized chiller. A strong blast of ammonia came out in his face- lucky for the PPE!

Localising the Fault

Working his way around the chiller, our engineer found more and more hazardous door openings! Eventually he found the culprit: one of the two flanges were leaking on the oil return solenoid. The refrigerant vapour was coming out in its usual white form. The oil return pipe feeds off the oil pot which is a chamber that the oil sinks into from the refrigerant economizer. This vessel was valved off and the other end of the pipe valved off too.

Pinpointing the Fault

Now that the ammonia refrigerant leak had started to calm down- it was possible to see through the white vapour to exactly which of the flanges was leaking. It was the right one as seen in the picture. It consists of an ‘o’ ring made of ammonia resistant rubber material.

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Industrial Chiller Service in Local

The above mentioned chiller runs in local in a lead/ lag configuration with the adjacent chiller. That is to say- there is no wire or modem to a remote location. A panel is available in between the two chillers to sequence the switch over between the two. When the chiller tripped out due to the fault, the other chiller was supposed to have been enabled. This did not happen, so our engineer investigated the situation. The sequencer panel sends out a 24v fault feedback signal to each chiller. This, in turn, goes through a relay and back to the sequencer panel if all is good. When a fault occurs, the volts drop out to the relay in the chiller and a relay drops out in the sequencer. When the relay drops out in the sequencer, a normally closed contact makes and brings a red light on. This was not happening, so our engineer followed it through with his multimeter. He found a blown 1 Amp control fuse in the chiller, he replaced it and it blew again. After some careful research he found that there was an earth leakage due to the ingress of water into a safety switch. This switch was nothing to do with the above, but it blew the whole control circuit. Having reinstated the fuse, he found that the panel switched over satisfactorily in local.

Advantages

This kind of operation method has an advantage in its simplicity. There are no complicated BMS systems for the chiller to be integrated into. A sequencer panel is easy to construct and maintain- keeping the costs down to the end user.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of this kind of system is that the first thing the factory usually notices is that they are loosing the process. The water temperature getting too high is the first alarm signal. With this site, however, there is a permanent onsite engineer on hand. He is experienced with the first checks to carry out and can often get the plant running with no problem.

0161 370 7193

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Standing Pressure during Industrial Chiller Service

The standing pressure was taken into account on the return visit to fit the oil return solenoid valve seal. Because the valve is on the low side of the system, when the chiller is off, the pressure is higher than when it is on. Therefore, so long as the seal pressure tests to this pressure, then all will be good when the system is running. That is assuming that the valve seals work satisfactorily at a lower temperature range. There are issues sometimes when a seal will be okay at ambient temperature but will leak when it becomes brittle at a colder temperature. This happens usually on an old seal and, indeed, this condition can be tested for when run testing the system.

Leak Testing during Industrial Chiller Service

On fitting the seal, our engineer donned full length ammonia resistant PPE and breathing apparatus. A little at a time, he introduced refrigerant into the area of the valve seal. Any residual air being purged through a valve.

Pressure and Temperature

The standing pressure of refrigerant is affected by temperature. That is to say- that the higher the temperature- the higher the pressure. On the day this job was carried out, the ambient temperature was 12°C and using an app on his phone, he calculated that the pressure should be 5.6bar. This is consistent with Charles’ Law of Constant Volume with a coefficient added for this particular refrigerant. If the pressure had been higher than this, it would indicate the presence of air in the system. Daltons’ Law of Partial Pressures states that all gasses in a vessel will act as if they are on their own, therefore, causing a higher pressure.

Run Testing during Industrial Chiller Service

After the pressure was built up to full standing pressure and the seal held satisfactorily, the system was then run tested to ensure, as stated above, that the seal performed well across the full temperature range during the operation of the plant.

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Mass Flow Rate during Industrial Chiller Service

The mass of refrigerant passing, which is measured by the second.

Suction Density

In this case of the oil return valve seal, we are looking at the density of the low side refrigerant as it passes into the suction port of the compressor. This is shown on the LP gauge near to the compressor. The higher the pressure of the refrigerant, the more refrigerant there is- so it has a higher mass flow rate. This system has a refrigerant saturation point of 1°C which corresponds to a pressure 3.4bar. That is a high mass flow rate for this kind of refrigerant. This is because this refrigerant is usually used in low temperature applications where the pressure of the refrigerant is below that of the atmosphere. In that condition, when a leak occurs on the low side of the system- air leaks in. Air bleed valves are available to remove this unwanted air from the system.

Compressor Loading

The bigger the compressor on a chiller- the higher the mass flow rate. Most compressors have loading solenoids, vanes, or a slide valve to regulate this.

Piston Displacement

Reciprocating compressors use loading solenoids to increase piston displacement. Usually, oil from the oil pump holds the piston valves open and so preventing compression on that cylinder. When more flow rate is needed- the loading solenoid de energizes- the piston valves drop and the cylinder comes into action. Therefore, increasing the mass of refrigerant through the compressor.

Vanes

Vanes are used on centrifugal compressors to increase the flow of refrigerant through the compressor. An actuator linked to a chain is used to open the vanes. The controls work out the correct position of the vanes for a given load condition.

Slide Valve

The slide valve offers a seamless amount of loading, anywhere between 0% and 100% A slide valve potentiometer senses the position of the slide so that the controls can regulate the flow through the compressor. The screw compressor in this article uses a slide valve- on full load with the slide at 100% all readings were taken with a good read back. Another job done- another happy customer!

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Brazing equipment box and vibration eliminators during packaged chiller service

Packaged Chiller Service

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Category : Chiller Technology

Packaged chiller service due to a refrigerant leak, resulting in a trip out. This visit was to identify the leak and get the plant back online.

Leak Testing During Packaged Chiller Service

Nitrogen was added to the system to aid in the identification of the leak. All parts of the system were checked, including the removal of lagging around the couplings onto the evaporator. The leak was found on a poor quality ‘eliminator’ which had rubbed through on the evaporator.

Vibration Eliminators

We decided to fit high quality vibration eliminators- see picture. These are fitted one in the horizontal position and the other in the vertical. They absorb both directions of vibration, then they are clamped to the chiller frame.

Brazing During Packaged Chiller Service

The pipework brazing was carried out with all combustible materials being removed from the work location. A permit to work was opened with our engineer as the responsible person. A half hour fire watch was carried out on completion of works.

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Pressure Test During Packaged Chiller Service

The pressure testing was carried out using nitrogen. As nitrogen is an inert gas, it will not cause other potential risks to the chiller and other personnel. The pressure test was a pass, so the next phase of the job could be carried out…

Vacuum Pump

Each engineer carries a 10 cfm vacuum pump. This high capacity ensures a fast vacuum. The Torr gauge was fitted to the system and 2 Torr was pulled.

Refrigerant Saturation

In the cylinder, the saturation of R407c is 7 bar at 11°C The refrigerant in the cylinder is in its liquid phase with vapour on top.

Subcooling

On run testing the chiller, the subcooling value was found to be nominal at the industry standard level.

Superheat

The superheat was adjusted, little by little, with the charging of the refrigerant until a good value was achieved. This was tested across all loading conditions for the rest of the visit.

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6 large air cooled chiller condensers maintained with 12 fans each

Air Cooled Chiller Condenser Maintenance

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Category : Chiller Components

The photo is showing air cooled chiller condenser maintenance being carried out by Maximus Chillers. 6 water cooled chillers are located in the plant room below. They are 750 kw single screw compressors with a control panel located to the side of each. On this visit, the emphasis was to carry out a thorough maintenance of the condensers.

Fan Speed Controllers

The refrigerant for the systems is R134a, so to allow for the saturation of the refrigerant, 8 bar is the head pressure set point. This pressure corresponds to the desired condenser temperature of 36°C. Subcooling of 6°C to 8°C is achieved during the nominal operation of the plant. Each fan speed controller runs the 12 condenser fans together. Other condenser designs where fans bang on forwards and backwards cause vibrations resulting in reoccurring leaks on the condenser. Chiller No. 2 had tripped during a 'discharge override' system message. On inspection of No. 2 condenser- the fans speed inverter had tripped on 'over temperature' alarm. The panel fan, which is the kind to cool computers, was found to be still trying to run but seized. This failure had caused the alarm on the inverter. The panel fan was replaced from the stock of parts in the onsite stores. The chiller was reset and a detailed Tick Sheet was completed noting the occurrence of this fault on arrival.

Air Cooled Chiller Condenser Maintenance Cleaning

Because of the large size of the plant, the customer had installed a fireman’s hose for the cleaning of the condensers. This is located in the free space beneath the condensers. It is fitted to a portable buggy so it can be moved under each condenser. Setting the nozzle to the correct attitude, our engineer moved the buggy sideways, so as to rinse the condenser in the direction of the fins. The condenser was relatively clean as the onsite maintenance engineers carry out this task as part of their monthly schedule.

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Design Considerations for Air Cooled Chiller Condenser Maintenance

The kind of condenser in this article is:

Multiple Row Tubing

3 Rows

It has tubing of ½” diameter which is 3 rows deep. Each pass starts at the discharge header which is at the inlet to the condenser, goes down to the far end, through a condenser end turn, back to the discharge end, through another condenser end turn and back again to the liquid pipe end. The heat removed from the condenser, per kg of refrigerant, is the heat content of the vapour as it leaves the compressor, minus the heat remaining in the liquid at the end of the condenser.

6 Rows

Some condenser designs are up to 6 rows deep. This allows a small footprint of space where there is not much room for the location of the chiller. The downside to this, is that the chiller engineer can often struggle to locate the exact location of a leak when it is deep into the coil. If a condenser is too small, it will cause a higher head pressure and reduce the life of the compressor. We can arrange the lift out and repair of deep row condensers in our workshop.

Finned

This condenser has aluminium fins which are pressed around the copper tubing. This increases the surface area of the condenser heat exchange medium and so increases the dissipation of heat. The same amount of heat delivered to a condenser from the compressor must also be rapidly removed. For this condition to be reached, enough head pressure will need to be built up so that the condenser temperature is at least 15°C above the ambient. This is why the same chiller can be picked up and shipped to the Middle East and still work. It will just run at a higher discharge pressure/ temperature. There will, however, be a loss in the coefficient of performance as the higher pressures will result in more electricity in, versus the same amount of refrigeration effect out.

Forced Convection Type

The fans mounted on the ducting provide this forced convection. The air is sucked through the bottom of the condenser, across the 3 rows of tubes, along the fins and up through the fans. The air flow is stable as it enters the fins so good heat transfer is achieved. As it leaves the fins at the top, there is lower heat transfer as the air is turbulent.

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Fan Replacement during Air Cooled Chiller Condenser Maintenance

Spare fans are available onsite for replacement when individual fans fail. As mentioned above, these condensers are controlled with FSC's which reduce the occurrence of leaks. As well as this, fan speed controllers increase the lifespan of the fans. Because all of the fans run together, they speed up and slow down steadily. When high pressure control switches are used, they are set at different pressures. This means that some of the fans never come on until the head pressure is too high. This is usually due to a blocked condenser, failed fans or a high ambient. Because the fans have not come on for a long time, they are often seized or have suffered water ingress from the rain. An onsite maintenance engineer is available to help with the lift out and lift in of the replacement fans.

Pressure Relief Valves

Each of these condensers is fitted with a pressure relief valve (PRV) It is fitted into the discharge pipe on the inlet to the condenser. This is so that if the fans and the HP switch were to fail, the dangerous levels of pressure in the system would be vented. It is unlikely, however, that the HP switch would fail as this is a very reliable part. A PRV being fitted is often the requirement of insurance companies. The testing or replacement being arranged at scheduled intervals.

To read more about air cooled chiller condensers click the Tag at the top of the page.

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