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.
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.
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.
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.
0161 370 7193
service@maximuschillers.com
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…
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.
In the cylinder, the saturation of R407c is 7 bar at 11° The refrigerant in the cylinder is in its liquid phase with vapour on top.
On run testing the chiller, the subcooling value was found to be nominal at industry standard level.
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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Category : Chiller Technology
Air cooled chiller condenser maintenance at Maximus Chillers. The condensers in the picture are a row of 6. These are remote from a row of 6 chillers, located in a plant room in the building below. The chillers are 750 kw single screw compressors with a control panel located to the side of each. On this visit, the emphasis of the maintenance was scheduled as being to the condensers.
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°. Subcooling of 6° to 8° 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.
0161 370 7193
service@maximuschillers.com
Because of the large size of the plant, the customer had installed a fireman’s hose for the wash down of the condensers during air cooled chiller maintenance. 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 on site maintenance engineers carry this task out as part of their scheduled maintenance.
To read more about air cooled chiller maintenance click the Tag at the top of the page.
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