Content area
Full Text
Antifreeze can protect equipment from low ambient and freezing process conditions. If your chiller is exposed to freezing ambient conditions, you must protect your system. If your chilled water supply temperature is below 50[degrees]F (10[degrees]C), it is likely that you will need to use antifreeze.
With leaving chilled water temperatures below 50[degrees]F, it is likely that flash freezing of the plates in the evaporator can be robbing system efficiency or, worse yet, causing permanent damage to the heat exchanger itself. Even though antifreeze can reduce system performance, under these near-freezing conditions, the system performance actually can be improved. It is important that the minimal amount of antifreeze be used because excess concentrations will just reduce system capacity. Antifreeze used in proper concentrations will keep flash freezing from occurring and reduce the possibility of chiller failure.
Never use car antifreeze in a chiller system. The additives found in this type of antifreeze will foul heat exchangers and result in poor heat transfer. There are two basic types of glycol used in process chillers: ethylene and propylene. These...