Most aquarium chillers use a vapor-compression method to chill your aquarium water. While the science behind this process can be a little complicated, it is a good idea to understand the basic principles and components in order to properly operate and maintain the chiller.
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The diagram above represents the basic parts found on common aquarium chillers and we've outlined the functions below in order to help you better understand exactly how your aquarium chiller works.
Choosing an aquarium chiller is not only about how much water your aquarium holds, you should also consider how much of a temperature drop you need to achieve and the air temperature around the chiller. A chiller that only needs to drop the water by 3-5°F does not require as much power as a chiller working to cool the water by 10-15° F. Additionally, warmer ambient air temperatures (above +/- 75° F) around the chiller itself will reduce the cooling power. If the ambient air is too hot, (above 78°F) the chiller may not be able to cool at all.
With that in mind, there is a simple calculation or general rule we can use to estimate how much energy will be required to reach the desired temperatures in our tanks using BTU - British Thermal Units. Most chiller manufacturers will provide a BTU/hr rating for their chillers which is how much heat energy (BTU) the chiller can remove per hour. Keep in mind, this formula doesn't account for additional sources of heat and assumes the chiller is placed somewhere with reasonable air temperatures around 70°F.
BTU - British Thermal Units: Unit of measure that indicates how much power is required to heat one pound of water by one degree F. One gallon of water weighs roughly 8.3 lbs.
With this information, we can estimate it will require roughly 8.3 BTU/hr to chill one gallon of aquarium water by 1° F. So if you have a 10-gallon aquarium, that will require a chiller capable of 83 BTU/hr to drop the water by 1° F or 416 BTU/hr for a drop of 5° F.
For example, in a 55-gallon aquarium that needs to drop by 4°F to reach the suitable temperature range of 78°F:
To make the math easy and be 100% certain you're getting a strong enough chiller, it is best to round up to 10 BTU/hr per gallon of aquarium water for a 1°F drop and use the same formula to estimate the size of the chiller. It's always better to slightly oversize your chiller as opposed to undersize because an undersized chiller will operate far less efficiently.
Using the same example, in a 55-gallon aquarium that needs to drop by 4°F to reach the suitable temperature range of 78°F:
*Manufacturers usually recommend the MAXIMUM tank size but the reality is, it all depends on exactly how many degrees you need to drop the water temperature and the amount of heat your equipment is adding. In a real-world scenario, most tanks that actually need a chiller won't operate any hotter than 83-84° F with the lighting ON and the pumps running. That means a maximum drop of 6° F to reach the suitable tropical water temperatures of 78°.
With modern-day LED lighting and DC-powered water pumps, most aquariums placed in a temperature-controlled household probably won't require a chiller. Keeping ambient air temperatures around the tank somewhere around 70°-72° F year-round tends to be sufficient.
AC-powered pumps, metal halide, and high-output fluorescent lighting transfer heat into the aquarium water and used to be the biggest reason home aquarists found the need to use chillers; all of which are dated technologies in modern aquaria. So thanks to modern aquarium technology using less electricity and operating at cooler temperatures, most tropical reef aquariums won't require the use of a chiller. If they do, the necessary drop in temperature is minimal.
If you plan to keep cold water animals at water temperatures in the low 70s or 60s, a much stronger chiller would be appropriate.
A water-cooled chiller is a type of chiller from which heat is removed to cool water used in a project or industrial or domestic structure, and which puts the water back into the operating cycle. In effect, the chiller is transferring heat from one space that needs temperature control to another. The chiller is therefore not a means of generating cold, but a means of dissipating heat, its task being to facilitate the transfer of unwanted and undesired heat caused by the activity to a place outside the system.
Cooling towers are specifically designed for water-cooled chillers. This is because the condenser of a water-cooled chiller uses water as stimulant and coolant. The efficiency of a water-cooled chiller is increased because the wet surface is more successful in transferring heat and can work in compression even at wetter bubble temperatures.
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Water-Cooled Screw Chiller
The water cooled chiller cycle, like any other chiller, consists of four main components: the evaporator, the compressor, the condenser and the expansion valve, each of which undergoes a thermodynamic process. The chiller works by delivering refrigerant at different pressures and temperatures to the different phases of the material to cool the water, which is then pumped out of the chiller. In fact, the main work of a chiller is based on the phase change or physical state of the refrigerant or refrigerant. Meanwhile, the work of a water-cooled chiller is based on the condensation of a vapour or gas.
The starting point of this cycle is where the water from the production process enters the evaporator into the chiller cycle.
In this part of the cycle, the heat absorbed by the refrigerant first manifests itself in the form of a change from the liquid to the gas phase. As the refrigerant absorbs heat from the water, the ambient temperature in contact with this part drops, so the water leaves at a lower temperature. This water enters the fan coil and brings the cool air to the desired space.
Box Type Water-cooled Chiller
In fact, the evaporator is where another cycle is involved in addition to the current one and that cycle is between the evaporator and the outlet of the cooling unit. In effect, the hot water enters the chiller evaporator, which then cools it and pumps it to the desired location throughout the building.
The gaseous refrigerant, which has reached the gaseous phase before the liquid state, then enters the compressor. In the compressor, the gas condenses and the temperature and pressure increase, thus moving to the next high pressure stage. The increase in pressure and temperature as the refrigerant leaves the compressor is important because the refrigerant needs to release heat from inside the condenser and it must therefore carry enough heat to the condenser.
Another key function of the compressor is to draw the refrigerant into the evaporator at the right time so that the pressure inside the evaporator remains high enough to absorb the heat again.
The third step takes place inside the condenser. The high temperature gas enters the condenser. In the condenser, the gaseous refrigerant is converted into a saturated, high-pressure liquid. This is a constant pressure process.
GEA BOCK Low Temperature Water Cooled Condensing Unit (-35~-25℃)
On the other hand, the water enters the cooling tower after the temperature has risen because the condenser exists in another cycle between the cooling towers. Since the main task of the cooling tower in a water-cooled chiller is to cool the water consumed, the condenser uses this water as its drive material.
This is where the excess heat from the water disappears and the water temperature returns to the required low temperature. The heating process we mentioned earlier takes place in the condenser to release the heat of the gaseous refrigerant itself, which is the source of heat that now needs to be eliminated by the cooling tower. In this way, the water entering the chiller cooling tower from the condenser comes into contact with the gas stream and transfers its heat to the air, which then returns to the condenser.
The expansion valve is the final stage through which the refrigerant passes. This milk, as the name implies, expands and reduces the refrigerant. These processes take place with the refrigerant in the expansion valve, resulting in the refrigerant becoming a mixture of liquid and gas. Eventually, the same compound re-enters the evaporator to resume the cycle and the hot water re-enters the evaporator from the other direction.
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