Massive Water Chiller

[Stewie007]

Well, I took lessons from my experience in the HVAC industry.... worked for 9 years on assembly of industrial water chillers - Air cooled and water cooled. Most of that time was spent on brazing (with better equipment than I've got now ). I kinda wish I had that torch with me.... hehe...

As far as the heat exchangers go, it really was just part of the challenge. I'm eager to see how well it works.

Its taking me a bit of time to build given that I'm more carefully planning the build while I go. I'm trying to stay true to the drawing I produced, though there will be some deviations. Any wild deviations from that drawing are planned and remodeled before I move forward. When I run into problems I stop work and consider alternatives. The last time I was a bit too hasty and made some critical errors... No need to be in a rush and mess something up...

[Stewie007]

Back to work.... I took a while today because it was humid and sticky.. Took some planning too.

The carriage bolts I got for the receiver were longer than I thought, but it isn't a problem. I also immediately regretted the purchase of those cheaper split ring hangers too. They weren't round; they were oblong and didn't fit over the receiver as well as they should have. They should hold a 3.5" cylinder while closed, but they didn't. No big deal, it was just annoying. I thought I got ripped off by the other place I bought the 4" hangers from, but now I see why they were more expensive. I used spacers since the long bolts aren't fully threaded.

I drilled a hole in the plastic piece to use see as a platform for the power supply. I didn't have any screws for the bottom of the power supply so I didn't bother drilling a hole in it yet to secure it to the platform. Worked out pretty well.

[Stewie007]

I fit up the discharge line and brazed everything in place. Only thing I didn't do was secure the discharge line with clamps. So far I ran into a problem with the discharge port on the compressor.... I had to use a half inch tube as a coupling, but it worked.

[Stewie007]

The last shots are just of the system the way that it has fit together so far. I didn't have enough fittings to piece together the rest of the high side. I also gotta get some bushings for the solenoid valve. So its the receiver, the sight glass, filter, vibration dampener, and check valve. It all fit together pretty well.

I got to leak test what I've done so far thanks to the check valve.. It has a little bit of bleed back, which is normal for these valves, but it was slow enough to pressurize the system to 125PSI without noticeable loss. Needless to say... no leaks. Of course, not that I was expecting any... Of course, I couldn't test the other side given that it still isn't complete. I need a solenoid valve for the oil side, and I can't find one with a MOPD that I need.

[Stewie007]

[cryo_monkey]

Nice work looking forward to seeing it finished and running

[Buckeye]

I think it just might work this time Stew !!

Really nice job man

[n00b 0f l337]

That configuration with the compressor and oil sep is less than ideal. You spent the time to put rubber feet on the compressor, then anchored it with the oil separator. If you can get a big rubber washer under that oil sep else it's going to be painful.

[Stewie007]

You raise a good point. I considered the installation of vibration eliminators, but I didn't consider where I placed it. I wanted to put it before the separator, but I couldn't find a shorter one to use. I suppose I could cut that line, place an elbow there, and run a flex tube down one way and pipe it back to the separator with some elbows.....

What do you think?

The separator absolutely has to be anchored. A rubber washer won't do anything other than transmute some vibrations to other piping... not what I want. I wish I would have thought of that before :p

[n00b 0f l337]

A rubber washer/foot would isolate the compressor and oil separator together. But again, not ideal.
Your other option is to fix the oil separator to the compressor itself, but again, not preferable.
I would think the easiest way to do this is install the flex line before the oil separator, and if the flex line is too long... well, move the oil separator.

[Stewie007]

I'll just make a "trombone slide" shaped line with the eliminator. Not the best way, but it is much more ideal.

Don't you think?

[Stewie007]

Does that sound like a decent idea to anyone else?

[Crabby]

Run a loop in the line like you said and stick some rubber under the oil separator. Or just move the oil separator like said above.

[Stewie007]

I won't bother with a rubber washer under the separator. In my experience, that does little to dampen vibrations. The reason I didn't utilize a vibration eliminator was taken from my work on packaged reclaim systems.. I wasn't thinking when I omitted it from the design before the separator. Those things weren't designed to run as much, and they utilized small scrolls, which don't vibrate as much as one of these rotaries.

Stupid.. Stupid.. STUPID!.. on my part.

Now I have to figure out where I'm going to secure the other side of the eliminator. :p

[Stewie007]

Been going over some load specs. Its looking like its very possible that -10F (-23.333-> ) will be a good target temp, with -20F (-28.888->) as a distinct possibility for moderate loads.

Factoring for inefficiencies, I would say that -10F running is a realistic goal. I may go for -15 and call it a day.

My concern is in creating a stable HVAC system next to an extremely variable load. I was considering a Minimum Load (Hot Gas Bypass) option to compensate for this. Although, I am a bit unclear as to how to control such an option.

[Xeon th MG Pony]

or simpler yet make a swept loop from the compressor to the oil sep as a vibration relief and torque relief front he compressor kick on start and shut down.

Secondly I see a serious issue with your receiver! it is not meant to be horizontal by the looks of it, they are sensitive in that sense! yours looks like a standard vertical axis one.

BTY hello guys been a long time, but seems I am back on the grid again, not sure for how long!

[Stewie007]

Not to worry, I purchased a horizontal Separator specifically. I planned on using another eliminator and creating a down and back line that should eliminate those worries.

[Stewie007]

See the Attached Document Link

Model 1947 is specifically for horizontal applications. It fit my design better to be that way. I installed it precisely as required.


http://www.rsd.net/fx/assets/prod/713.pdf

[Stewie007]

I am not following what you meant by Swept loop.... by the way... Are you talking about a coiled loop?

[Xeon th MG Pony]

I am not following what you meant by Swept loop.... by the way... Are you talking about a coiled loop?

Oh ok that setles the receiver consern!

just an oval loop, just need to do one full turn that aut to take care of the vibration issue nicely make it the full length of the compressor.

[Stewie007]

Well, I've decided to go with the safest option. I picked up the anti vibration tube today along with some extra fittings. I plain forgot to leave connections for gauges and system taps.

I'll have a gauge and a tap on the high and low side. Unfortunately I couldn't get the Parker valve I needed for the oil outlet. I'd get a 300 MOPD valve, but I'm not comfortable placing a partial vacuum or 0PSI opposite a high side full of nearly all of the refrigerant in the unit after pump down. It might peak over 300 PSI... Gotta wait til the end of July for that part.

In the mean time I'm going to pipe it up without the valve and add it later at least so I can test, and vac it. Which means no refrigerant charge until August or late July.

[Stewie007]

Did some more work today. Although, that solenoid is a bit bigger than I had planned. I re-routed the receiver outlet a bit but the TXV is largely where I planned.

First pic is of the reworked discharge line. It actually worked out quite well. All I have to do is is use a clamp it to the radiator support and we'll be all good. As you can see, the valve is pretty big. I hope the coil isn't too big or we'll have a problem. :-p

Before I could braze in the valve and liquid line I had to start getting the water lines ready. The last images show the routing so far. All I know is that its very tight in there. I am not sure how I'm gonna insulate it, hehe. I wasn't able to finish the refrigeration lines for the fact that I was short one 1/2" 45* elbow. The good news, is the unit is pressurized with a small holding charge and the sight glass indicator is showing green.

[Stewie007]

A little shot of the progress before I started. Getting closer to finishing the refrigerant side. All I need is the valve for the oil outlet.

[Stewie007]

I didn't take a heck of a lot of shots of the refrigeration loop. Frankly I was getting bored of it hehe. I installed the suction line, and accessories. Although I had to blank off the oil line to test.

[Stewie007]

I did some work on the water system. Had to use a 90 degree drill attachment to get under the compressor table for the other one. I used some lag bolts to install the pumps. Isolated them a little with some rubber washers. The condenser pump was a pain in the butt to get the rear bolts under the housing. Got it to work though.

I pressure tested the cooler prior to installing the piping to 50 PSI. No leaks. The only leak was in the temporary blank-out; which is temporary. I then installed the cooler inlet tube. Used some refrigerant oil on the flares to keep the flare nuts from sticking.