First large 180kW chiller installed in the UK
The Project
Cooltherm was chosen to design and install a replacement chiller for a prime office building in Aztec West, North Bristol. The existing Chiller had reached the end of its economic lifespan, after 20 years’ of service it had become very costly to run and maintain and was deemed commercially unviable to remain in operation.
Customer Requirements
The specification for the replacement chiller was clear, it had to offer high levels of energy efficiency and be available at short notice with the installation needing to be completed within a few weeks.
Like many commercial buildings in the UK this building’s cooling load is very dynamic with winter cooling loads dropping to around one-tenth of that of the peak design point; traditional machines like the one being replaced struggle to match the low ambient cooling loads and this often leads to regular premature component failures through short cycling of the compressors, therefore we needed to supply a replacement designed from the outset to match the site’s cooling loads exactly – be it a few kilowatts or the full machine capacity – without detrimental effect on the refrigeration circuit components.
The greatest challenge was the timescale given to complete the project. Cooltherm project managed the whole process from start to finish, which included all main primary chilled water components and replacing the old inefficient primary water pumps with the latest integrated inverter inline variety.
The Cooltherm Solution
The chosen chiller was the largest single module unit available within the timeframe stipulated and the first 180kW chiller installed into the UK market from the OEM – testament to Cooltherm’s commitment to deliver the best solutions for our clients and the environment.
The projects team knew from past installations that the smaller capacity iteration deployed compressor technology that is capable of delivering phenomenal turn-down ratios with 7% of peak load capacity being regularly delivered without off-cycling the plant.
Client Testimonial
We have worked with the client on a couple of occasions before. This was the biggest challenge yet, but everyone involved worked incredibly hard to ensure the project ran smoothly and we were able to exceed customer expectations. We are now working with them to develop and install chillers for another project.