When a chiller or refrigeration system
suddenly experiences a ruptured evaporator
tube or leaking end sheet, the ultimate effect
may be calamitous. As water enters the
refrigerant side of the system, it readily absorbs
into the refrigerant until the saturation point
is exceeded. A floating water condition
(flooded chiller) is suddenly presented. In
addition to the serious consequences that
arise from the presence of moisture in the
system (see Wet Refrigerant), the existence
of a flooded condition may result in the
restriction of refrigerant flow in system
devices including orifices and distributor
baffles and ultimately, system failure.
The traditional approach to this condition
generally entailed significant system downtime
and focused solely on removal of the standing
water and moisture reduction. Other
consequential conditions that may have
developed such as acid formation,
particulates, oil and other contaminants were
rarely considered or addressed.
Hudson's RefrigerantSide® Solution provides
both complete system dehydration as well as
complete system decontamination. In basic
terms, this process entails the recovery of
the refrigerant charge and floating water and
the use of refrigerant and other mediums to
rapidly decontaminant and dehydrate both the
refrigerant and complete chiller system
through a series of varying sequences.
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The
benefits achieved include: |
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Removal of all water and other contaminants
from the refrigerant and system including
acids, particulates and oil typically left by
conventional dehydration techniques |
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Minimization
of expensive water damage to
compressors and motors |
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Minimization of downtime - the system and
refrigerant are entirely decontaminated and
dried in a fraction of the time it would take
using traditional dehydration methods |
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Salvaging the maximum amount of refrigerant |
Our customer demands have lead to the
development of three viable solutions when
faced with a flooded chiller. They include
online decontamination, when being down is not
an option; offline decontamination, when
downtime is less important to the customer;
and a hybrid of the two, when a customized
solution is necessary to meet specific
requirements. Hudson regularly develops
customized solutions to accommodate the
customer's specific needs. For instance, when
a mission critical cooling system could not be
shutdown to allow the mechanical contractor to
complete the necessary repairs, online
decontamination and dehydration was initiated
on a continuous basis until the system could
be fully shut down. For many equipment owners,
being down may not be an option. Hudson's
patented process can keep them up and running
until a more optimal shut down time is
available.
