An industrial chiller produces chilled water or glycol for process equipment and building air conditioning. Capacities typically run from 20 kW to 5,000 kW, with coefficients of performance between 3.5 and 6.5 depending on machine type, condensing method and operating conditions. It is the standard answer wherever cooling must be delivered to several points at a controlled temperature.
The two decisions that determine both capital and running cost are air-cooled versus water-cooled condensing, and whether ambient conditions justify adiabatic pre-cooling. This page covers both, along with sizing inputs and how we supply projects from Istanbul.
What an Industrial Chiller Actually Does
A chiller removes heat from water or a water-glycol mixture and rejects it to the outside — through an air-cooled condenser, or through a cooling tower in a water-cooled system. The chilled fluid is then pumped to whatever needs cooling: injection moulding tools, extruders, laser cutters, reactors, or air handling units serving the building.
The reason process plants use chilled water rather than direct expansion cooling is distribution. Water carries far more heat per unit volume than air and can be piped hundreds of metres with modest losses. One machine in the plant room can serve twenty consumers at different points, each with its own control valve.
The performance figure that matters is COP — cooling output divided by electrical input. A COP of 4.0 means 4 kW of cooling per 1 kW of electricity. COP is not a fixed property of the machine; it falls as condensing temperature rises, which is exactly what happens on a 48 °C afternoon. This is why a chiller specified on catalogue figures at 35 °C ambient can disappoint badly in the Gulf.
Air-Cooled or Water-Cooled?
Air-cooled chillers reject heat directly to ambient air and need no cooling tower, water treatment or tower maintenance. Water-cooled chillers reject heat through a cooling tower and typically achieve a 15–25% higher COP, which makes them the usual choice above roughly 500 kW where running hours are long.
| Criterion | Air-cooled | Water-cooled |
|---|---|---|
| COP | Lower | 15–25% higher |
| Cooling tower required | No | Yes |
| Water consumption | None | Significant — evaporation and blowdown |
| Water treatment | Not applicable | Required — scale, corrosion, biological control |
| Capital cost | Lower | Higher — tower, pumps, pipework |
| Typical scale | Up to ~500 kW | 500 kW and above |
| Hot dry climates | Capacity falls with ambient | Less sensitive to dry-bulb |
Water availability often settles the question before efficiency does. In arid inland locations the water a tower consumes may be more expensive or more restricted than the electricity an air-cooled machine uses.
Adiabatic Pre-Cooling in Hot Climates
Adiabatic pre-cooling wets the air entering an air-cooled condenser, lowering its temperature before it reaches the coil. Because chiller capacity and COP both fall as condensing temperature rises, reducing condenser inlet air temperature recovers capacity exactly when it is most needed — on the hottest afternoons.
The equipment is simple: a pad module with cellulose media, typically 70–95% saturation efficiency, mounted in front of the condenser with a water feed and drain. It runs only when ambient exceeds a set threshold, so water consumption is limited to peak hours rather than the whole season.
This matters most in exactly the markets we supply. In Baghdad, Riyadh or inland Anatolia the summer air is hot but dry, which is the ideal condition for adiabatic pre-cooling. It is often the difference between an existing chiller that trips on high pressure every August and one that holds its set point.
Adiabatic modules concentrate minerals as water evaporates, so hard feed water scales the pads and the condenser fins. In hard-water regions plan feed-water conditioning or a scale-control programme from the start. A retrofitted adiabatic module that blocks a condenser with limescale makes the original problem worse, not better.
What We Need to Size a System
Chiller selection starts from the process load, not the building area. We need the heat to be removed in kW, the required chilled-water flow and supply temperature, whether glycol is needed for low temperatures or frost protection, and the site design ambient temperature.
- Cooling load — in kW, or the process data from which it can be calculated.
- Chilled water temperature — supply and return; this sets evaporating temperature and therefore COP.
- Glycol requirement — concentration affects capacity and pump sizing.
- Design ambient — the nearest city is enough; we use recognised design weather data.
- Load profile — constant or variable; variable loads usually justify inverter-driven compressors.
- Redundancy — whether production can tolerate a stopped chiller, which decides N+1 arrangements.
Send us the process load, not the room size
Cooling duty, water temperatures and your design ambient are enough for a first-pass machine selection with realistic derated capacity.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What COP should I expect from an industrial chiller?
Between roughly 3.5 and 6.5 depending on machine type, condensing method and operating conditions. Water-cooled machines sit at the upper end, air-cooled at the lower. COP is not fixed: it falls as ambient and condensing temperature rise, so a catalogue figure quoted at 35 °C ambient overstates performance on a 48 °C day.
Air-cooled or water-cooled — which should I choose?
Below roughly 500 kW, air-cooled is usually the practical choice: no cooling tower, no water treatment, lower capital cost. Above 500 kW with long running hours, the 15–25% COP advantage of water-cooled machines normally repays the tower and its maintenance. Water availability and cost often decide the question before efficiency does.
Does adiabatic pre-cooling really recover chiller capacity?
Yes, in hot dry conditions. Cooling the air entering the condenser lowers condensing temperature, which raises both capacity and COP. The gain is largest exactly when demand peaks. In humid coastal air the effect is much smaller because there is little scope for evaporative cooling.
How much water does adiabatic pre-cooling consume?
Only during hours when ambient exceeds the activation threshold, so consumption is concentrated in peak summer afternoons rather than the whole season. Actual volume depends on airflow and how dry the air is; we calculate it per project alongside the capacity gain.
Do I need glycol in the chilled water circuit?
Glycol is required for supply temperatures below about 4 °C and for frost protection where pipework or the machine is exposed to sub-zero ambient. It reduces heat transfer and increases pumping power, so concentration should be the minimum the application actually requires.
How often should a chiller be serviced?
Typically twice a year for a plant on continuous duty: condenser cleaning, refrigerant circuit check, water quality check and control verification. In dusty or sandy environments condenser cleaning is needed considerably more often, and neglecting it is the most common cause of gradual capacity loss.
Can you retrofit adiabatic pre-cooling to an existing chiller?
Usually yes, provided there is space in front of the condenser and a water supply can be routed. The main technical check is feed-water hardness: without treatment, scale will accumulate on the pads and condenser fins and eventually make performance worse than before the retrofit.
Do you supply chillers outside Türkiye?
Yes. We supply and commission chiller systems across the Balkans, the Levant, North Africa and the Gulf from Istanbul. For larger projects we can attend site for commissioning; for smaller ones we provide selection, layout and commissioning guidance remotely, with spare parts shipped from stock.