Abstract
For the past six winters a thermosiphon system has been used with two 2000 ton centrifugal chillers to supply chilled water for building cooling. Whenever the outside wet bulb temperature drops to 45 F or below, the compressors are shut down and cold cooling tower water is used to chill water. This system has operated an average of 3000 hours each winter and has saved over $60,000 per year in electrical costs.
Because of increased system demand a third 2000 ton chiller was installed which included a 'free cooling' system with high flux evaporator tubes. This system approximately doubles the old thermosiphon capacity and reduces compressor power by 17%.
This paper reviews system design and operating data.
White, T. L. (1981). Thermosiphon Cooling of a Large Office /Laboratory Complex. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /94383.