Water Furnace Modular Chiller Solution

March 21, 2022

The Water Furnace TruClimate 300 (formerly the WC HybrEx) is a modular water-cooled chiller that can be the solution to a lot of challenging scenarios. For example, many chillers are coming to the end of their service lives and replacing them have challenges that didn’t exist when the system was first constructed. The walls that enclose the chiller room were built after the units were placed and now limit the size of the replacement. Besides, construction cranes are no longer on site to move items around.

This is where the AHRI-certified cooling-only TruClimate 300 comes to the rescue. Rather than installing a single large unit, replace the chiller with multiple modular units piped together to efficiently deliver the desired capacity. The individual 30 ton and 50 ton modules are easily moved through a standard 36” door with a simple pallet jack and fall within the weight limits of most freight elevators.

One of the biggest features of the TruClimate 300 is its robust tube-style heat exchanger for condensing which stands up to sediment and particulates usually associated with open cooling towers. That means less downtime for flushing and cleaning. This condenser provides the efficiency of a brazed plate while minimizing heat exchanger fouling.

Beyond just replacing an aged piece of equipment, the TruClimate 300 is an opportunity to upgrade a chiller plant’s hardware and controls. The TruClimate 300 utilizes premium-efficiency scroll compressors housed in a compact cabinet for easy installation. Optional permanent magnet DC inverter drive lead scroll compressor is available on the 30 and 50 ton module sizes to increase capacity turndown and efficiency.

Once the factory-tested modules are installed, the Aurora HydroLink2 controls make the final system operate efficiently. The system not only does lead lag of each module for capacity control, but its supervisory controls also equalize the run time across each module. This balances usage and is all managed internally to the control sequences. The platform also provides numerous factory-installed options for better service, diagnostic and monitoring abilities. Preventative alarms make it easy to stay on top of maintenance. Refrigerant, energy and performance are tracked through the HMI or DDC protocols.

Head pressure control is maintained using modulating isolation valves. This allows the chiller to be operated under a wide range of temperatures. Because it’s monitored at each individual module and not system wide, there’s no single point of failure. The redundancy of refrigeration circuits and chiller modules provides additional reliability.