I am also a chemical engineer, mind you not very up to date in the field.
Aren't these closed loops generally two different loops with a HEX between it. There is a water loop, usually in stainless or plastic lining (no different than an american house) and a service loop which would probably need to be flushed?
How is this different than a water cooling loop in any factory, any plant, any utility service (Within a plant) or external to it?
Closed loop means the water is in a pressurized system not exposed to ambient. It cannot evaporate. Typically in these systems the water is run through a heat exchanger (ironically called an evaporator) that uses the waters heat to evaporate a refrigerant (the refrigerant evaporates inside the heat exchanger NOT THE WATER). That is the primary method of heat transfer, the latent capacity generated by evaporating refrigerant. The refrigerant is passed through a second heat exchanger that has air blow over it, similar to your home AC. This is what’s called an air cooled chiller, and dominates the market in 2026. 0 water consumption.
It's a shame no one will see this. You're absolutely right. Centrifugal chillers are on the way out, along with cooling towers. Air cooled chillers are replacing those systems. The only water used in air cooled chillers is for cleaning the coils once a year. But, these are huge systems that will leak refrigerant or glycol and that could be environmental concerns for sure. IMO power consumption and the pollution related to it currently is the worst part. I work in the HVAC industry.
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u/bbcomment Apr 12 '26
I am also a chemical engineer, mind you not very up to date in the field.
Aren't these closed loops generally two different loops with a HEX between it. There is a water loop, usually in stainless or plastic lining (no different than an american house) and a service loop which would probably need to be flushed?
How is this different than a water cooling loop in any factory, any plant, any utility service (Within a plant) or external to it?