The functions and refrigeration methods of air-cooled chiller and water-cooled chiller are the same. The overall structure and operation curcult are the same except for the condenser. The air cooled chiller adopts fin type condenser, which takes away the heat of refrigerant by forced air flow directly from the fan. Water-cooled chiller adopts shell and tube condenser to take away the heat of refrigerant by the continuous flow of cooling water, and then dissipate the heat absorbed by the cooling water through the cooling water tower.
Due to the difference in heat transfer temperature, under the same outdoor environmental conditions, the condensing temperature of air-cooled chiller is higher than that of water-cooled chiller. Therefore, in the case of the same cooling capacity, the power consumption of air-cooled chillers will be higher. In terms of energy efficiency, the cooling capacity of water-cooled units is usually 300~500 Kcal/h higher than that of air-cooled units.