Technology

Refrigerant Regulations Reshape Chiller Thermal Performance Engineering

By Paul Johnson, Director of Technology and R&D, G&D Chillers

The transition to low-GWP refrigerants is changing glycol chiller design, safety and compliance requirements. This article examines how A2L and R-290 refrigerants affect refrigerant charge, system architecture, leak detection, ventilation and performance validation, while highlighting key considerations under EPA, ASHRAE and ICC requirements.

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Cooling Tower Gearbox Standards

By Daniel Rosseljong, Senior Product Manager, Sumitomo Drive Technologies 

Discover how to maximize the lifecycle reliability and uptime of industrial cooling tower gearboxes by looking beyond basic catalog ratings. This article outlines an essential standards framework—combining ANSI/AGMA, CTI, and ISO guidelines—to address severe operating environments characterized by moisture, high heat, and heavy fan loads. Learn why a system-level approach incorporating rigorous service factors, purpose-built lubrication, effective sealing, and vibration monitoring is vital to prevent catastrophic downtime and lower the total cost of ownership in heat-intensive operations.
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Refrigerant Regulations Reshape Chiller Thermal Performance Engineering

By Paul Johnson, Director of Technology and R&D, G&D Chillers

The transition to low-GWP refrigerants is changing glycol chiller design, safety and compliance requirements. This article examines how A2L and R-290 refrigerants affect refrigerant charge, system architecture, leak detection, ventilation and performance validation, while highlighting key considerations under EPA, ASHRAE and ICC requirements.
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IMEG Saves 1 Million Gallons of Water Per Year at a Water Utility

By Grant Nook, PE, and Luke Streit, PE, IMEG

A Midwest water utility replaced once-through engine cooling with closed-loop fluid cooler systems to eliminate nearly one million gallons of annual potable water consumption while improving operational reliability. This case study examines the engineering evaluation process, fluid cooler selection, pump skid design, piping optimization, glycol-based heat transfer, variable-frequency drive controls and lessons learned during commissioning. The project demonstrates how closed-loop cooling systems can reduce water use, enhance redundancy and provide a sustainable alternative for industrial engine cooling applications.
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Alternative Water Source Strategies for Evaporative Cooling Systems

By Nicole Babb, Product Manager – Water Systems, EVAPCO

As water availability, quality and regulatory requirements become increasingly critical, evaporative cooling systems must be engineered with water management at the forefront. This article examines how alternative water sources—including reclaimed wastewater, rainwater, HVAC condensate, graywater and process water—affect cooling tower performance, cycles of concentration, corrosion, scaling and microbiological control. It also explores adaptive treatment strategies, lifecycle economics and system design considerations that enable facilities to reduce potable water consumption while maintaining reliable, efficient and compliant cooling system operation.
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Cleveland Thermal Modernizes Cooling Infrastructure for the Future

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine 

Corix Cleveland Thermal is modernizing its century-old district energy system with new chiller strategies, upgraded cooling towers and sustainable water management practices. This article explores how the utility optimizes seasonal chilled water production, recovers condensate for cooling tower makeup, and prepares for future growth with a more flexible, energy-efficient cooling infrastructure.
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Haartz Electrifies with Water Source Heat Pump

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

An automotive fabric products manufacturer, reduced natural gas consumption and carbon emissions by implementing a water source heat pump system that captures waste heat from process cooling operations and converts it into usable heating energy for a large makeup air unit. The project simultaneously lowers cooling demand on the facility’s chilled water plant, demonstrating how industrial manufacturers can leverage heat recovery and electrification technologies to improve energy efficiency and support decarbonization goals.
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High-performance Process Cooling for Heavy Industry

By Rob Tanner, Director of Marketing, Applied Equipment, Johnson Controls

Heavy industrial processes demand robust cooling systems capable of handling extreme temperatures and continuous loads. This article explores how modern centrifugal chillers, variable speed drives (VSDs), heat pumps and smart controls are transforming process cooling performance. By moving beyond traditional oversized designs and focusing on real-world operating conditions, facilities can improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and enhance reliability. The integration of waste heat recovery and digital monitoring further enables plants to optimize energy use, extend equipment life and achieve measurable gains in operational performance.
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Practical Free Cooling System Operation Techniques

By Clayton Penhallegon, Jr., P.E., Managing Member, Integrated Services Group

Free cooling offers a highly efficient alternative to chiller-based cooling, but its success depends on effective operation and control—especially during system transitions. This article outlines practical techniques for improving the shift between chiller and free cooling modes, minimizing temperature spikes and maintaining process stability in industrial environments. It also covers strategies for enhancing chiller performance under low-temperature conditions, optimizing heat exchanger startup, setting reliable control triggers and addressing maintenance and freeze protection. With proper tuning and operation, facilities can significantly increase free cooling hours, reduce energy use and extend chiller life without risking production disruptions.
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Water-Saving Dry Cooling Technologies for Industrial Applications

By Nick McCall, Senior Project Engineer, E4E Solutions

This article explores how air-cooled heat rejection systems are reshaping industrial cooling strategies as water conservation becomes a growing priority. By breaking down performance trade-offs, system configurations, and real-world sizing comparisons, it highlights when and where these technologies make the most sense. Engineers and facility managers will gain practical insights to evaluate cooling options, balance efficiency with sustainability, and make smarter long-term infrastructure decisions.
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The 2026 Cooling Technology Institute Annual Conference

By Bill Smith, Regional Sales Manager – Eastern U.S. & EMEA, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

This article shares updates to CTI standards and acceptance test codes, synopsizes the event’s educational curriculum, shares perspectives and highlights firms attending this year’s annual conference for manufacturers, owner-operators and suppliers of heat rejection equipment.
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New Belgium Brewing’s Path to Low-GWP Refrigeration

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

This article examines how a natural refrigerant–based chiller was engineered to meet process cooling demands while minimizing environmental impact. It explores refrigerant selection tradeoffs, system architecture modifications required for flammable refrigerants and key design strategies such as charge reduction, mechanical isolation and safety controls. Engineers will gain practical insight into balancing efficiency, compliance and operational reliability in next-generation cooling systems.
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Johnson Controls Optimizes Chiller Lift for Energy Efficiency and Heat Recovery

By Bill Smith, Regional Sales Manager, and Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

Optimizing chiller lift is critical for improving energy efficiency, enabling heat recovery and meeting higher-temperature heat rejection demands in modern facilities. This article explain how advanced centrifugal compressor designs, variable speed drives and variable geometry diffusers enhance lift control while reducing power consumption. As heat pump applications and water constraints drive demand for higher lift performance, next-generation chiller technologies are redefining efficiency across commercial and industrial cooling systems.
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Adiabatic Coolers: An Evolution in Sustainable Process Cooling

By Eric Thompson, General Manager, Frigel North America

Adiabatic coolers are rapidly gaining ground in plastics processing as manufacturers seek sustainable, energy-efficient alternatives to traditional cooling towers. By operating in dry, adiabatic and free-cooling modes, modern systems engineered by Frigel North America deliver up to 90% water savings, lower energy consumption and improved temperature stability for injection molding, PET, extrusion and thermoforming applications. With reduced maintenance, closed-loop protection and long-term ROI advantages, adiabatic cooling is emerging as the new benchmark for high-performance industrial process cooling.
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Understanding 2026 Low-GWP Refrigerant Requirements

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

Industrial manufacturers are preparing for the EPA’s 2026 mandate requiring all process cooling systems above –22°F to use refrigerants with a GWP of 700 or lower—a shift echoed by more than a dozen states and driven by global HFC phase-down commitments. This article examines the technical, regulatory and operational challenges of adopting low-GWP refrigerants, including flammability classifications, system redesign requirements, efficiency tradeoffs and the long-term implications for chiller manufacturers and end users.
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Heat Pump Chillers Deliver Energy Efficiency and Savings

By Rob Tanner, Marketing Director, Applied Equipment, Johnson Controls

Advancements in heat pump chiller technology now enable efficient recovery of low-grade waste heat, expanding applicability beyond the temperature limitations of traditional absorption systems. When integrated with AI-driven CUP optimization platforms, these systems enhance thermal efficiency, stabilize process loads, and improve overall plant performance.
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Best Practices 2025 EXPO & Conference Chiller & Cooling Show Report

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, and Brooke Jones, Digital Content Editor, Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine

The event gathered a record number of cooling system providers exhibit, a fact appreciated by the many cooling reps in attendance. “It’s been beneficial,” said Spencer Kaufman, Sales Engineer, Midwest Machinery. “There are decision-makers and people here who do a lot of design work, not only in our market but all across the country. The conversations we’ve been having have been very deep – often up to 15 minutes. The quality of the conversations has been really good.”  
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Process Cooling Systems Engineers for Industrial Applications

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

In this article: Cooling for High-Speed Injection Plastic Molding Free Cooling Results in Massive Energy Savings Heat Treating Processes Require Cooling to Prevent Furnace Overheating Food Processing Cooling Needs Vary by the Specific Process Chemical Plants Need Ultra-Cold Conditions
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CHS Refinery Repurposes City Wastewater for Cooling

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Compressed Air & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

The CHS oil refinery in McPherson, KS, is a 550-acre facility that processes 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, consisting of an even mix of sweet crude oil and sour crude oil. Crude is brought in through pipelines and fractionated into gasoline, diesel and a few other products. The refinery also houses a sulfur plant where it produces a liquid agricultural fertilizer called ATS or ammonium thiosulfate, which uses sulfur removed primarily through a process called hydrotreating. 
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Cooling Tower Direct Drive Motors Lead to Energy Efficiency Gains

By Sean Mullins, Product Manager – Laminated Frame Motors, ABB

Across industries, operators are adopting cooling tower direct drive (CTDD) motor technology. In particular, permanent magnet (PM) direct drive motors are delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, cleanliness and maintenance reduction. The change is more than a component swap; it represents a new approach to cooling tower design that reduces operating costs, supports environmental goals and improves reliability. 
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Inside the 55 Water Street Heat Recovery Transformation

By Corey Letcher, Comprehensive Solutions Account Executive and Strategic Existing Buildings Solutions Team Leader, Trane

How do you fundamentally transform the utility carbon make-up of a fully occupied, 53-story skyscraper without disrupting the high-profile tenants who depend on its seamless operation? The answer, it turned out, was not just to replace old equipment, but to completely reimagine how the building uses and reuses energy.
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Navigating the Refrigerant Transition: Toward a Sustainable Future

By Nick Mislak, Regional Segment Marketing Director – HVAC, Danfoss

The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, empowers the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase down HFCs through quotas on production and consumption, with the goal of a 40% reduction by 2024 and an 85% reduction by 2036. Individual states, as well as those in the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Alliance, have also proposed or enacted their own GWP restrictions and timing, which vary by application and equipment type. 
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CIS Saves Water and Energy for Manufacturing Plants

By Roderick M. Smith, Publisher, and Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Chiller & Cooling Best Practices

“ASHRAE Guideline 36 is basically a high-performance sequence of operations for large buildings, such as large manufacturing plants, hospitals and hotels. The core concept is to have our load dictate what we do, not the other way around.” — Keith Earhart.
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Cooling System Pressure Control for Efficiency and Process Stability

By Clayton Penhallegon, Jr., P.E., President, Integrated Services Group

Controlling cooling water flow is a critical element of high-performance cooling systems. Fortunately, pressure is a straightforward measurement that can be used as a cost-effective control input for flow control systems. Proper interpretation of pressure readings is required for accurate control at desired rates. This article covers pressure reading methods, control strategies and practical tips.
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How Adiabatic Technology Delivers Performance, Savings and Sustainability

By Kimberly Glasko, Marketing Manager, NIMBUS Advanced Process Cooling

As facility managers, industrial engineers and procurement professionals strive to meet rising demands for energy efficiency, water conservation and sustainability, cooling systems have taken center stage. Among the various technologies reshaping the industrial and commercial cooling landscape, adiabatic cooling stands out as a compelling alternative to traditional methods. This article explores the evolving role of adiabatic cooling, its technical advantages and why it's gaining traction across industries.
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