Chillers

Evaluating Process Cooling Supply Temperatures

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

This article will make plants aware of the energy and water use differential between CHW systems providing chilled water in a 45-60°F (7-16°C) range, and process cooling solutions at 70°F up to 120°F (21 to 49°C). The article will examine cooling resource evaluation criteria and supply water temperature specifications, then describe and compare process cooling options.

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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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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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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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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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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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Inside the Downtown Minneapolis District Energy System

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Chiller & Cooling Best Practices

The Cordia Minneapolis district energy system has evolved since it first went online in 1972 to include one main plant and nine satellite plants providing heating and cooling to over 100 buildings. Those buildings are some of the biggest in the state, including the homes of three professional sports teams (U.S. Bank Stadium, Target Field and Target Center), the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Minnesota Star Tribune printing plant and Augsburg University. The steam and hot water system includes 39,000 feet of piping. The chilled water system includes 24,900 feet of piping and has a cooling capacity of 37,550 tons.
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The Advantages of Proactive Chiller Maintenance

By John Mitchell, Senior Account Executive, Johnson Controls

The average chiller lifecycle can be as much as 20 years making maintenance a continuous process requiring a holistic and proactive approach. By integrating smart equipment engineered to simplify maintenance with intelligent automation solutions, chillers can be optimized to drive building performance and help operators overcome common maintenance challenges.     
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Evaluating Single-Stage and Two-Stage Centrifugal Chillers

By Ryan Huthmacher, Senior Aerodynamics Engineer; Jeff Morgan, Mechanical Engineer and Art Rizoli, Senior Director of Global Product Strategy for Chillers, Daikin Applied

Developing centrifugal refrigeration compressors, whether they have one stage or two, involves considering several factors. From a cost perspective, a single-stage refrigeration compressor is an ideal option. It’s simpler to design and has fewer parts, which generally makes it cheaper. However, single-stage refrigeration compressors have their limitations.
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Cooling Technology Institute Celebrates 75 Years

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

The 2025 Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) Annual Conference for manufacturers, owner-operators and suppliers of heat rejection equipment was held Feb. 2-5, 2025, at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, TN. This article shares updates to CTI standards and acceptance test codes, synopsizes the event’s educational curriculum, shares perspective and highlights products and services offered by firms at the event’s trade show. 
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CIS Engineers Central Utility Plants for Extreme Weather

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

Chiller & Cooling Best Practices sat down with three of CIS’s officers, Mikel Bonano, Jr., CEO; Keith Earhart, Vice President, Engineered Sales and Strategic Accounts and Joseph Bonano, Louisiana Controls Manager; to discuss staying operational during extreme weather events, the benefits of two-stage centrifugal chiller impellers and a massive project CIS undertook for Tulane University.
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Industrial Chiller and Heat Rejection Innovation at the 2025 AHR Expo

By Brooke Jones, Digital Content Editor, Chiller & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

More than 1,800 exhibitors and 350 speakers drew in over 50,000 attendees. HVACR professionals from across the globe gathered to discuss the latest regulation updates and explore innovations. This article focuses on chiller, heat rejection and related cooling technologies for industrial use.
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Burns & McDonnell’s OnSite Energy & Power Group

By Troy Dreier, Senior Editor, Chiller & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

If we're using sustainability as a broader term, there's waste management, water, carbon, renewable power and more. Those are some of the units now part of the equation we're solving for. It sometimes ends up with a different set of solutions than you would typically end up with if you were only looking at dollars.
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Decarbonization Hits Close to Home for Johnson Controls

By Chiller & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

Johnson Controls’ most recent decarbonization project has gone right to the heart of its 2040 net-zero commitment – working with its own Norman, Oklahoma, manufacturing facility on a chilled water plant and compressed air system upgrade that is projected to nearly halve its greenhouse gas emissions.
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Chiller, Cooling Tower and Air Compressor Innovations at NPE2024

By Troy Dreier, Chiller & Cooling Best Practices Magazine

NPE2024: The Plastics Show took place in Orlando, Florida, May 2024, and Chiller & Cooling Best Practices Magazine and Compressed Air Best Practices® Magazine and were there to cover the highlights. This year’s conference drew over 50,000 registrants, including 15,000 from outside the United States. Filling both buildings of the Orlando Convention Center, the conference included zones dedicated to bottling, recycling and sustainability, material science, advanced manufacturing, mold-making and packaging. 
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