Absorption Chillers Help Cut Energy Consumption

During warmer months, commercial and industrial facilities deal with skyrocketing electric consumption, a good portion of which accountable to their cooling machineries. But if it’s possible to generate chilled water using heat itself, why not? For starters, absorption coolers are machines designed to use heat sources—solar, propane, geothermal, etc.—to produce chilled water. 

It’s easy to understand why the idea technology is becoming increasingly popular even in the residential scale. Compared to traditional refrigeration systems that require high electricity input to drive the compressors, absorption chillers use much less (just 2-9%) because their chief energy source is waste heat. This means facilities can significantly reduce electricity consumption during peak demand periods, and thus save on costs. Additionally, absorption chillers have minimal moving parts so they operate more silently and vibrate more subtly compared to regular chillers.

Absorption chillers are generally integrated in new construction or serve as replacements for old, conventional chillers. Nevertheless, for it to compete with an electric unit on the basis of cost, the facility’s fuel consumption must be considerably low. To get in the middle ground, hybrid central plants combine absorption chillers with electric chillers, allowing them to consume the least amount of energy possible. Absorption chillers are usually operated during summers and electric chillers during winters when each is more cost-efficient.