Werner Finley Private Limited

Werner Finley and Danfoss have shared a great relationship for more than two decades. Danfoss is one our most premium suppliers and partners. It is not just a commercial relationship between the two organizations, it is one of mutual trust and respect and one of knowledge sharing. The relationship has benefited both the organizations in many ways.

 

Danfoss is one of the world leaders for refrigeration compressors and accessories and Werner Finley a leading brand of manufacturer for all Process Cooling Equipment. With Werner Finley’s core competence in Process Cooling Technology, Danfoss wanted to partner with us on this project.

 

Danfoss wanted to build an Industrial Chiller which will reduce the impact on environment caused by refrigerants and improve energy efficiency of the system. This is the most relevant issue faced by the industry today. At Werner Finley we are already pro-actively trying to phase out CFCs and are in the process of phasing out HCFC based refrigerants which are hazardous to our environment. So when Danfoss approached us to partner with them on such a project we took it immediately, as the smallest possible contribution for the cause counts. We are grateful for the opportunity.

Requirement :

 

• Danfoss required a comparative study to be done of an industrial Chiller using micro channel heat exchanger vs. fine tube heat exchanger. Also, the study included the introduction of an electronic expansion valve in place of the conventional TXV.
• In this study, performance of an Industrial chiller system with a fin and tube condenser along with a Thermostatic Expansion Valve was experimentally investigated against a system with the new Micro channel Condenser and Electronic Expansion valve to understand the system performance and the power saving component. The objective of using Micro channel heat exchangers was that it offers a higher volumetric heat exchange capacity and also reduces refrigerant charge amount by more than 60%.
• For this investigation, a scroll compressor model of competition of 5TR capacity with Eco-friendly refrigerant R407C Industrial chiller system having a fin-and-tube condenser with thermostatic expansion valve was first tested as the base system. After testing the base unit the compressor was replaced with the Danfoss make and the condenser was replaced by a micro channel heat exchanger with the same face area with Electronic expansion valves under identical test conditions. The test results show that the system with a micro channel heat exchanger has a reduced refrigerant charge amount of 60 to 70%, the coefficient of performance increased by 3% to 6%, and the water temperature maintained ±0.5°C as compared with those of the base system. Moreover, the condensing pressure of the system is decreased by 35Psig.

Micro Channel Heat Exchanger (MCHX) : For heat exchangers, compactness and higher volumetric heat transfer capacity are required. MCHX has a great potential for condensers or evaporators in these respects. Due to a higher air-side heat transfer performance of micro channel heat exchangers, the volume of the heat exchanger can be significantly reduced at the same cooling or heating capacity. With the decrease of the heat exchanger volume, the refrigerant charge amount can be decreased as well. Furthermore, it has a merit for recycling process. For typical fin-and-tube heat exchangers, tubes and fins have different materials. However, fins and tubes of micro channel heat exchangers are both made of the same material, aluminum.

Electronic Expansion Valve (ETS) : To improve the liquid feeding into the evaporator according to the load and superheat function. ETS operates with a much more sophisticated design. ETSs control the flow of refrigerant entering a direct expansion evaporator. They do this in response to signals sent to them by an electronic controller. A small motor is used to open and close the valve port. The motor is called stepper motor. They are controlled by an electronic controller and rotate a fraction of a revolution for each signal sent to them by the electronic controller. The step motor is driven by a gear train, which positions a pin in a port in which refrigerant flows.

 

Step motors can run at 200 steps per second and can return to their exact position very quickly. The controller remembers the number of step signals sent by the controller. This makes it possible for the controller to return the valve to any previous position at any time. This gives the valve very accurate control of refrigerant that flows through it. Most of these ETSs have 1,596 steps of control and each step is 0.0000783 inches.

 

Experimental setup : Figure 1 Shows the Test set up for the industrial Chiller system being used for testing the performance using the test conditions. Data logging was conducted through a precision data logger made by Yokagawa, and the 5000 data has been stored. P&I drawing to be included here by Puttaraju

 

Highlights and Conclusion:

• 60% reduction in usage of refrigerant
• 6% enhancement in COP of the system
• Compact

Conclusion: The performance of an Industrial Chiller system having a MCHX condenser was experimentally evaluated and compared with that having a fin-and-tube condenser. The tested MCHX condenser has the same face area as that of the fin-and-tube condenser, but its internal refrigerant flow volume is 49% smaller than that of the baseline condenser. Due to its smaller internal volume, the optimum refrigerant charge amount of the micro channel condenser system is 60-70% lower than that of the baseline system. The steady state COP of the micro channel condenser system is increased by 3 to 6% as compared with that of the baseline system. This is attributed to the decrease in the compressor power consumption rather than the increase in the cooling capacity. Decrease of the power consumption for the micro channel condenser system is caused by the lower pressure ratio between the condensing and evaporation pressure, which is caused by the increased condenser heat capacity and ETS. In the cyclic operation, the cooling capacity of the micro channel condenser system is higher and its compressor power is lower than those of the baseline system. These benefits in the cycle operation are originated from the increased condenser heat capacity and improved injection of liquid to the evaporator using ETS.

Testimonial from Danfoss: “We at Danfoss take this opportunity to thank the entire Werner Finley team for your valiant support in getting this Project Executed. The commitment and interest shown by you and your team is simply commendable and that’s the reason we have been able to make it a successful one. I wouldn’t be doing justice if i didn’t mention Mr. Nataraj and Mr. Yogesh’s name specifically who had put in their 100% effort and extended the fullest support day in and day out until this project was completed. Also, our sincere appreciation and thanks to your entire production team.”

• Werner Finley was one of the companies to understand, early in its career, the responsibilities of a corporate citizen. It has always been integral to our core corporate values. Werner Finley has committed itself to work with the community by volunteering and financially supporting education and other worthy causes.

• As a part of such an endeavor Werner Finley has legally adopted “Arehalli School” in Uttarhallii Bangalore. Arehalli is a residential school with 300 students which includes 70 hostel inmates. It is a government school supported by donations and charities and when Werner Finley came in contact with this school, we did not want to miss the opportunity to associate with a cause we already believed in. Werner Finley has taken complete responsibility of the school by legally adopting it. All maintenance like water, electricity etc is sponsored by Werner Finley.

• We are also concerned about the quality of education the students receive in the school and therefore we sponsor two full time teachers annually. Besides this Werner Finley has also taken responsibility to provide proper amenities to the hostel inmates like sleeping bags, toiletries etc. Apart from the financial support Werner Finley personally takes keen interest in the performance of the students; representatives of Werner Finley visit the school and interactions with the students and children are held at regular intervals.

• Werner Finley will remain committed to work with the community and is always on a lookout for a worthy and legitimate cause to associate with.