Flow restrictors on a Chiller

[braell]

In our application we have (2) chillers; we are checking flows on the condensor side out to the cooling tower.

During testing of a bypass valve, we saw the flow go above 2000gpm although the chillers have 1200gpm flow restrictors on them. Pressures were not abnormally high (38psi).

I am perplexed as the function/design of flow restrictors, and appreciate anybody's information.

Thanks!
Brad

 

[quark]

What type of flow restrictors you are using? I suggest you to recheck the sizing calculation. If flow through both the chillers is more than what you required, throttling the pump discharge will help you in maintaining flow and reducing power consumption as well.

Some of the flow restrictors I saw, work on differential pressure and are designed for some initial pressures. Total pressure drop estimation for your system seems to be higher than what exactly is (because your pumps are pumping more fluid). This may lead to malfunctioning of the flow controllers, of the type which I referred above.

Regards,