Engineering the Cooler

Turmoil application engineers are specialists, available to help you select or design a cooling system to meet your specific needs. They are very familiar with your applications and our equipment. Turmoil prides itself on being able to provide accurate technical data when you need it. So, if you need help, give Turmoil a call.

DETERMINING THE HEAT LOAD
The heat load is the amount of heat to be removed from the coolant as it passes through the chiller. In order to size a cooler, this heat load must be accurately determined. This can be done in several ways:

1. Measure flow and temperature change.
   The most accurate way to determine heat load is to measure the flow of the coolant. (This can be done by timing how long it takes to fill a five-gallon bucket.) Measure the change in temperature (Δ T) of the coolant as it enters and leaves the heat source. Calculate the heat load as follows:
   
    
2. Measure the change in temperature of the coolant in the sump.
   If there is a sump on your machine tool, measure the temperature of the coolant in the sump before machine startup. Then measure the temperature of that same coolant at 30-minute intervals for three hours after start-up while the machine is operating at full capacity. Determine the total volume of coolant in the sump and coolant loop. Take the hour interval with the greatest temperature change and plug the numbers into the following formula:
   
    
3. Size the cooler by the motor horsepower.
   The coolant is heated either directly or indirectly by a motor or motors. Theoretically, if you know the motor horsepower you can easily determine the heat load. But, it is not always so simple. Duty cycle, motor efficiency, and ambient heat loss or gain can have a great effect on the heat load. However, if the motor horsepower is known and its operation is fairly steady at maximum output:
      
    

DETERMINING APPLICATION AND COOLANT