Revamp an old chiller

[RJAOB]

I have a 150 Tr Chiller made by Dunham-Bush. Condenser and evaporator are in the end of life and I need to replace both very soon. I don't have detailed dwgs for both and it looks like what has remained from the manufacturer is not able to locate any detailed drawing.
I am looking for a Golf based engineering office that can perform a reverse engineering and provide detailed drawings for both vessels.

 

[KiwiMace]

I would suggest that the repair cost (reverse engineering exercise, the construction of the new vessels and the lifetime maintenance of endless purging and refilling refrigerant *when* it leaks) will exceed that of a nice, new, more efficient, under-warranty chiller.

Also, if the evap and cond are poked, why would you think the old compressor is worth the exercise?

 

[RJAOB]

KiwiMace,

Thanks for your reply. We are actually evaluating 3 other alternatives as well. A completely new unit with the same Tr. Another new unit, but bigger to replace two existing units and a redesign in our process to optimize the refrigeration demand.

 

[AnotherEllis]

150TR chillers are cheap. You can even go modular and get N+1 redundancy for a reasonable capital outlay. I have done a lot of rebuild vs. replace feasibility studies and have yet to have a rebuild bear out the total operating cost vs. a new plant in even a short 5 year LCC.

In appropriate tonnage ranges the magnetic bearing units slay the old stuff. I have a plant retrofit under construction right now with one that has a projected simple payback over rebuild of less than 3 years, and that's holding energy costs stagnant. An NLPV of just over 0.3 kw/ton can do that.

Not to mention the fact that, if you extend chiller life for another 5-7 years, will you still be able to get refrigerant for it WHEN it leaks(and it will leak)?

http://www.ellisconsultingengineers.com