The chilled water types of central

air conditioning plants are installed

in the place where whole large
buildings, shopping mall, airport,
hotel, etc, comprising of several
floors are to be air conditioned.
While in the direct expansion type
of central air conditioning plants,
refrigerant is directly used to cool
the room air; in the chilled water
plants the refrigerant first chills the
water, which in turn chills the room
air.
In chilled water plants, the ordinary water or brine solution is chilled to
very low temperatures of about 6 to 8 degree Celsius by the refrigeration
plant.

This chilled water is pumped to various floors of the building and its
different parts. In each of these parts the air handling units are installed,
which comprise of the cooling coil, blower and the ducts.

The chilled water flows through the cooling coil. The blower absorbs
return air from the air conditioned rooms that are to be cooled via the
ducts.

This air passes over the cooling coil and gets cooled and is then passed to
the air conditioned space.
water-cooled chiller
Counterflow type cooling tower

In a counterflow design the air flow is directly opposite to the water flow (see
diagram below). Air flow first enters an open area beneath the fill media and is then
drawn up vertically. The water is sprayed through pressurized nozzles and flows
downward through the fill, opposite to the air flow.
Crossflow type cooling tower

Crossflow is a design in which the air flow is directed perpendicular to the water
flow (see diagram below). Air flow enters one or more vertical faces of the cooling
tower to meet the fill material. Water flows (perpendicular to the air) through the
fill by gravity. The air continues through the fill and thus past the water flow into
an open plenum area. A distribution or hot water basin consisting of a deep pan
with holes or nozzles in the bottom is utilized in a crossflow tower. Gravity
distributes the water through the nozzles uniformly across the fill material
Direct Expansion (DX) Type of Central Air Conditioning Plant

In the direct expansion or DX types of air central conditioning plants the air used for
cooling space is directly chilled by the refrigerant in the cooling coil of the air handling
unit. Since the air is cooled directly by the refrigerant the cooling efficiency of the DX
plants is higher. However, it is not always feasible to carry the refrigerant piping to the
large distances hence, direct expansion or the DX type of central air conditioning system
is usually used for cooling the small buildings or the rooms on the single floor
Air Handling Units

Box Enclosure:

All the parts of the air handling unit are enclosed in the box
type of enclosure. This ensures compactness of the unit
and protection of all the components inside it. The whole
box is insulated to prevent the loss of heat from the unit
Split type air conditioner
Window type air conditioning unit
Packaged AC