Chiller Replacement for Adient

The Kimpton Team are on site completing a chiller replacement project on a 20 year old R22 based Chiller Unit made by York, at Adient in Ellesmere Port, Wirral. Adient is a global leader in automotive seating, that works with all major car makers around the UK and beyond. The chiller supplies fan coil units to the office space on the ground and first floor of the building.

The existing Chiller was old and had become inefficient, as well as having multiple leaks on the refrigerant coils. With the unit being R22 refrigerant based, spare parts are no longer available. R22 was finally banned in 2015 after a long phase out period. Increasingly, older units like this are having to be replaced, due to the (lack of) availability of parts to repair them.

The image shows the Leaks on the refrigerant coils on York Chiller

The replacement unit being fitted is a Mitsubishi 114kw N Range CV Chiller with E-coating micro channel coils. Costs are being minimised by the new chiller being connected to the existing BMS to allow for timed operation. Some small modifications are needed to the pump system to move the chilled water through the system as the new chiller has a higher flow rate than the old.

During the installation, we also check for Glycol levels within the system as we often find that it has degraded to a point of no longer offering protection from freezing, or worse still, is missing altogether. This simple test can save huge amounts of potential issues developing when the weather outside turns cold.

As part of the process, the old chiller is decommissioned first. This means it has to be drained of any remaining R22 refrigerant. This, in turn, has to be stored in a cylinder and then properly disposed of following the correct waste transfer protocols.

With the system drained, the Kimpton team will remove the old unit, before fabricating new pipework to allow for the connection to the existing system. This will all be insulated to the latest standards to minimise loss within the system. They will complete all of the electrical and control work before commissioning the new system.

The work will take around a week to complete.

One of the more interesting facts about the whole job is the payback period for the replacement. The new Mitsubishi Climaveneta Chiller is hugely more efficient than the York Chiller it replaces and should deliver significant energy savings. If all goes to plan, it will mean the payback will be rapid and it will deliver long term savings for the life of the unit.

As Mitsubishi Platinum Partners it also carries a full seven year warranty as long as the service and maintenance protocols are followed and as you would expect, the Kimpton team are fully trained in this particular model and the entire Mitsubishi range.