How an Air-Cooled Chiller Works — Interactive 3D

Drag to orbit the plant, zoom in on any component, and click equipment to learn what it does. Watch the chilled water travel from the chillers to the AHUs and FCUs — and the heat leave straight to the air through the roof fans. No cooling tower, no condenser water. Take the guided tour for a step-by-step walkthrough.

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Pipe legend

CHW Supply ~7°C

CHW Return ~12.5°C

Warm air ↑ (heat rejected)

Drag to rotate · scroll to zoom · click equipment

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Illustrative model for education. Temperatures, flows and component counts are typical values — every real plant is engineered to its own load and site conditions.

The Chilled-Water Journey

From Chiller to AHU & FCU — Without a Cooling Tower

An air-cooled chiller plant runs on a single chilled-water loop and one refrigeration cycle. The condenser is built into the chiller, so heat goes straight to the air.

The chilled-water loop (blue & red)

Inside each chiller, a refrigeration cycle cools water down to about 7 °C. Primary pumps push this cold supply water (CHWS) through the building's headers and risers to the cooling coils of the AHUs and FCUs. Fans blow room air across those cold coils — this is where the building actually gets cooled. The water, now warmed to about 12.5 °C, returns (CHWR) to the chiller to be cooled again. Header and pipe sizes are selected from the flow in litres per second, keeping velocity and friction within ASHRAE / SNI limits.

Heat rejection — straight to the air (orange)

Instead of a cooling tower and a condenser-water loop, the condenser coils sit right on top of the chiller. Roof-mounted fans pull outdoor air up through the V-shaped coils and blow it off 8–12 °C hotter, carrying the building's heat to the sky. That means no tower, no condenser pumps, and no make-up water — but the units need clear space and good airflow so they don't re-ingest their own hot air.

Air-cooled vs water-cooled

Air-cooled chillers win on simplicity and water: fewer components, far less maintenance, and no water consumption — ideal where water is scarce, rooftops are tight, or a plant room is unavailable. Water-cooled chillers are usually more energy-efficient at large capacity because evaporative cooling rejects heat at a lower temperature. The right choice depends on your load, site and utilities — and we help you weigh it.

PT. Son Duct Sejahtera designs, fabricates, installs and commissions both — chillers, pumps, chilled-water piping, and the square & spiral ducting that carries cooled air from each AHU into the rooms. See the water-cooled chiller plant in 3D →

Our HVAC Design & Build

Planning an Air-Cooled Chiller or HVAC Project?

Tell us about your building — our engineering team will respond with a practical proposal and competitive quotation.