In a chilled water system, the flow of heat transfer to cool a building occurs in which order?

In a chilled water system, the heat transfer process is crucial for understanding how the system effectively cools a building. The correct sequence of flow in such a system is from air to chilled water, then to refrigerant, and finally back to the air, which is how cooling occurs.

Initially, warm air from the building enters the air handling unit, where it comes into contact with the chilled water coils. The chilled water absorbs heat from the air, cooling it in the process. This heat exchange is essential, as it is where the air loses its heat and is cooled down.

Once the chilled water absorbs heat from the air, it then carries this heat to the refrigerant in the chiller. The refrigerant, which has a lower temperature than the chilled water, circulates in the chiller, allowing it to absorb this heat. By changing state from liquid to vapor, the refrigerant absorbs the latent heat, further cooling the chilled water.

After the refrigerant absorbs the heat, it is then returned to the condenser, where it expels this heat to the condenser water, which is subsequently cooled. This process not only maintains a continuous cycle of cooling but also embodies the fundamental operation of a chilled water system in an HVAC context.

Thus,