What is a Chilled Water Air Conditioning System?

A Chilled Water System is a central air conditioning solution widely used in large buildings, data centers, and industrial facilities. It produces low-temperature chilled water through a chiller and delivers it to terminal cooling devices (such as fan coil units or air handling units) to cool and regulate indoor environments. Unlike split-type AC units, chilled water systems offer centralized cooling, higher efficiency, and scalability for large-scale applications.

How Does a Chilled Water System Work?

The core principle of a chilled water system is heat exchange. The chiller cools water down to 5°C–7°C, which is then pumped to terminal units. There, heat exchange between water and air lowers indoor temperature. As chilled water absorbs heat, it returns at a higher temperature to the chiller, where it is cooled again—forming a closed-loop cycle.

In this process, chilled water functions as the carrier of cooling capacity, while the chiller continuously generates low-temperature water to maintain system operation. This loop ensures stable performance under high loads and allows for flexible adjustments, making it a key enabler of efficiency and energy savings in today’s expanding cooling demands.

Key Components of a Chilled Water System

A chilled water air conditioning system typically consists of:

Chillers: The core of the system, producing chilled water.
Cooling Towers: Discharge condenser heat, ensuring chiller efficiency.
Pumps (Chilled Water & Cooling Water): Circulate chilled and cooling water.
Terminal Units (AHU, FCU, etc.): Transfer cooling capacity to the indoor environment via heat exchange.
Piping & Valve Networks: Distribute and control chilled and cooling water flows throughout the facility.

Together, these components create an efficient and reliable cooling network suitable for diverse applications.

High Efficiency

Centralized cooling provides higher COP (Coefficient of Performance).
Optimization of load, chilled water temperature, and pump operations reduces energy per unit of cooling.
Can integrate free cooling or natural cooling to further cut energy use.

Reliable Operation

Supports multi-chiller and redundant pump configurations.
Even in partial equipment failures, the system maintains operation, ensuring continuity in mission-critical industries such as finance, telecom, and cloud computing.

Scalable Design

Cooling capacity can be expanded by adding chillers or extending pipe networks.
Enables businesses to meet growth without large-scale system overhauls.

Easy Maintenance

Centralized management simplifies maintenance compared to maintaining multiple split AC units.
Integration with DCIM platforms enables predictive monitoring, reduces manual inspections, and improves response time.

Eco-Friendly

Higher energy efficiency reduces carbon emissions.
Compatible with district cooling, free cooling, and heat recovery for secondary uses (heating, hot water, etc.).
Supports ESG and certifications such as LEED and green data center standards.

Cost-Effective

While initial investment is higher, operational and energy savings offset costs over the system lifecycle (TCO).
Ideal for long-term, high-load, stable-operation facilities.

Chilled Water System Solutions

Attom delivers high-efficiency chilled water cooling solutions tailored for data centers and mission-critical facilities. Our systems combine modular design with intelligent monitoring to ensure efficiency, scalability, and reliability.

High-Efficiency Cooling: Advanced chillers and optimized piping designs deliver maximum cooling with minimal energy consumption.
Smart O&M: Integrated with DCIM platforms for real-time monitoring of water flow, temperature, and energy metrics.
Green & Sustainable: Supports free cooling and energy recovery to achieve low PUE and sustainability targets.
Reliability Assurance: Redundant pumps and multi-chiller coordination guarantee continuous cooling in critical environments.

With deep expertise in chilled water technologies, Attom provides solutions that are efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly, helping enterprises and data centers achieve sustainable IT infrastructure development.