We were approached in July of 2023 to upgrade the chilled water system onboard a 71m super yacht. This required the design, procurement, installation and commissioning of 2x 320kW Chillers, along with the chilled water pumps, seawater pumps and the provisions refrigeration system. One key aspect of the project was to replace the existing refrigerant with a more environmentally friendly alternative to reduce the GWP and essentially future proof the installation. We started the project onsite in STP Shipyard, Palma de Mallorca at the beginning of September and finished on schedule in the first week of January. We have worked in unison with the Project Management Company, Yacht Agents, The Shipyard and the Chief Engineer.
The chiller was designed by our managing director Stuart Ginbey and further developed by our HVAC design engineer, Matt Lee. He has worked to utilise the existing support structure to replace a large shell and tube heat exchanger with a brazed plate heat exchanger. This required careful planning regarding the cut and braze points for the existing chilled water pipe work, and the installation of new support beams to support a 282kg heat exchanger.
The existing chilled water air conditioning system consisted of x2 of 270kW water cooled chillers (2x135kW circuits per chiller), giving a total cooling capacity onboard the vessel of 540kW. As part of the upgrade, we increased the cooling capacity to 2x 160kW circuits per chiller giving a total cooling capacity of 640kW.
The PLC’s were replaced for both chillers.
We removed and replaced the first chiller, commissioning the system before starting the second. The Provisions overhaul fitted in the middle of the chiller replacements.
