Recirculating Chiller Performance at 50Hz & 60Hz

Lytron frequently receives questions through its “Ask an Engineer” website form. A customer recently asked us the following question: “We are using a Kodiak chiller for cooling a laser. The chiller was designed for 60Hz but we recently moved to another country where it is 50Hz. Can we run the chiller on 50Hz power or can we change the pump motor to work for 50Hz while keeping the equivalent heat capacity and flow rate?”
 
If you have a chiller with a 60Hz compressor running at 50Hz it has to work harder to maintain the set point temperature. This will lead to premature failure of the compressor. Also, if you run the chiller at 50Hz, the pump motor will run at a reduced speed and thus at a reduced flow rate (generally 15%-17% less). This will result in a reduced cooling capacity by the same factor. Buying a new recirculating chiller with the correct components is economically (and logistically) a better option than replacing parts in an existing machine. Lytron offers chillers with both power configurations. 
 
- John, Engineer