Course Description

Chilled water systems are widely used in medium to large-scale HVAC applications because they offer flexibility, efficiency, and scalability. Instead of using refrigerant directly throughout a building, chilled water acts as a secondary heat transfer medium. The basic principle is simple but powerful: a central chiller removes heat from water, and this chilled water is then circulated throughout the building to absorb heat from indoor air through coils in air handling units or fan coil units. One of the main advantages of this approach is that cooling energy can be distributed over long distances without significant loss, making it ideal for large buildings. However, system efficiency depends heavily on how effectively the chilled water is distributed, which is why piping design and hydraulic control become extremely important.

What you'll learn in this course?

• Understand chilled water distribution principles in HVAC systems.

• Differentiate between primary, secondary, and tertiary pumping systems.

• Analyze direct return and reverse return piping arrangements.

• Evaluate variable and constant flow chilled water systems.

• Identify hydraulic balancing methods and system control strategies.

• Apply design concepts for energy-efficient chilled water distribution.

• Interpret pump selection and placement in chilled water networks.

• Understand decoupled and primary-secondary loop configurations.

• Recognize common operational issues such as flow imbalance and pressure drops.

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of HVAC systems, heat transfer, fluid flow, and building-services design

• Familiarity with pumps, valves, piping, and control concepts is helpful