How Can I Reduce Water Usage in the Lab?
Discover how switching to a recirculating chiller can significantly reduce laboratory water usage and operational costs.
Cooling with tap water is a popular method for many scientific and industrial labs. While it may seem like a convenient solution, it’s not a cost-effective, efficient, or environmentally friendly practice.
Traditional tap water cooling methods fall under what’s known as single-pass cooling, meaning the water flows through the process once and then right down the drain. It’s a wasteful process that can lead to significant water costs and excess water consumption. The smarter alternative is to adopt a closed-loop approach, where a chiller reuses and recirculates water (or other coolants) in a continuous loop to remove heat from processes and equipment and achieve consistent temperatures.
The Economic and Environmental Impact of Cooling with Water
Switching to a closed-loop recirculating chiller requires an upfront investment, but it quickly pays for itself by reducing overall operating costs and improving process efficiencies. Testing, research, teaching, and production labs often use and waste thousands of gallons of water a week, leading to a substantial increase in water and sewer costs. Even on a smaller scale, with a moderate flow of 16 gal/min, it can cost more than $17,000/year (assuming municipal water costs are around $6.76 and $6.97/hcf – hundred cubic feet). And many labs are consuming far more water than that, wasting tens of thousands of gallons and dollars a year.
In addition to the cost of the water itself, many geographical areas have limits on the amount of water you can use before facing fines or greater penalties. Drought-prone areas aren’t the only places where every drop of water counts. Water is a limited resource, and water consumption is a growing concern for many stakeholders, especially in publicly traded companies and universities. Cooling with tap water requires vast quantities of freshwater, making it hard for you to align your laboratory with public and shareholder values.
Enhancing Process Control and Efficiency with a Recirculating Chiller
Temperature fluctuations and daily pressure variabilities can also present a challenge when cooling with tap water—the inability to lower tap water temperatures or control flow and pressure impacts both safety and efficiency. Not being able to accurately control cooling capacities or flow rates may lead to a reduction in process efficiency or the potential loss of production entirely.
Dedicated recirculating chillers eliminate water waste, reduce operating costs, and deliver reliable process control. Small to large capacity chillers can control dedicated cooling processes such as condensers, packaging systems, reaction vessels, and semiconductor applications. Chillers with a large pumping capacity can even control multiple systems while meeting the cooling requirements of each system.
Chillers offer consistent, precise temperature control through a PID controller providing constant pressure and flow rates. Depending on the process, chillers can use a variety of coolants, including water, glycols, alcohols, and silicones. Temperature stabilities of less than ±0.5 °C , like those offered by JULABO USA, deliver peace of mind that the process temperature conditions remain constant and reproducible.
Recirculating Chillers vs. Tap Water Cooling
Recirculating chillers provide continuous removal of heat using a refrigerated liquid within a closed-loop system. Rotary evaporators and other instruments including calorimeters, polarimeters, refractometers and others require consistent temperatures that may be difficult to maintain using tap water. A recirculating chiller combines a circulating coolant with precise pressure and flows to speed up heat removal and provide greater control over processes. In addition to process efficiency, a recirculating chiller also provides costs savings, safety benefits, and a more sustainable approach to cooling. Switching to a recirculating chiller and moving away from single-pass cooling is a smart decision with numerous pay-offs.
The Benefits of Using a Recirculating Chiller
- Reduced water and sewer costs
- Far less water consumption and waste
- Faster cooling and reactions
- More reliable pressure and flow
- A broader range of coolant options
- Enhanced safety due to fewer hoses or potential leaks
- The ability to multiply processes and systems with a single unit.
Make the Switch to a Recirculating Chiller
When you’re ready to make the switch to a recirculating chiller, our team can help you size and select the perfect chiller for your application or applications. Contact your account representative for personalized product recommendations based on your cooling needs and environmental and economic goals. With more than 30 recirculating chillers to choose from, your account manager can be a tremendous resource, helping you narrow down your options and find a chiller with the features and benefits you need to save time, money, and water in the lab. Get started with a personal consultation today.
