Enhancing Energy Efficiency of Industrial Cooling Systems through Optimized Operation of Chillers and Dry Coolers

This study explores the application of Free Cooling strategies to enhance the energy and economical saving of industrial cooling systems in Eskilstuna, Sweden -a location with cold climatic conditions.Focusing on a system combining a chiller and dry cooler, this research introduces intelligent control methodologies that combine hysteresis-based temperature bands with time-lock logic to reduce energy consumption and operational cycling.This methodology is applied on two distinct cooling loopsprocess cooling with refrigerant of ammonia and HVAC applications with refrigerant of R134a.MATLAB simulations are used to evaluate the control strategy based on hourly temperature data in year 2023.The results show electricity saving of 2.46 MWh for the ammonia case and 3.3 MWh for the R134a case, the total annual energy saving is over 5.76 MWh.These improvements correspond to cost savings exceeding SEK 6.24 million.The results demonstrate the technical and economic viability of Free Cooling integration in the cold climate regions, offering a practical and scalable solution for industrial energy optimization.This study was motivated by the operational demands of Senior Material's facilities and aims to inform engineers, decision-makers, and energy managers seeking sustainable, datadriven solutions for industrial cooling efficiency and carbon footprint reduction.