VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER

VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER

The VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER is an innovative marine chilled-water solution that combines indirect seawater cooling with a closed intermediate circuit. By completely separating seawater from the refrigerant system, it eliminates many of the challenges associated with conventional seawater-cooled chillers, resulting in higher reliability, lower maintenance, and reduced environmental risk.

Designed for naval vessels, commercial ships, and offshore applications, the VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER delivers reliable cooling performance for HVAC systems, mission-critical equipment, technical spaces, electronics, and other chilled-water consumers. The advanced architecture protects refrigeration components from exposure to seawater while maintaining the known performance expected from marine chilled-water systems.

Indirect Seawater Cooling for Maximum Reliability

Traditional marine chilled-water systems often rely on direct seawater cooling. While widely used, these systems expose critical components to corrosion, biofouling, erosion, and seawater contamination.

The VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER takes a different approach.

A closed intermediate circuit completely separates the refrigerant system from the seawater circuit. Heat is transferred indirectly through a titanium plate heat exchanger, creating a robust cooling solution designed for demanding marine environments.

This innovative design helps reduce maintenance requirements, improve operational availability, and lower lifecycle costs throughout the vessel’s service life.

Key Benefits of the VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER

• Fully Separated Refrigerant and Seawater Circuits: no direct seawater contact with refrigerant components, eliminating exposure to corrosion, biofouling, and seawater contamination.
  
• Superior Corrosion Protection: a titanium plate heat exchanger provides exceptional resistance to corrosion, erosion, and harsh marine operating conditions.
  
• Lower Maintenance Costs: protected refrigeration components reduce fouling, servicing requirements, and overall lifecycle costs.
  
• Up to 50% Lower Refrigerant Charge: compact plate condenser technology significantly reduces refrigerant volume, supporting sustainability goals and future compliance requirements.
  
• Reduced Environmental Risk: complete separation of the seawater and refrigerant circuits eliminates a direct leak path to the marine environment.
  
• Built-In Redundancy: multiple independent refrigeration circuits can ensure continued operation in the event of a fault, supporting mission availability and operational continuity.
  
• Ideal for Newbuild and Retrofit Projects: designed to fit within the same installation envelope as conventional seawater-cooled units, simplifying replacement, integration, and vessel upgrades.

Designed for Shipyards and System Integrators

The modular VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER architecture provides maximum installation flexibility. The refrigeration skid, seawater heat exchanger, and electrical controls can be installed independently, allowing designers to optimize machinery spaces and vessel layouts.

Positioning the titanium seawater heat exchanger close to the sea chest can reduce costly CuNi piping runs, lower installation costs, and simplify maintenance access. The distributed configuration is particularly beneficial for retrofit projects where available space is limited.

For shipyards, naval architects, and system integrators, this flexibility provides greater freedom during vessel design and modernization programs while supporting efficient installation and long-term maintainability.

Applications

The VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER is suitable for a wide range of marine cooling applications, including:

• Naval vessels
• Frigates and support ships
• Commercial vessels
• Offshore vessels and platforms
• HVAC chilled-water systems
• Mission-critical equipment cooling
• Technical room cooling
• Electronic equipment cooling
• Communication and data systems cooling

A Smarter Approach to Marine Cooling

Combining proven chilled-water technology with an advanced indirect cooling architecture, the VHT AQUASHIELD CHILLER delivers reliable performance, lower lifecycle costs, and greater installation flexibility for operators, shipyards, and system integrators.

Related solutions

• Chilled Water Units