| Features and Benefits Cutaway of a 100-ton intermediate
comppressor.
Helirotor™ screw compressor
component parts versus reciprocating compressor components.
Unequaled Reliability
Proven Reliable Design
The air-cooled Series R® chiller utilizes
two, three, or four Trane Helirotor™ compressors that operate on two refrigeration
circuits. The tonnages of these compressors is 35, 40,
50, 60, 70, 85, and 100 ton, and they are grouped
together in different configurations to make up the air-cooled product line from 70 to 400 tons.
Trane air-cooled Helirotor compressors were designed, tested and built to the same rugged standards as the CenTraVac®
chiller compressors. Since the introduction of
Trane’s Helirotor compressors to air-cooled
applications, their reliability has been outstanding.
This is proven by the fact that thousands of Series R compressors have shipped
and less than one-half of one percent have failed. The
Helirotor compressor design and reliability is outstanding when compared to a typical
reciprocating compressor design which historically has
had a failure rate of two to four percent in the first
year alone.
All air-cooled Series R chillers use the highly reliable Helirotor compressor. Air-cooled Series R chillers from 130-400 tons
utilize the "intermediate" compressor. These
compressors unload from fully loaded to the minimum
capacity of the compressor utilizing a single unloading method, the slide valve. This slide valve is positioned over
both the male and female rotors. With the addition of
the 70,80,90,110, and 125 ton chillers to our
air-cooled product line, we have also added a new design concept to the Helirotor compressor and call it the "general purpose"
compressor. The capacity control of this new design is
achieved in much the same manner as the larger compressors by modulation of a loader, unloader mechanism driven by oil pressure
actuated pistons. A simple piston is used to load and
unload the step unloader valve at start-up allowing
the compressor to start in an unloaded state for increased reliability. As the load increases or decreases the compressor
uses a variable unloader valve to modulate capacity and
closely match the required cooling load.
Fewer Moving Parts
The "intermediate" Helirotor compressor has only three moving parts:
the two rotor assemblies and the capacity controlling
slide valve. The "general purpose" Helirotor
compressor has only four moving parts: two rotor
assemblies, the variable unloader valve, and the step unloader valve. Unlike reciprocating compressors, the Trane Helirotor
compressor has no pistons, connecting rods, suction and
discharge valves or mechanical oil pump. In fact,
a typical reciprocating compressor has 15 times as many critical parts as the Series R compressor. Fewer moving parts lead
to increased reliability and longer life. |
