A facility does not have to replace its entire cooling system to significantly reduce its energy bills. According to Navy Region Southwest's E-notes newsletter, a little housekeeping can increase both cooling capacity and energy savings. 

As a headline in the July 24 issue explains, "Removing oil from refrigerant chiller improves efficiency." Refrigerant picks up oil as it moves through the compressor and deposits this oil on the evaporator tubes at the end of the refrigeration cycle. Even very small oil concentrations in the refrigerant can reduce the heat transfer efficiency of the evaporator by as much as 25 percent, significantly reducing the chiller's efficiency.   

Until you are ready to replace your existing chiller with one of the oil-free models, servicing or reclaiming contaminated refrigerant will help. There are services that drain refrigerant, remove the oil and moisture from it and return it to the chiller. The refrigerant will collect oil again through normal operation, so you may want to consider scheduling regular reclamation as part of the chiller's maintenance.

The OAM-Purger by Redi-Controls is a new technology that operates continuously to remove oil, acid, and moisture from refrigerant. The advantage over reclamation is that the purger keeps the refrigerant oil- and moisture-free during operation, so the chiller maintains its efficiency. According to the manufacturer, the unit will save about $24,000 per year in energy costs on the average centrifugal chiller.