Centrifugal compressors are designed for use with large capacity systems. The lower end of the designed range is how many tons?

• A. 10
• B. 100
• C. 200
• D. 50

Answer: (D)

Centrifugal compressors are chosen for large-capacity cooling because they move a high volume of refrigerant with many fewer moving parts, delivering high flow at high efficiency. Because of how they scale, there’s a practical minimum size for these machines. The smallest centrifugal chillers that are economically and technically viable generally start around 50 tons of cooling capacity. Below that, the rotor size, bearings, and drive requirements become unwieldy and less efficient, so smaller capacities are typically handled by other compressor types such as screw or reciprocating units. So the lower end of the designed range for centrifugal chillers is about 50 tons.