At 75, Carrier's centrifugal chiller is in greater demand than ever before for large applications. Today's manufacturers need even more precise climate control for a new generation of mass-produced products. These hard-working chillers support everything from computer chips to poker chips to fish 'n' chips. Large universities, museums and hospitals the world over now take air conditioned classrooms, exhibit rooms and operating rooms for granted. Massive climate-controlled computer centers process much of the world's data. The centrifugal "refrigeration machine" is, indeed, the workhorse of the HVAC industry.

Willis Carrier's idea has been carried forward by new generations of engineers facing new problems. Non-ozone-depleting refrigerants have been adapted to protect the environment. Modern centrifugal units can be split in half and reconnected on site to make product replacements in tight quarters easier. Service diagnostics continue to improve. Imaginative applications provide ongoing engineering challenges, from configuring cooling for the Tower of Terror in Disney World, Florida, to underground mass transit stations that accommodate thousands of Hong Kong's daily commuters.

A global economy has brought the need for efficient distribution of the time-tested chiller to developing population centers with tropical climates. Luxury hotels, exhibition halls, high-tech factories and office towers of all shapes and sizes are rising up in prospering Asian countries such as Singapore, China, Thailand, Malaysia and India. Latin American countries like Mexico, Brazil and Argentina also are experiencing a new wave of large commercial construction projects.

But, there are always more customers to satisfy. Improved energy efficiency, lighter and smaller models and advanced electronic controls are bringing new technologies to a timeless idea.

Centrally located centrifugal units today cool vast government centers like China's Great Hall of the People (above), downtown business districts like the Chicago Loop, and places of pure fantasy, such as Tokyo Disneyland (below).

Willis Carrier designed theater air conditioning (below) so unobtrusive that the actors were the only focus of attention.

The U.S. Congress (below) soon decided if needed Carrier's refrigeration to cool down heated debates over prohibition.

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