Expensive Huber/Julabo vs chaining cheaper chillers

It is possible but kind of a pain in the ass to bank chillers. If you have multiple heat exchangers, running a designated chiller for each is the easier and more controllable method (assuming the capacities can be split appropriately).

There will probably be some advanced mechanical features on the Huber/Julabo systems (liquid/vapor injection and probably oil control) but as you’ve pointed out sometimes that complexity saves the expensive parts but gives opportunity for other weak points.

One thing I highly recommend you do (in either case but especially the Chinese manufacturer) is get information on the compressor/refrigerant and confirm that the capacity is actually somewhat near what they advertise. I’ve gotten to the point of completely disregarding any non-reputable manufacturers ratings because they pretty much all lie through their teeth. A little number crunch can save you a couple month saga landing you with equipment that does half of what you want.

Lastly, at $100k price tag, I still can’t believe there aren’t more people filling this space for custom/semi custom systems. Not that they’re cheap, but have you tried Mokon?

Edit: did some real quick number crunch and it looks like this design would do what you need but you’d have to add a second low stage compressor in series because of the compression ratio limitation (actually should be around 28 kw at -40 unless I totally fucked my math). If you want an open source/to go to a builder instead. Should cost way less than $10k in parts.

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