A thermodynamic simulation study has been carried out for a single stage centrifugal chiller in this paper. The cooling capacity of the chiller unit is about 1750 kW. The chiller unit has been set and tested, and the work refrigerant is R22. A heat exchanger has been set between outlet of the compressor and the condenser for sanitary hot water supplying. Then the chiller unit is a kind of combined system that can provide sanitary hot water supplying and air conditioning simultaneously. A thermodynamic simulation model of the combined system has been established with the system simulation toolbox Simulink. Performance of the components and the combined system of the chiller unit has been studied over a wide range of operating conditions. The potential energy and fuel cost saving associated with the use of the proposed combined system for a typical hotel in south China has been estimated. It is showed that the combined system of the chiller unit is very useful in hotel buildings. And the thermodynamic simulation model of the combined system is significance for the optimization of parameters of the chiller unit such as condensation and evaporation temperature, mass flow of the sanitary hot water and size of hot water storage tank. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.