COOLING TOWER
INTRODUCTION
• A cooling tower is a heat rejection device that rejects waste
heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream
to a lower temperature.
• Cooling towers originated in the 19th century through the
development of condensers for use with the steam engine.
• A hyperboloid cooling tower was patented by the Dutch
engineers Frederik van Iterson and Gerard Kuypers in 1918.
• The first ones in the United Kingdom were built in 1924 at
Lister Drive power station in Liverpool, England, to cool water
used at a coal-fired electrical power station.
USES OF COOLING TOWER
• Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
An HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air
conditioning) cooling tower is used to dispose of
("reject") unwanted heat from a chiller.
• Industrial cooling towers
Industrial cooling towers can be used to
remove heat from various sources such as machinery
or heated process material.
ASSEMBLY OF COOLING TOWER
• Package type
These types of cooling towers are factory
preassembled, and can be simply transported on
trucks, as they are compact machines.
• Field erection type
Facilities such as power plants, steel
processing plants, petroleum refineries, or
petrochemical plants usually install field erected type
cooling towers due to their greater capacity for heat
rejection.
HEAT TRANSFER METHODS
WITH RESPECT TO HEAT TRANSFER MECHANISMS, THE MAIN TYPES ARE:
• Dry cooling towers (or closed circuit cooling towers)
operated by heat transfer through a surface that
separates the working fluid from ambient air, such as in a
tube to air heat exchanger, utilizing convective heat
transfer.
• Wet cooling towers (or open circuit cooling towers)
operate on the principle of evaporative cooling. The
working fluid and the evaporated fluid (usually water) are
one and the same.
• Fluid coolers (also closed circuit cooling towers)
are hybrids that pass the working fluid through a
tube bundle, upon which clean water is sprayed and a fan-
induced draft applied.
TYPES OF COOLING TOWERS
• Natural draft — Utilizes buoyancy via a tall
chimney. Warm, moist air naturally rises due to the
density differential compared to the dry, cooler
outside air.
• Fan assisted natural draft — A hybrid type that appears
like a natural draft setup, though airflow is assisted by a
fan.
• Mechanical draft — Uses power-driven fan motors
to force or draw air through the tower.
Induced draft — A mechanical draft tower with
a fan at the discharge (at the top) which pulls air up
through the tower. The fan induces hot moist air out
the discharge..
• Forced draft — A mechanical draft tower with a blower
type fan at the intake. The fan forces air into the tower,
creating high entering and low exiting air velocities. The
benefit of the forced draft design is its ability to work
with high static pressure.
CATEGORIZATION BY AIR-TO-WATER FLOW
• Cross flow is a design in which the air flow is
directed perpendicular to the water flow. Water
flows (perpendicular to the air) through the fill by
gravity. Lastly, a fan forces the air out into the
atmosphere.
• Advantages of the cross flow design:
• Gravity water distribution allows smaller pumps
and maintenance while in use.
• Non-pressurized spray simplifies variable flow.
• Disadvantages of the cross flow design:
• More prone to freezing than counter flow designs.
• Variable flow is useless in some conditions.
• More prone to dirt buildup in the fill than counter
flow designs, especially in dusty or sandy areas.
• In a counter flow design, the air flow is directly
opposite to the water flow. Air flow first enters an
open area beneath the fill media, and is then drawn
up vertically.
• Advantages of the counter flow design:
• Spray water distribution makes the tower more
freeze-resistant.
• Breakup of water in spray makes heat transfer
more efficient.
•
Disadvantages of the counter flow design:
• Typically higher initial and long-term cost,
primarily due to pump requirements.
• Difficult to use variable water flow, as spray
characteristics may be negatively affected.
• Typically noisier, due to the greater water fall
height from the bottom of the fill into the cold
water basin
COMMON ASPECTS
• The interactions of the air and water flow allow a
partial equalization of temperature, and
evaporation of water.
• The air, now saturated with water vapor, is
discharged from the top of the cooling tower.
• A "collection basin" or "cold water basin" is used
to collect and contain the cooled water after its
interaction with the air flow.
• Both cross flow and counter flow designs can be
used in natural draft and in mechanical draft
cooling towers.
M = Make-up water in m3/h
C = Circulating water in m3/h
D = Draw-off water in m3/h
E = Evaporated water in m3/h
= Windage loss of water in
W
m3/h
= Concentration in ppmw (of
X any completely soluble salts ...
usually chlorides)
= Concentration of chlorides in
XM
make-up water (M), in ppmw
= Concentration of chlorides in
XC
circulating water (C), in ppmw
= Cycles of concentration = XC
Cycles
/ XM (dimensionless)
ppmw = parts per million by weight
where:
HV = latent heat of vaporization of water = 2260 kJ / kg
= water temperature difference from tower top to
ΔT
tower bottom, in °C
= specific heat of water = 4.184 kJ / (kg ⋅ {\displaystyle
cp
\cdot } °C)
• W = 0.3 to 1.0 percent of C for a natural draft
cooling tower without windage drift eliminators
• W = 0.1 to 0.3 percent of C for an induced draft
cooling tower without windage drift eliminators
• W = about 0.005 percent of C (or less) if the cooling
tower has windage drift eliminators
• W = about 0.0005 percent of C (or less) if the
cooling tower has windage drift eliminators and
uses sea water as make-up water.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION:
• energy industries
• petrochemical industry
• chemical industry
• engineering industry and metallurgy
• mining industry
• plastic and rubber industry
• paper industry
• manufacturing industry (food-processing, sugar
refineries)
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FORCED
DRAFT COOLING TOWER
• Hot water from condenser is cooled by moving air
using a blower.
• It is less open on sides.
• It occupies less space and hence is compact.
• It is more efficient.
• It is costly.
• It is installed at the roof of the building.
• Used for large refrigeration requirements.
