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Cooling Tower1
Cooling Tower1
A cooling tower is a specialized heat exchanger in which air and water are
brought into direct contact with each other in order to reduce the water's temperature.
Warm water from the heat source is pumped to the water distribution system at
the top of the tower. The water is distributed over the wet-deck fill by means of nozzles.
Simultaneously, air is drawn through air-inlet louvers and through the wet-deck surface
causing a small portion of the water to evaporate. The evaporative process removes
heat from the water. The warm, moist air is drawn out of the top of the tower. The
resulting cold water is then recirculated back through the heat source in a continuous
cycle.
Cooling towers differ in shape, directions of flow, and the way the gas stream
enters. Cooling towers can be in the countercurrent or crossflow directions. Cooling
towers can also either be natural draft, meaning that gas naturally flows into the tower,
or mechanical draft, meaning that devices, typically fans, bring gas and liquid into the
device at set rates. These differences are described in types of cooling towers below.
As their name implies, natural draft cooling towers rely on natural convection to
circulate air throughout the tower, which then cools the water. Air movement occurs due
to differences in density between the entering air and the internal air within the tower.
Warm, moist air, which is more dense than cool air, will naturally rise through the tower,
while the dry, cool air from outside will fall, creating a constant cycle of air flow.
Advantages:
o No energy consumption for fans operation
o No recirculation
o Low costs of maintenance and spare parts
o Low thermal energy waste
Disadvantages:
o Higher investment costs
o Large overall dimensions that could cause difficulties with area aesthetics and
requirement of large areas for tower installation
Source: http://www.coolingtowerproducts.com/blog/how-cooling-towers-work-diagram-
pictures-2015.htm#7
The mechanical draft cooling towers are very much similar to that of the natural
draft cooling towers. As the name indicates, air is circulated inside the tower
mechanically instead of natural circulation. Propeller fans or centrifugal fans may be
used.
The mechanical draft towers use either single or multiple fans to provide flow of a
known volume of air through the tower. Thus, their thermal performance tends toward
greater stability, and is affected by the fewer psychrometric variables, than that of the
atmospheric towers. The presence of fans also provides a means of regulating air low,
to compensate for changing atmospheric and load conditions by fan capacity
manipulation and or cycling.
Mechanical draft, which uses power driven fan motors to force or draw air
through the tower.The mechanical draft towers can have its fan located on the inlet air
side or on the exit air side.
The type of fan selected, either centrifugal or axial, depends on external pressure
needs, permissible sound levels, and energy usage requirements. Water is downflow;
the air may be upflow (counterflow heat transfer) or horizontal flow (cross-flow heat
transfer). Air entry may be through one, two, three, or all four sides of the tower. All four
combinations (i.e., forced-draft counterflow, induced-draft counterflow, forced-draft
cross-flow, and induced-draft cross-flow) have been produced in various sizes and
configurations.
A mechanical draft cooling 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 low
exiting velocity is much more susceptible to recirculation. With the fan on the air intake,
the fan is more susceptible to complications due to freezing conditions.
Another disadvantage is that a forced draft design typically requires more motor
power than the equivalent induced draft design. The forced draft benefit is its ability to
work with high static pressure.
Fig. 3. Forced Draft Cooling Tower
Source:http://www.brighthubengineering.com/hvac/100882-hvacr-cooling-towers-and-
their-types/#imgn_2
In this system, fan is located near the bottom and on the side. This fan forces the
air from bottom to top. An eliminator is used to prevent loss of water droplets along with
the forced air. Moreover, in this type of mechanical draft cooling towers, the air is
pushed/forced by the blowers at the bottom of the air inlet louver.
1. Counterflow
2. Crossflow
Fig. 4 Conventional Mechanical Forced-Draft Cooling Towers
Source:http://www.me.ua.edu/me416/s09/pdf/ASHRAE2008Equipment-
CoolingTowers.pdf
http://spxcooling.com/coolingtowers
In crossflow cooling tower systems the water vertically flows through the fill
media while the air horizontally flows across the falling water. That's why they call it
"crossflow" because the air and water cross paths or flows. Because of the crossing of
flows, the air doesn't need to pass through the distribution system. This permits the use
of hot water flow via gravity and distribution basins on the top of the tower right above
the fill media. The basins are a standard of crossflow cooling towers and are applied on
all units.
http://spxcooling.com/coolingtowers
INDUCED DRAFT COOLING TOWER
Induced draft cooling towers have fans that are typically mounted on top of the unit
and pull air through the fill media. Cooling water returns in a warm state from the
process and enters at the top of the cooling tower under pressure to be distributed
through the fill pack. Simultaneously, air is drawn in at the base of the tower by the fan
and travels upward to mix with the water where some evaporation takes place,
removing heat from the remainder. The warm moist air is discharged to atmosphere. In
this system, a centrally located fan at the top, takes suction from the tower and
discharges it to the atmosphere. The only between the induced draft cooling tower and
forced draft cooling tower is that the fan is located at the top in the induced draft cooling
tower.
In this type, hot water from condenser is coming to the cooling tower. There is a
water basin at the bottom. Air is coming from the sides and cooling the hot water.
The hot air is being carried away by the propeller fan at the top. Cooled water is
then taken out for further use.
For the same capacity used, the mechanical draft cooling towers are much
smaller than the natural draft cooling towers. This is because of the
increase in cooling capacity due to increase in volume of the air being
forced out by fan.
Capacity control is possible in mechanical draft cooling tower. By
controlling the speed of the fan, the volume of air can be controlled, which
in turn controls the capacity.
The natural draft cooling towers can be located only in open space. As
they do not depend upon the atmospheric air, the mechanical draft cooling
towers shall be located even inside the building.
Source:http://www.coolingtowerproducts.com/blog/how-cooling-towers-work-diagram-
pictures-2015.htm#7
1. Wet-Bulb Temperature
2. Dry-Bulb Temperature
3. Heat load
4. GPM, Range and Approach
5. Interference
6. Recirculation
7. Tower Siting and Orientation
References
Cooling Tower Products, How Cooling Towers Work, [Online] Available:
http://www.coolingtowerproducts.com/blog/how-cooling-towers-work-diagram-pictures-
2015.htm [November 2016]
Delta Cooling Towers, Inc.,Different Types of Cooling Towers, [Online] Available:
http://deltacooling.com/understanding-the-different-types-of-cooling-towers/ [November
2016]
Encyclopedia of Chemical Engineering Equipment, Cooling Towers, [Online] Available:
http://encyclopedia.che.engin.umich.edu/Pages/HeatTransfer/CoolingTowers/CoolingTo
wers.html [November 2016]
EPS Engineering, Natural Draft Cooling Towera, [Online] Available: http://eps-e.ru/en/b-
gradirni/ [November 2016]
"Cooling Tower Types | Mechanical Draft Cooling Tower | IWC". Iwc.co.za. N.p., 2016.
Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
SPX Cooling Technologies, What is a Cooling Tower?, [Online] Available:
http://spxcooling.com/coolingtowers [November 2016]
Studio 9 s.r.o., see http://www.studio9.cz/. "Principles Of Cooling Tower Operation |
Www.Proficool-Fans.Com". Proficool-fans.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Tower Components Inc., Cooling Tower Basics, [Online] Available:
http://www.towercomponentsinc.com/operation-cooling-tower.php [November 2016]
Hensley, John. "Cooling Tower Fundamentals". N.p., 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.