CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND UNIT

OPERATION LABORATORY
CMT450

TITTLE : HEAT TRANSFER BASIC WATER COOLING TOWER

NUMBER OF EXPERIMENT : 2
NAME OF LECTURER : DR MARYAM BINTI HUSIN
NAME OF STUDENT : FARAH ADILAH BINTI MOHAMAD NAZRI
STUDENT NO: 2019218952
LABORATORY PARTNER’S NAME :
1. NUR MADIHA BINTI RAMLI
2. CLARA ANGELA PAUL
3. JOANNA RATA AK ADRIN
4. FEVIENNA FREDDY
EXPERIMENT DATE: 10/3/2020
Objective

1. To study the basic principles and characteristics of evaporative water cooling towards
system.
2. To investigate cooling water performance and key design factors.

Introduction

The fundamental cooling tower carries on along these lines and has comparable
segments to a full-size cooling tower. The purpose of this experiment is to give appreciation
of the construction, design and operational characteristics of a modern evaporative cooling
system.

Cooling towers are an extraordinary sort of warmth exchanger that permits water and
air to interact with one another to bring down the temperature of the boiling water. During the
cooling tower working procedure, little volumes of water vanish, bringing down the
temperature of the water that is being coursed all through the cooling tower. Cooling towers
are utilized to expel surplus warmth from water. Cooling towers with open and closed water
circuits are accessible. The two kinds work as warmth exchangers dependent on the counter
flow rule.

The hot water is normally prompted by air conditioning condensers or other industrial
processes. That water is pumped via pipes immediately into the cooling tower. Cooling tower
nozzles are used to spray the water onto the “fill media”, which slows the water flow down
and exposes the maximum quantity of water surface area feasible for the best air-water
contact. The water is exposed to air as it flows at some point of the cooling tower. The air is
being pulled through a motor-driven electric powered “cooling tower fan”.

Water that has been heated with the aid of industry processes is pumped to the top of
the cooling tower. The nozzle is used to spray the hot water evenly round the cooling tower.
In an open circuit cooling tower, hot water flows down the cooling tower through
gravitational forces to skip via a collection of labyrinth-like packing structure. This is due to
the fact the packed column increases the contact region of hot water and dry air to maximize
the air-water interface. As the water flows via the cooling tower, the electric air blower is
used to furnish the glide of air so that warmth change is able to take place between the hot
water and cool dry air. After the water is cooled down, it is sent back to the industries
processing unit to take in heat.

In general, there are two distinct kinds of cooling towers system both in small or
massive scale which are crossflow and counterflow cooling tower. We can see the distinction
between the cooling towers with the aid of understanding how the air and water engage in
crossflow and counterflow cooling towers. Crossflow and counterflow are two distinctive
methods to describe how air moving via a cooling tower interacts with the system of water
being cooled and their key differences. The focal point is on factory-assembled induced-draft
crossflow and counterflow cooling towers.

In a counter-flow cooling tower air travels upward thru the fill or tube bundles,
opposite to the downward movement of the water. In a crossflow cooling tower air moves
horizontally via the fill as the water strikes downward. In counterflow cooling towers,
cooling air and water flow are in the contrary direction, for this reason, it can reach a
maximum region of dissipation. It usually used in the spherical cooling tower, and also used
in a square cooling tower in some cases. Meanwhile, In the crossflow cooling tower, water is
falling from above, the air and water are flow in a vertical way. Because heat dissipation
material is closed to the collection basin, the advantage is decreasing water falling noise.
Crossflow kind normally used in a rectangular cooling tower, however the structure is fixed
with a massive quantity of iron piece, so it cost more than round cooling tower.
 In a laboratory-scale cooling tower experiment, it is expected that the cooling impact
of water will increases as the blower speed increases at a regular water flow rate. At higher
charge of water flow, it is expected to have higher heat trade between hot water and ambient
air. The power balance of air and water additionally be zero as mentioned via the first law of
thermodynamics. The humidity of warm air is additionally higher than the cold air according
to the psychrometric chart from the physical property table.
Results

Water flow rate= 40g/s

Orifice differential= 16 mmH2O
Cooling load = 0.5 Kw
Test. no 1 2 3 4 5 6
Air inlet dry T1 35 37 38 39 38 38
bulb
Air inlet wet T2 36 28 38 39 38 38
bulb
Air inlet dry T3 29 28 29 29 29 29
bulb
Air inlet wet T4 28 28 29 29 29 29
bulb
Water inlet T5 29 28 29 29 29 29
temperature
Water outlet T6 31 32 33 33 33 33
temperature
Water make- T7 29 31 30 30 30 31
up
temperature
Table 1.0

Water flow rate= 40g/s

Orifice differential= 16 mmH2O
Cooling load = 1.5 Kw
Test. no 1 2 3 4
Air inlet dry T1 39 39 39 39
bulb
Air inlet wet T2 39 39 39 39
bulb
Air inlet dry T3 47 42 29 29
bulb
Air inlet wet T4 47 41 29 29
bulb
Water inlet T5 47 41 29 29
temperature
Water outlet T6 35 35 34 33
temperature
Water make- T7 31 31 30 30
up
temperature
Table 2.0
Analysis of the relationship between cooling load and approach to wet bulb
temperature:

The wet bulb temperature (Tw) or isobaric wet bulb temperature, is the temperature an air
parcel would have if adiabatically cooled to saturation at constant pressure by evaporation of
water into it, all latent heat being supplied by the parcel.

Approach to wet bulb: The difference between the temperature of the water leaving the
tower and the wet bulb temperature of the air entering the tower (T6-T2).

Analysis & Calculation

Cooling load: 0.5kW
For test 1:
Approach to wet bulb: Water outlet temperature(T6) – Air inlet wet bulb(T2)
=31°C - 36°C
= -5°C
Cooling load: 1.5kW
For Test 1:
Approach to wet bulb: Water outlet temperature(T6) – Air inlet wet bulb(T2)
=35°C - 39°C
= -4°C

Graph of Wet Bulb Temperature VS Cooling Load

0
0.5 1.5

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

Cooling Load(kW)

Graph 1.0
Graph 1.0 shows that the wet bulb temperature is proportional to the cooling load. When the
cooling load increases, the wet bulb also shows increment in the temperature. As we
increases
power of the cooling load from 0.5kW to 1.5kW, we could see the differences in temperature
shown by the wet bulb.
Calculation

Variables Heater Power(cooling load) = 0.5kW, 1.5kW

Change in temperature for each power supply (ΔT)= water inlet temperature, (T5) – water
outlet temperature, (T6)

 At power=0.5kW,

Test 1 ΔT=T5-T6= 29℃-31℃=-2℃

Test 2 ΔT=T5-T6= 28℃-32℃=-4℃

Test 3 ΔT=T5-T6= 29℃-33℃=-4℃

Test 4 ΔT=T5-T6= 293℃-34℃=-5℃

Test 5 ΔT=T5-T6= 29℃-33℃=-4℃

Test 6 ΔT=T5-T6= 29℃-33℃=-4℃

 At power=1.5kW,

Test 1 ΔT=T5-T6= 47℃-35℃=12℃

Test 2 ΔT=T5-T6= 41℃-35℃=6℃

Test 3 ΔT=T5-T6= 33℃-35℃=-2℃

 Graph of Heater Power(kW) Vs Changes in Temperature(°C)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Test 4 Test 5 Test 6
-2
-4
-6
-8

0.5kW 1.5kW

Graph 2.0

Discussion

This experiment was done by using the laboratory cooling tower with the aim of
studying the evaporative cooling tower system and its performance. A cooling tower is a heat
rejection device, which extracts waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a water
stream to a lower temperature.

The cooling tower unit mainly contains a loaded tank with a total of 1.5 kW electric
heater, an air distribution chamber, a make-up tank, and a test column. The unit is run when
warm water is pumped from the load tank until to the top of the column before being
distributed uniformly at the top packing. As the thin film of water is passing downward, it is
cooled because of the evaporation. The cooled waterfalls into the basin and then it returns
again into the load tank where it is reheated and re-circulated. The load-tank water level is to
be kept constant by means of a make-up tank. A blower is installed on the unit to transfer air
into the air distribution chamber. Before entering the column, the air passes the wet and dry
bulb thermometers. When the air passes up the column, its moisture content becomes higher
and the water is cooled. Before being discharged to the atmosphere, the air passes a mist
eliminator at the top of the column.
 The basic understanding of the cooling tower concept is that, when the hot water
enters the tower with the presence of cool air will produce a product of a cool water releasing
a hot air and the circulation will be repeated. When the power was set up at 0.5kW, the
purpose of the tower was not achieved. This could be seen from Table 1.0. The temperature
of the air inlet dry bulb should increase from t 1 to t5 but it is not. The temperature of the air
inlet wet bulb is lower that the dry bulb. It is against the basic of cooling tower that says the
air out should be hot as cool water will be going out. The results turned out the same for all
the six tests that was done using 0.5kW. This is because the power is not enough to generate
the cooling tower system.

When 1.5kW power was used to generate the system, a better result were shown by
the they system. The air got hotter and the water got cooler. The experiment using this power
could only be repeated for 3times as the power completely shut down after that. But we can
still see the effectiveness of using the 1.5kW.

There were several possible errors that might happen affecting our results. Firstly, the
orifice pressure drops need to be calculated accurately. This is because, wrong calculation
can lead us to have inaccurate reading that affect our result as whole. Next, the level of water
at the load must be refill before repeating the experiment to ensure the equipment run
smoothly. Then, we need to ensure water distribution is even across the fill by cleaning
nozzels or balancing flow if multiple hot water tanks.

In halfway of the experiment, it is noticed that yellow light indicator is blinking and a
buzzing noise is released whenever light blinks. Upon further investigation, the yellow light
indicator the level of water in heater tank to be insufficient. The timer also must be tally with
the running system to ensure the accuracy of the experiment’s results. The equipment of the
experiment should be checked before the experiment started to make sure there is no leakage
that could affected the results.
Conclusion

In conclusion, the heater power that are used are 0.5kw and 1.5kw give a different
result respectively. The increment in heater power (cooling load) causing the increment in
temperature. This indicates that the larger power of cooling load being used, the higher the
temperature changes. The effects of the experiment on cooling tower are prone to temperature
change. Hence, it is advised to keep the cooling tower insulated so that the surrounding
atmosphere does not lose any less heat.

Based on Graph 1.0 we can see that when the cooling load power is increasing, the
wet bulb temperature will increase too. It shows that the wet bulb temperature is proportional
to the cooling load. Even though the experiment was successfully carried out, there may be
some errors in the experiment results that can be improves by students.

The errors and the way to solve it are all stated in the discussion. Based on the
experiment, it can be concluded that the experiment was successful as all the objectives of the
experiment were decided.
References

Buecker, B. B. (2019). Cooling Tower Heat Transfer Fundamentals, (7), 1–7.

What is Cooling Tower? (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2020, from

https://www.cti.org/whatis/coolingtowerdetail.shtml

By G. B. Hill, E. J. Pring, Peter D. Osborn, Cooling Towers: Principles and Practice. Oxford.
2013. p.1-20

What is a Cooling Tower?: Manufacturers of Cooling Towers & Systems: Delta Cooling
Towers, Inc. (2017, September 25). Retrieved March 15, 2020, from
https://deltacooling.com/resources/faqs/what-is-a-cooling-tower