thermal science

Cooling Tower Performance vs. Relative Humidity

B AS I C T H E O RY A N D P R ACT I C E

Total Heat Exchange

A mechanical draft cooling tower is a specialized heat exchanger G = mass rate of dry air [lb/min]
in which two fluids (air and water) are in direct contact with each L = mass rate of circulating water [lb/min]
Le = mass rate of evaporated water [lb/min]
other to induce the transfer of heat.
THW = temperature of hot water entering tower [°F]
TCW = temperature of cold water leaving tower [°F]
Ignoring any negligible amount of sensible heat exchange that
hin = enthalpy of air entering [Btu/lb/dry air]
may occur through the walls (casing) of the cooling tower, the heat hout = enthalpy of air leaving [Btu/lb/dry air]
gained by the air must equal the heat lost by the water. This is Cp = specific heat of water = 4.18 [Btu/lb-°F]
an enthalpy driven process. Enthalpy is the internal energy plus Win = humidity ratio of air entering [lb water/lb dry air]
the product of pressure and volume. When a process occurs at Wout = humidity ratio of air leaving [lb water/lb dry air]
constant pressure (atmospheric for cooling towers), the heat
In order to know how much heat the air flowing through a cooling
absorbed in the air is directly correlated to the change in enthalpy.
tower can absorb, the enthalpy of the air entering the tower must
This is shown in Equation 1.
be known. This is shown on the psychrometric chart Figure 1.
G (hout - hin) = L x Cp (THW - 32°) - Cp (L - Le)(TCW - 32°) (1) The lines of constant enthalpy are close to parallel to the lines of
constant wet bulb. This is why cooling towers are most often sized
using the inlet wet bulb conditions.

55 60
210

Figure 1: PSYCHROMETRIC CHART 90

70

HUMIDITY RATIO - GRAINS OF MOISTURE PER POUND OF DRY AIR

50 200

Enthalpy Barometric Pressure

1.3
15.5

190
85
85
IR

15.0

1.2
YA

180
45
65
DR

85 170
W
OF

ET VAPOR PRESSURE - INCHES OF MERCURY

1.1

ENTHALPY - BTU PER POUND OF DRY AIR

BU
ND

160
°F

40
80
LB 80
OU

E-

TE
M 1
UR

150
RP

PE 60
RA
AT
PE

80
TU 140
ER

RE
TU

LINES OF CONSTANT HUMIDITY RATIO .9

MP

35 75
-°
-B

75
F 130
TE

LINES OF CONSTANT ENTHALPY

14.5
PY

ION
AL

LINES OF CONSTANT RELATIVE HUMIDITY 75

120 .8
%
T
TH

25

55
RA

70
LINES OF CONSTANT WET BULB 30
EN

110 70
TU

.7
SA

70 100

65
65
90 .6
25
14.0

65 50
60 80
%

60
90

20
SPEC

.5
70
%

%
80

60
15

55
55
IFIC

15
%

60
70

.4
50 55
VOLU

50
%

45
60

50
13.5

10 45 50 % 45 .3
50
ME ft

DEW POINT - °F

40
40
45 8% 40
%
40
³/lb O

35
5 40 30 35 .2
30 % 6%
30
13.0

35 30
25
F DR

30 20 40
4% 25
20%
IDITY
20
HUM
0 25 20 .1
15
ATIVE
12.5

20
EL
Y AIR

10 10
10% R
5 15 2% 10
-5 0 10
5 0
12.0

0
-20
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130

Linric Company Psychrometric Chart, www.linric.com DRY BULB TEMPERATURE - °F

35
10 15 20 25 30
Effects of Relative Humidity –
Thermal Performance
Cooling towers are rated most often using the inlet wet bulb before becoming saturated over the same change in enthalpy
temperature because these values are closely consistent with the (heat exchange). Therefore, the lower the entering RH, the higher
enthalpy of the air. As the relative humidity changes along constant the evaporation loss in the tower will be. Equation 2 shows the
wet bulb lines, the enthalpy stays close to constant. This relationship relationship between evaporation and humidity ratio.
is shown in Figure 1. Therefore, changes in humidity along a
constant wet bulb temperature will result in almost no change to the Le = G (Wout - Win) 2)
tower’s overall performance.
G = mass rate of dry air [lb/min]
Le = mass rate of evaporated water [lb/min]
The inlet enthalpy of the air increases by only 0.5% when relative Win = humidity ratio of air entering [lb water/lb dry air]
humidity increases by 60% at 68°F. Under standard conditions Wout = humidity ratio of air leaving [lb water/lb dry air]
(78°F wet bulb, 95°F entering water temperature, and 85°F exiting
water temperature), the overall nominal tonnage performance of an Figure 2 illustrates the changes in humidity ratio in the air entering
evaporative cooling tower model improves only a couple tenths of a and exiting an evaporative cooling tower, showing the relative
percent when the inlet relative humidity is 90% compared to 10%. percentage change in evaporation due to the change in the relative
humidity of the entering air. The difference in evaporation between
Evaporation 30% RH and 90% RH entering air is approximately 62%. At
standard conditions, this may be as much as 0.62% of the circulating
Unlike enthalpy, the relative humidity (RH) does affect the rate of water flow rate. This value is completely dependent on heat load
evaporation within the cooling process. It is assumed that exiting and water load as well as the ambient conditions. A general rule
air leaves the tower saturated (100% RH). The lower the RH of the to estimate evaporation (at 50% RH) is 1% of the recirculating
ambient air entering the tower, the more water the air can absorb water flow for every 12°F of range. This is shown in Equation 3.

55 60
210

Figure 2: PSYCHROMETRIC CHART 50

90
70

200

Relative Humidity 1.3

15.5

HUMIDITY RATIO - GRAINS OF MOISTURE PER POUND OF DRY AIR

190
85
85
15.0

1.2
180
IR

45
65
YA

85 170
DR

W 1.1
ET
OF

BU

VAPOR PRESSURE - INCHES OF MERCURY

160

ENTHALPY - BTU PER POUND OF DRY AIR

80
LB
ND

40 156 80
TE
OU

°F

1
68°F WET BULB AND 90% RH ENTERING AIR M 150
PE
E-
RP

RH

60
(ΔH = 56 GRAINS/LB) 80 RA
UR

TU
PE

140
NT

RE
AT

68°F WET BULB AND 30% RH ENTERING AIR .9

TU

STA

75
35 -°
ER

(ΔH = 90 GRAINS/LB) F 130 75

-B

MP

ON

14.5
PY

TE

FC

120
80°F WET BULB AND 100% RH EXITING AIR .8
L

75
HA

ION

%
SO

25

55
70
T

30
AT

70
EN

110
E
LI N
UR

68 .7
T

70 100
SA

65
65
90 .6
25
14.0

65 50
60 80
%

SPEC

60
90

20
.5
70
%

%
80

IFIC

60
15

55 66
55
15
%

60
VOLU
70

.4
50 55
50
%

45
60

50
ME ft
13.5

10 45 50
50% 45 .3
40
³/lb O

DEW POINT - °F

40
45 8% 40
%
40
35
5 40 30 35 .2
F DR

30 % 6%
30
13.0

35 30
25 20 40
Y AIR

30 4% 25
MIDITY
20 20%
E HU
0 25 20 .1
ELATIV
15
12.5

20
10% R
10 10
5 15 2% 10
-5 0 10
5 0
12.0

0
-20
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130

Linric Company Psychrometric Chart, www.linric.com DRY BULB TEMPERATURE - °F

35
10 15 20 25 30
Le = L x R x 0.0008 (3)
Le = evaporation rate (gpm)
L = tower water flow rate (gpm)
R = design range (°F)

Conclusion
• Evaporative cooling is an enthalpy driven process.
• The lines of constant enthalpy on a psychrometric chart are
close to parallel with lines of constant wet bulb temperature.
• Relative humidity does NOT affect the performance of an
evaporative cooling tower.
• Relative humidity DOES affect the rate of evaporation from the
tower. The relationship is inversely proportional.

Although RH does not have an effect on mechanical draft

cooling towers (relative to the design wet bulb condition), dry
bulb temperature and relative humidity are needed to determine
the thermal performance for hyperbolic natural draft, fan-assisted
natural draft, dry towers and plume-abated towers.
 thermal science

SPX COOLING TECHNOLOGIES, INC.

7401 WEST 129 STREET TR-020 | ISSUED 06/2018
OVERLAND PARK, KS 66213 USA COPYRIGHT © 2018 SPX Cooling Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
913 664 7400 | spxcooling@spx.com In the interest of technological progress, all products are subject to design

spxcooling.com and/or material change without notice.