University of Melbourne

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

CHEN20011 CHEMICAL PROCESS ANALYSIS
Lab 2
Cooling Tower Operation

AIM : To investigate the performance of a cooling tower by using air to cool a stream of water.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORY

In many processing facilities such as petrochemical plants and oil refineries cooling water is a
basic utility which must usually be supplied in large quantities. The demand for cooling water
arises from the need to cool certain process streams. Rather than draw on valuable drinking
water supplies, cooling water is continuously recycled throughout the facility with only some
small amounts of water being required to top up the supply, replacing water that has been lost in
the process.
As the cooling water circulates through the plant it gains heat cooling the process streams.
Cooling towers are commonly used to cool the
spent cooling water back down to its original
temperature. Cooling towers may be very
large in size such as the concrete ones found at
modern power stations (Figure 1). These are
known as natural draught towers as the air is
not forced up through the towers but instead
flows up through natural convection.

Figure 1 : Power station cooling towers

In a process facility such as Coogee Energys methanol plant the cooling tower might look
different yet it still fulfils the same basic task (Figure 2). The tower cools the water by contact
with ambient air. In this example however the
air is forced through the tower by fans. Water
is pumped to the top of the tower and forms
large thin films as it cascades down the internal
packing. As the air comes into contact with the
thin film of water, some water evaporates,
increasing the humidity of the air. The
evaporation process in turn cools the water.
Some water is added to the cooling water
system to make up for the water lost due to
evaporation.

Figure 2 : Coogee Energy cooling tower

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Consider Figure 3 which shows a cooling water loop and its associated cooling tower. In this
system water is supplied to the processing facility (e.g., an oil refinery) in stream . While the
temperature of this water is initially relatively low as it enters the facility, perhaps being 28C,
by the time the spent cooling water leaves the process (stream ) its temperature might be much
higher, perhaps being 40C to 60C.

Figure 3 : Simplified flow diagram

of the cooling water loop.

The water enters the cooling tower at the top of the tower and then falls down by gravity towards
the base of the tower where, now cooler, it is collected to form stream . The water is cooled
by air that is forced upward through the cooling tower. This air enters the tower in stream
and leaves in stream . As it passes up through the tower, both the airs temperature and its
humidity increase. To make up for the water lost to evaporation within the tower, water is added
to the cooling water loop in stream . The water lost to evaporation in the Coogee Energy
cooling towers is clearly seen in Figure 2 as clouds of water vapour. Under steady-state
operation. the rate of make-up water entering the feed tank will equal the rate of evaporation
(plus any air-borne droplets in the discharge air).

Material Balances
If we place a system boundary around the entire process then we may write a component
balance for dry air over the process:
A1 = A2 (1)
where A1 and A2 are the mass flow rates of dry air in streams and respectively. This
equation assumes that no air enters the process dissolved in the make-up water, a reasonable
assumption.

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We may also write a component balance around the entire process for the moisture (i.e., for H2O
as either water or water vapour):
W1 + W3 = W2 (2)
Here, Wi refers to the mass flow rate moisture in stream i.
We may relate the mass flow rate of the moisture in a stream of moist air to the dry air mass
flow rate through the equations:
W1 = A1 H1 (3)
W3 = A3 H3 (4)
where Hi is the absolute humidity of stream i.
Thus, the mass balance for moisture around the system becomes:
A1 H1 + W3 = A2 H2 (5)
or, W3 = A1 (H2 H1) (6)
In reality there will always be some water lost through drift or carry over. This is when droplets
of water are entrained in the exit air leaving the tower.

Cooling Tower Efficiency

In an infinite cooling tower, the temperature of the exiting water would approach the wet-bulb
temperature of the incoming air. Hence, one way to consider the effectiveness of the cooling
tower is to consider the Wet-bulb temperature approach or simply Approach, that is:
Approach = T6 T2 (7)
where, T2 is the wet bulb temperature of stream . Another term which is normally used in
cooling tower technology is the Range. This refers to the difference between the entry and exit
temperatures of the water:
Range = T5 T6 (8)
The efficiency of the cooling tower as a percentage may then be defined as:

(T -T )
Efficiency = (T5 -T6) 100 (9)
5 2

EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT
The heart of the experimental apparatus used for this experiment consists of a cooling tower
(Figure 4). A constant speed fan is used to push the ambient air through the cooling tower. The
air is drawn in through the fan intake at the base of the tower and then pushed through the
packed tower to emerge out the top. A pair of dry and wet bulb thermometers at the base of the
tower allows the humidity of the intake air to be determined. Another pair of thermometers in
the exhaust air stream allow the humidity of the air leaving the tower to be determined. The air
leaves the tower through an orifice plate. By measuring the pressure drop across the plate the
mass flow rate of the dry air may be determined.

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Water is injected into the top of the tower. The water passes through a distributor so that the
water is evenly distributed across the entire section of the tower. The water is collected in a
basin at the base of the tower and then flows into the main water tank. In the tank heat is added
using two immersed electric heaters of different ratings. A thermostat located in the tank keeps
the temperature of the water at a constant value. A float valve in the tank keeps the level of the
water in the system constant by allowing water from the make-up tank to flow in as required to
make up for evaporative losses. Water is drawn from the tank using a constant speed pump and
the flow rate is regulated using a needle valve and a rotameter. The water is pumped to the top
of the tower. At the top of the cooling tower a droplet arrester acts to prevent droplets of water
from being carried out of the tower with the exhaust air.

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Figure 4 : Schematic diagram of the cooling tower apparatus.

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Six thermocouples are located within the apparatus to allow the various temperatures to be
measured. The temperatures are displayed on the temperature indicator and a rotary selector is
used to selector the temperature to be displayed. The six temperatures measured (as also shown
in Figure 4) are:
1 T1 inlet air dry bulb temperature
2 T2 inlet air wet bulb temperature
3 T3 outlet air dry bulb temperature
4 T4 outlet air wet bulb temperature
5 T5 inlet water temperature
6 T6 outlet water temperature
In inclined manometer allows the pressure drop across the tower packing and the orifice plate to
be measured.
Three types of packings are used in the laboratory each having a different surface area per unit
volume. They are 77 m2/m3, 110 m2/m3 and 220 m2/m3. You will need to note the type of
packing used in your rig.

DETERMINING THE AIR FLOW RATE

For the cooling tower used in this experiment, the mass flow rate of air through the tower may
be determined from the orifice differential pressure measurement by the equation:
x
A2 = 0.0137 V (10)
2 + H2 )
(1

2 is the specific volume

where, x is the orifice differential pressure measured in mm water, and V
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of the air at the exit point in m /kg dry air. A2 is given in kg/s.
In this experiment a lab-scale, packed cooling tower will be used to investigate the performance
of an open-system, counter-current contact between air and water. Various air flow rates and
heating loads will be investigated. Material balance around the system will be examined in order
to determine the accuracy of the measurements and errors involved.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Part 1 Base Case
1) Ensure that the make-up water tank is filled by checking the level of water in the sight glass.
2) Check that both heaters are off.
3) Turn on the water pump and the air fan.
4) Set the water flow rate to 25 g/s using the water valve and the rotameter.
5) Adjust the air flow rate so that the orifice differential pressure as measured by the inclined
manometer is 12 mm H2O. Move the inlet air damper to regulate the air flow.
6) Switch on the 1 kW heater.
7) Using the rotary thermocouple selector scan the six thermocouples at least once every
minute until the temperatures have stabilized, i.e., the system is at steady-state.

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8) Fill the water in the make-up water tank until the level of water in the sight glass is at the
marked height. Only use RO water.
9) Start the stop watch and record the six temperatures at one minute intervals until ten
minutes have elapsed. During this period ensure that the water and air flow rates remain
constant.
10) At the end of the ten minutes turn off the heater, the water and the air in that order.
11) Refill the make-up water tank to the original mark noting how much water was required.
This is the amount of water lost to evaporation.

Part 2 Varying Operating Conditions

Repeat the experiment above but with a range of different settings as outlined below:

Run Heater Water Flow Rate Air Flow Rate

(kW) (g/s) (mm H2O)
1 (Base Case) 1.0 25 12
2 1.0 40 6
3 1.0 40 12
4 1.5 25 12
5 1.5 40 6
6 1.5 40 12
7 1.5 40 16
8 0.5 25 12
9 0.5 40 6

Part 3 Varying Tower Design

As already noted there are three different types of cooling towers available in the undergraduate
laboratory. The three different types of packings used in the laboratory have different surface
areas per unit volume. They are 77 m2/m3, 110 m2/m3 and 220 m2/m3. Note the type of packing
used in your rig. Exchange experimental data for the Base Case with the teams that used the
different packing types so that you have Base Case data for the three different packings.

REPORT
1) Draw a schematic diagram of the experimental set-up, showing all important pieces of
equipment and material streams. The schematic should be drawn in professional
software, such as Visio.
2) Briefly describe the operation of the cooling tower, in terms of the air and water streams.
(Only 3 to 4 sentences are required.)

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3) For the Base Case run:
a. For each of the six measured temperatures take the average temperatures, averaged
over the readings taken over 10 minutes.
b. Determine the absolute humidity of the inlet and exit air, and the specific volume of
the air, using the measured values of the wet and dry temperature and the
psychrometric chart (Include a copy of the psychrometric chart with the data points
for the inlet and exit air streams clearly shown.)
c. Calculate the make-up water flow rate.
d. Calculate the exit air flow rate, i.e. at point B, using the measured orifice differential
pressure and equation (10).
e. Perform the material balance, according to equation (6).
f. Does the balance close satisfactorily? Comment on any discrepancy observed.
4) For the other experimental runs:
a. Set up a table with the following headings:
Cooling load
Air flow rate
Water flow rate
Inlet air wet and dry-bulb temperatures
Exit air wet and dry-bulb temperatures
Inlet and exit water temperatures
Absolute humidity of the inlet air
Absolute humidity of the exit air
b. Enter all the data obtained in the experiment in the above table.
c. From the results shown in the table above, what are the major differences between
the conditions of the inlet and exit air?
5) Plot the wet-bulb temperature approach of the exit air and the evaporation rate as a
function of the cooling load and comment on the trend observed.
6) If the temperature of the inlet air to the cooling tower is now increased to 25C and with
a relative humidity of 55%, what do you expect the outlet water temperature to be?
Explain your reasoning.
7) Compare the operational data for the base cases for each of the three different tower
packings.

NOTE: You must include an Abstract, Aims and Conclusion for your report, in addition to
answering the above questions. You must show all the calculations, listing all the
equations used and the appropriate values of the physical properties and constants,
quoting the reference.