Most air-conditioning systems and industrial processes generate heat that must be removed and

dissipated. Water is commonly used as a heat transfer medium to.remove heat from refrigerant
condensers or industrial process heat exchangers. In the past, this was accomplished by drawing
a continuous stream of water from a utility water supply or a natural body of water, heating
it as it passed through the process, and then discharging the water directly to a sewer or returning
it to the body of water. Water purchased from utilities for this purpose has now become
prohibitively expensive because of increased water supply and disposal costs.
Similarly, cooling water drawn from natural sources is relatively unavailable because the
ecological disturbance caused by the increased temperature of discharge water has become
unacceptable. Air-cooled heat exchangers cool water by rejecting heat directly to the atmosphere,
but the first cost and fan energy consumption of these devices are high and the plan area required
is relatively large. They can economically cool water to within approximately 20°F of the
ambient dry-bulb temperature-too high for the cooling water requirements of most refrigeration
systems and many industrial processes.
Cooling towers overcome most of these problems and therefore are commonly used to dissipate
heat from water-cooled refrigeration, air-conditioning, and industrial process systems. The water
consumption rate of a cooling tower system is only about 5% of that of a once-through system,
making it the least expensive system to operate with purchased water supplies. Additionally, the
amount of heated water discharged (blowdown) is very small, so the ecological effect is greatly
reduced. Lastly, cooling towers can cool water to within 4 to 5°F of the ambient wet-bulb
temperature, or about 35°F lower than can air-cooled systems of reasonable size. This lower
temperature improves the efficiency of the overall system, thereby reducing energy use
significantly and increasing process output.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
A cooling tower cools water by a combination of heat and mass transfer. Water to be cooled is
distributed in the tower by spray nozzles, splash bars, or film-type fill, which exposes a very
large water surface area to atmospheric air. Atmospheric air is circulated by (1) fans, (2)
convective currents, (3) natural wind currents, or (4) induction effect from sprays. A portion of
the water absorbs heat to change from a liquid to a vapor at constant pressure. This heat of
vaporization at atmospheric pressure is transferred from the water remaining in the liquid state
into the airstream.
Figure 1 shows the temperature relationship between water and air as they pass through a
counterflow cooling tower. The curves indicate the drop in water temperature (A to B) and the
rise in the air wet-bulb temperature (C to D) in their respective passages through the tower. The
temperature difference between the water entering and leaving the cooling tower (A minus B) is
the range. For a steady-state system, the range is the same as the water temperature rise through
the load heat exchanger, provided the flow rate through the cooling tower and heat exchanger are
the same. Accordingly, the range is determined by the heat load and water flow rate, not by the
size or thermal capability of the cooling tower.
The difference between the leaving water temperature and entering air wet-bulb temperature (B
minus C) in Figure 1 is the approach to the wet bulb or simply the approach of the cooling
tower. The approach is a function of cooling tower capability, and a larger cooling tower
produces a closer approach (colder leaving water) for a given heat load, flow rate, and entering
air condition.
Thus, the amount of heat transferred to the atmosphere by the cooling tower is always equal to
the heat load imposed on the tower, whereas the temperature level at which the heat is
transferred is determined by the thermal capability of the cooling tower and the
entering air wet-bulb temperature.
Thermal performance of a cooling tower depends principally on the entering air wet-bulb
temperature. The entering air dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity, taken independently,
have an insignificant effect on thermal performance of mechanical-draft cooling towers, but do
affect the rate of water evaporation in the cooling tower.
A psychromehic analysis of the air passing through a cooling tower illustrates this effect (Figure
2). Air enters at the ambient condition Point A, absorbs heat and mass (moisture) from
the water. and exits at Point B in a saturated condition (at verv light d " loads, the discharge air
may not be fully saturated). The amount of heat transferred from the water to the air is
proportional to the difference in enthalpy of the air between the entering and leaving conditions
(hB - hA). Because lines of constant enthalpy correspond almost exactly to lines of constant wet-
bulb temperature, the change in enthalpy of the air may be determined by the change in wet-bulb
temperature of the air.
Air heating (Vector AB in Figure 2) may be separated into component AC, which represents the
sensible portion of the heat absorbed by the air as the water is cooled, and component CB,
which represents the latent portion. If the entering air condition is changed to Point D at the same
wet-bulb temperature but at a higher dry-bulb temperature, the total heat transfer (Vector DB)
remains the same, but the sensible and latent components change dramatically. DE represents
sensible cooling of air, while EB represents latent heating as water gives up heat and mass to the
air. Thus, for the same water-cooling load, the ratio of latent to sensible heat transfer can vary
significantly.
The ratio of latent to sensible heat is important in analyzing water usage of a cooling tower. Mass
transfer (evaporation) occurs only in the latent portion of heat transfer and is proportional to the
change in specific humidity. Because the entering air dry-bulb temperature or relative humidity
affects the latent to sensible heat transfer ratio, it also affects the rate of evaporation. In Figure 2,
the rate of evaporation in Case AB (WB - WA) IS less than in Case DB (WB - WD) because the
latent heat transfer (mass transfer) &presents a smaller portion of the total.
The evaporation rate at typical design conditions is approximately 1% of the water flow rate for
each 12.5 deg F of water temperature range; however, the average evaporation rate over the
operating season is less than the design rate because the sensible component of total heat
transfer increases as entering air temperature decreases.
In addition to water loss from evaporation, losses also occur because of liquid carryover into the
discharge airstream and blowdown to maintain acceptable water quality.
DESIGN CONDITIONS
The thermal capability of any cooling tower may be defined by the following parameters:
 Entering and leaving water temperatures
 Entering air wet-bulb or entering air- wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures
 Water flow rate
The entering air dry-bulb temperature affects the amount of water evaporated from any
evaporative cooling tower. It also affects airflow though hyperbolic towers and directly
establishes thermal capability in any indirect-contact cooling tower component operating
in a dry mode. Variations in tower performance associated with changes in the remaining
parameters are covered in the section on Performance Curves.
The thermal capability of a cooling tower used for air conditioning is often expressed in nominal
cooling tower tons. A nominal cooling tower ton is defined as cooling 3 gpm of water from 95°F
to 85°F at a 78°F entering air wet-bulb temperature. At these conditions, the cooling tower
rejects 15,000 Btu/h per nominal cooling tower ton. The historical derivation of this 15,000
Btu/h cooling tower ton, as compared to the 12,000 Btu/h evaporator ton, is based on the
assumption-that at typical air-conditioning conditions, for every 12,000 Btu/h of heat picked up
in the evaporator, the cooling tower must dissipate an additional 3000 Btu/h of compressor heat.
For specific applications, however, nominal tonnage ratings are not used, and the thermal
performance capability of the tower is usually expressed as a water flow rate at specific
operating temperature conditions (entering water temperature, leaving water temperature,
entering air wet-bulb temperature).

Components of a cooling tower

The basic components of a cooling tower include the frame and casing, fill, cold-water basin,
drift eliminators, air inlet, louvers, nozzles and fans. These are described below.
1.Frame and casing - Most towers have structural frames that support the exterior enclosures
(casings), motors, fans, and other components. With some smaller designs, such as some
glass fiber units, the casing may essentially be the frame.

2.Fill - Most towers employ fills (made of plastic or wood) to facilitate heat transfer by
maximizing water and air contact. There are two types of fill:
 Splash fill: water falls over successive layers of horizontal splash bars, continuously
breaking into smaller droplets, while also wetting the fill surface. Plastic splash fills
promote better heat transfer than wood splash fills.
 Film fill: consists of thin, closely spaced plastic surfaces over which the water spreads,
forming a thin film in contact with the air. These surfaces may be flat, corrugated,
honeycombed, or other patterns. The film type of fill is the more efficient and provides
same heat transfer in a smaller volume than the splash fill.

3.Cold-water basin - The cold-water basin is located at or near the bottom of the tower, and it
receives the cooled water that flows down through the tower and fill. The basin usually has a
sump or low point for the cold-water discharge connection. In many tower designs, the coldwater
basin is beneath the entire fill. In some forced draft counter flow design, however, the
water at the bottom of the fill is channeled to a perimeter trough that functions as the coldwater
basin. Propeller fans are mounted beneath the fill to blow the air up through the tower.
With this design, the tower is mounted on legs, providing easy access to the fans and their
motors.

4.Drift eliminators -These capture water droplets entrapped in the air stream that otherwise
would be lost to the atmosphere.

5.Air inlet -This is the point of entry for the air entering a tower. The inlet may take up an
entire side of a tower (cross-flow design) or be located low on the side or the bottom of the
tower (counter-flow design).

6.Louvers - Generally, cross-flow towers have inlet louvers. The purpose of louvers is to
equalize air flow into the fill and retain the water within the tower. Many counter flow tower
designs do not require louvers.

7.Nozzles - These spray water to wet the fill. Uniform water distribution at the top of the fill is
essential to achieve proper wetting of the entire fill surface. Nozzles can either be fixed and
spray in a round or square pattern, or they can be part of a rotating assembly as found in
some circular cross-section towers.

8.Fans - Both axial (propeller type) and centrifugal fans are used in towers. Generally, propeller
fans are used in induced draft towers and both propeller and centrifugal fans are found in
forced draft towers. Depending upon their size, the type of propeller fans used is either fixed
or variable pitch. A fan with non-automatic adjustable pitch blades can be used over a wide
kW range because the fan can be adjusted to deliver the desired air flow at the lowest power
consumption. Automatic variable pitch blades can vary air flow in response to changing load
conditions.

TYPES OF COOLING TOWER

INDUCED DRAFT COOLING TOWERS

Working principle
Cooling towers are devices used to transfer heat or cooling water for reuse. The basic operation
is fairly simple hot water is pumped in from an outside source and sprayed in to the tower the hot
water flows over what is called the fill. This spreads the water over a large surface to allow for
more cooling. Cool air flows over the fill which transfers more heat through evaporation. The
heat exits the tower and the now cooling water gather in the basin this cooling tower is pump
back in to the system to be used again.
Within a cooling tower see the usage of plastic or wooden salts these are called fill and used to
direct the flow. The purpose of this is to increase the area of contact between the hot water and
the cooler air. There are two types of heat loss; they are sensible heat loss and evaporation heat
loss.
Sensible heat is what can be felt or measured. Evaporation accounts for the majority of the heat
transfer and is the most critical aspect of the entire process.

TYPES OF COOLING TOWER

Package Type
This type of cooling towers is preassembled and might be merely transported on trucks as they're
compact machines. The capability of package kind towers is restricted and for that reason,
they're typically most popular by facilities with low heat rejection necessities like food process
plants, textile plants, buildings like hospitals, hotels, malls, chemical process plants, automotive
factories etc. owing to the intensive use in domestic areas, sound level management could be
a comparatively additional vital issue for package kind cooling towers.
Cooling
Field Erected Type
Field erected kind cooling towers square measure sometimes most popular for power plants, steel
process plants, crude oil refineries, and organic compound plants. These towers square measure
larger in size compared to the package kind cooling towers.

Atmospheric Tower
A region tower consists of an enormous rectangular chamber with 2 opposite ventilated walls.
The tower is jam-choked with an appropriate tower fill. region air enters the tower through the
louvers driven by its own rate. A region tower is affordable however inefficient. Its performance
for the most part depends upon the direction and rate of wind.

Natural Draft Tower

Towers are typically used for giant power plants and industries with infinite cooling water flow.
The tower operates by hot air within the tower rising removing waste heat so cathartic it into the
atmosphere. These towers are tall and have a hyperbolic form to induce correct air flow.

Mechanical Draft
The mechanical draught cooling system, conjointly spoken as fan-type wet cooling system, is
that the most generally used sort of cooling system. The specified cooling air being sent through
the tower by one or additional fans. Towers have air forced through the structure by a follower
that circulates air through the tower. Common fans utilized in these towers embrace propeller
fans and centrifugal fans. Whereas Mechanical draft towers are simpler than natural draft towers,
they consume additional power and value additional to work as a result. Differing kinds of
mechanical draught cooling towers are developed victimization an equivalent purposeful
principle.

Induced Draft towers

Induced draft towers square measure generally mounted with a lover at the highest of the cooling
system that permits hot air out and pulls air throughout. The high exiting air velocities reduces
the prospect of re-circulation. To avoid the defense of water droplets within the feat stream air,
drift eliminators square measure used. Evoked draft towers square measure additional
economical as they use half-hour to up to seventy fifth less energy compared to forced draft
styles.

Forced Draft towers

Forced draft towers are like induced draft however the fundamental distinction is that the
fan is placed at the bottom of the cooling system, that permits the air to blow from all-time low.
Their use is restricted thanks to water distribution challenges, high H.P. fans and also the risk of
recirculation.

Counter flow
Towers incorporate a style wherever the air is vertically upwards and therefore the counter
current with plight is falling downward to cool down the air. This permits for optimum
performance out of every set up space and helps minimize pump head necessities. Also, they're
less seemingly to frost over in weather conditions and may save energy within the long-term. All
Delta Cooling towers are counter flow.

Cross flow
Towers feature a style that permits the air to flow horizontally through the fill and also the
tower’s structure into associate open plenum space. Quandary flows downward from distribution
basins. There’s less recirculation as a result of the speed of exit air is over getting into air.
However, fans and motor drive need weather-proofing against wetness which might result in
phase change creating it less economical.
Understanding Wet Bulb Temperature and
Other Aspects that Affect Evaporative Cooling
Tower Performance
 

 A cooling tower primarily uses latent heat of vaporization

(evaporation) to cool process water. Minor additional cooling is
provided by the air because of its temperature increase.

 Cooling tower selection and performance is based on water flow

rate, water inlet temperature, water outlet temperature and
ambient wet bulb temperature.
 Ambient wet bulb temperature and its affect on performance is
the subject of this article.

 Ambient wet bulb temperature is a condition measured by a

device called a psychrometer. A psychrometer places a thin film
of water on the bulb of a thermometer that is twirled in the air.
After about a minute, the thermometer will show a reduced
temperature. The low point when no additional twirling reduces
the temperature is called the wet bulb temperature.

 The measured wet bulb temperature is a function of relative

humidity and ambient air temperature. Wet bulb temperature
essentially measures how much water vapor the atmosphere
can hold at current weather conditions. A lower wet bulb
temperature means the air is drier and can hold more water
vapor than it can at a higher wet bulb temperature.

 For example:

 Dry Bulb Temperature : 50°F

 Dry Bulb Temperature : 60°F

 Dry Bulb Temperature : 70°F

 Dry Bulb Temperature : 85°F

 Dry Bulb Temperature : 90°F

 When selecting a cooling tower cell, the highest or the

design wet bulb temperature your geographical area will
encounter must be used. Highest wet bulb temperatures
occur during the summer, when air temperatures and
humidity are highest.

 Again by example, in Indianapolis, Indiana the design wet bulb

temperature is 78°F. Historically Indianapolis can expect less than 1
hour per year that the conditions exceed a 78°F wet bulb. Typically
 6,000 hours a year will have a wet bulb of 60°F or lower meaning
that a cooling tower cell designed for a 78°F wet bulb will be able to
make 65° - 67°F water for 6,000 hours per year ... nearly 70% of
the year.

 Most cooling towers are capacity rated at a "standard" wet bulb

temperature of 78°F. That means on the days when the wet bulb
temperature is 78°F, the tower will produce its stated capacity. In
other words, a tower rated to produce 135 tons of cooling will
produce 135 tons of cooling at a 78°F wet bulb temperature. At a
higher wet bulb temperature, the tower cell capacity decreases.

 Every location has a unique design (worst case) wet bulb

temperature that is published by organizations such as ASHRAE and
can be obtained easily. You can view Wet Bulb Temperatures for a
listing of sample cities (opens new window : PDF file : 20K).

 So, what does it mean when your cooling tower water temperature
is higher than the normal 5° - 7°F above the current wet bulb
temperature?

 Your cooling tower may have lost efficiency ...

 Due to scale build up on the tower heat exchange surfaces.
 Due to loss of air flow across the heat exchange surfaces.
 Due to improper water flow.

 What can you do to improve your tower performance?

 Add tower cell capacity.
 Check for the efficiency losses described above.
 Replace the heat exchange surfaces with new clean fill.
 Check for proper air flow.
 Adjust the water flow.

 Cooling tower performance is related to ambient wet bulb

conditions. Higher wet bulb temperatures occur in the summer
when higher ambient and relative humidity occurs. Initial system
design and proper system maintenance is critical to be certain your
cooling tower cell is providing proper cooling.
  Contact Advantage for application and design assistance for all of
your process cooling needs.

Some of the commonly used useful terms, in the cooling tower industry are
1. BTU (British-Thermal-Units):
It is the requirement of Heat-Energy to increase the temperature by 1 oF
of one-pond of water between 32 and 212oF.
2. Cooling Range:
It is the temperature difference between cooling tower entering hot
water and leaving cold water is cooling tower range.
3. Approach:
It is the difference of temperature between the cooling water leaving
temperature and the WBT (Wet Bulb Temperature). It is one of the most
important parameter in deciding the cost and size of the cooling tower.
It also decides the cooling water temperature.
4. Drift:
It is those water-droplets thrown out of the cooling tower by the
outgoing exhaust air. It is a loss of water from the cooling tower, so it
can be reduced with the help of baffle-like device called as drift
eliminators.
5. Heat Load:
It is the heat that is to be removed from the cooling tower circulating
water.

6. Ton:
Tons in an evaporative cooling is 15,000 BTU’s/Hr. The refrigerator ton
is 12,000 BTU’s/Hr.
7. Wet Bulb Temperature (WBT):
It is the theoretical lowest temperature that water can attain by
evaporation. WBT is most important parameter in tower design and
selection and can be measured through psychometric chart.
8. Dry Bulb Temperature (DBT):
Is the entering air temperature measured by dry bulb thermometer.
9. Pumping Head:
It is the pressure requirement of the circulating water from the basin of
the CW pumps to overcome the pressure drop across discharge valves,
filters, condensers and finally to top of the cooling tower distribution
header.
 10.Make-Up:
It is the amount of water required to compensate for the following: –
 Drift Losses
 Evaporation losses
 Slowdown or Bleed off losses
11.Bleed Off:
It is that circulating water which is taken out from the system in the
form of Bleed off, to maintain the dissolved solids, hardness and
alkalinity with in limiting range. Evaporation of circulating water
increases the Cycle of Concentration (COC), unless controlled by bleed
off.
Cooling Tower Performance

Cooling tower performance depends upon 4 major factors:

1. Range
2. Heat Load
3. Ambient wet bulb temperature or RH
4. Approach
Range
Range is difference in temperature between the hot water entering the tower
and the cold water leaving the tower. A high cooling tower range is the
indication for satisfactory cooling tower performance. It is represented by:
Range is determined by the process and not by the cooling tower. Thus range
is a function of process heat load and the circulating water flow.
Approach
It is the temperature difference between the leaving cooling water
temperature and the WBT (Wet Bulb Temperature).
Thumb Rule:
Lower the approach, bigger is the size of the cooling tower and vice-versa.
Normally approach of 2.8oC is what manufacturer can guarantee.
Approach decides or govern the size of the cooling tower to be selected.

WBT or RH
It is measured by covering the bulb of thermometer with a water-soaked wet
cloth. It is one of the important element in performance calculation of
evaporative cooling towers. During cooling tower pre-selection based on wet
bulb temperature, following needs to be considered:
 WBT design value, at any point of time should not exceed 5% of the
time. Selected WBT shall be near to the avg. max. WBT in summer.
 Specified Wet bulb temperature can be ambient which is temperature in
the cooling tower area or specified as inlet which is temperature of the
air entering the tower and is affected by circulation of tower.
Heat Load
Heat load of the cooling tower is indicated by the equation:

Where,
Q = Heat load in Btu/hr.
m = Mass of cooling water in Ibs/hr.
Cp = Specific heat of water.
ΔT = Difference between hot and cold water temperature.
Cooling Tower dimension and cost increases with increase in heat load.
Designing over sized and undersized cooling tower is not desirable and
correct thing to practice.
Relationship between Range, Flow and Heat Load
With the increase in heat load both range and flow increases. With the
increase of range there are two possible cases:

 Acceptable and Economical Case:

By increasing the inlet cooling water temperature, keeping the exit
cooling tower temperature as fixed.
 Unacceptable and Uneconomical Case:
By reducing the exit cooling water temperature, keeping the
inlet cooling towerwater temperature as fixed. Uneconomical because
approach is reducing.
Relationship between Approach and WBT
WBT design value is established based on geographical location of the project.
Keeping the approach as fixed and by changing the WBT (increasing),
resulting in smaller cooling tower.
A cooling tower use evaporative cooling to reduce the temperature of circulated water, and

 they can achieve water temperatures below the dry bulb temperature - tdb - of the cooling
air
 they are in general smaller and cheaper for the same cooling loads than other cooling
systems

Cooling towers are rated in terms of approach and range, where

 the approach is the difference in temperature between the cooled water temperature

and the entering air wet bulb temperature - twb - temperature
 the range is the temperature difference between the water inlet and water exit
Note! - for a cooling tower based on evaporative cooling the maximum cooling
tower efficiency is limited by the wet bulb temperature of the cooling air.

Cooling Tower Efficiency

Cooling tower efficiency can be expressed as

μ = (ti - to) 100 / (ti - twb)                                  (1)

where

μ = cooling tower efficiency (%) - the common range is between 70 - 75%

ti = inlet temperature of water to the tower (oC,  oF)

to = outlet temperature of water from the tower (oC,  oF)

twb = wet bulb temperature of air (oC,  oF)

The temperature difference between inlet and outlet water (ti - to) is normally in the range 10 -
15  oF.

The water consumption - or the amount of make up water - of a cooling tower is about 0.2-0.3
liter per minute and ton of refrigeration. Compared with the use and waste of city water the
water consumption can be reduced with about 90 - 95%.

There are two main types of cooling towers

 forced draught (using fans)

 natural draught
Both types are based on evaporative cooling.

 Natural draught cooling towers are more dependent on temperature gradients between
air and water and the wind forces than forced draught cooling towers
 The efficiency of natural draught towers are more variable over time and in general lower
Note! - be aware that a medium temperature system - like cooling a tower - are a known source
of pathogenic bacteria causing the Legionnaires disease. Good cleaning and maintenance of
the systems are important to minimize the risk.
The Problem of logioellosis