Cooling towers How to calculate cycles, blowdown, evaporation, makeup

faq798-1152 Posted: 9 Sep 05 (Edited 22 Nov 06) . Here are the governing relationships for the makeup flow rate, the evaporation and windage losses, the draw-off rate, and the concentration cycles in an evaporative cooling tower system:

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In the customary USA units: M = Make-up water in gal/min C = Circulating water in gal/min D = Draw-off water in gal/min E = Evaporated water in gal/min W = Windage loss of water in gal/min X = Concentration in ppmw (of any completely soluble salts usually chlorides) XM = Concentration of chlorides in make-up water (M), in ppmw XC = Concentration of chlorides in circulating water (C), in ppmw Cycles = Cycles of concentration = XC / XM ppmw = parts per million by weight A water balance around the entire system is: M=E+D+W Since the evaporated water (E) has no salts, a chloride balance around the system is: M (XM) = D (XC) + W (XC) = XC (D + W) and, therefore: XC / XM = Cycles = M / (D + W) = M / (M E) = 1 + {E / (D + W)} From a simplified heat balance around the cooling tower: (E) = (C) (T) (cp) / HV where: HV = latent heat of vaporization of water = ca. 1,000 Btu/pound T = water temperature difference from tower top to tower bottom, in F cp = specific heat of water = 1 Btu/pound/F Windage losses (W), in the absence of manufacturer's data, may be assumed to be: W = 0.3 to 1.0 percent of C for a natural draft cooling tower W = 0.1 to 0.3 percent of C for an induced draft cooling tower W = about 0.01 percent of C if the cooling tower has windage drift eliminators Concentration cycles in petroleum refinery cooling towers usually range from 3 to 7. In some large power plants, the cooling tower concentration cycles may be much higher. (Note: Draw-off and blowdown are synonymous. Windage and drift are also synonymous.)

In SI metric units: M = Make-up water in m3/hr C = Circulating water in m3/hr D = Draw-off water in m3/hr E = Evaporated water in m3/hr W = Windage loss of water in m3/hr X = Concentration in ppmw (of any completely soluble salts usually chlorides) XM = Concentration of chlorides in make-up water (M), in ppmw XC = Concentration of chlorides in circulating water (C), in ppmw Cycles = Cycles of concentration = XC / XM ppmw = parts per million by weight A water balance around the entire system is: M=E+D+W Since the evaporated water (E) has no salts, a chloride balance around the system is: M (XM) = D (XC) + W (XC) = XC (D + W) and, therefore: XC / XM = Cycles = M / (D + W) = M / (M E) = 1 + {E / (D + W)} From a simplified heat balance around the cooling tower: (E) = (C) (T) (cp) / HV where: HV = latent heat of vaporization of water = ca. 2260 kJ / kg T = water temperature difference from tower top to tower bottom, in C cp = specific heat of water = 4.184 kJ / kg / C Windage losses (W), in the absence of manufacturer's data, may be assumed to be: W = 0.3 to 1.0 percent of C for a natural draft cooling tower W = 0.1 to 0.3 percent of C for an induced draft cooling tower W = about 0.01 percent or less of C if the cooling tower has windage drift eliminators Concentration cycles in petroleum refinery cooling towers usually range from 3 to 7. In some large power plants, the cooling tower concentration cycles may be much higher. (Note: Draw-off and blowdown are synonymous. Windage and drift are also synonymous.)