LAB

: 8
LAB TITLE
NO.
LEVEL OF OPENNESS

Title: Cooling Tower

CLASS
: EC110 5F
GROUP LEADER:
GROUP MEMBERS
NO.
NAME
1.
Muhammad Izz Mirza bin Mohd Isa
2.
Nur Alya Khairina binti Shaiffullail
3.
Nur Amelia Syarina binti Amidin
4.
Nik Muhamad Harith bin Nik Rosli
5.
Muhammad Akmal bin Yahya
ASSESSMENT OF THE LAB ACTIVITIES
NO. ELEMENT TO ASSESS

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

DATE

STUDENT NO:
STUDENT NO.
2014886638
2014880742
2014224262
2014421554
2014894858

SIGNATURE

STUDENT
1
2
3

REMARK

INDIVIDUAL IN-LAB ACTIVITIES

PUNCTUALITIY
DISCIPLINE
(DRESS
CODE,SAFETY
SHOES,SAFETY
REGULATIONS)
KNOWLEDGE ON OPEN ENDED LABORATORY
GROUP IN-LAB ACTIVITIES
LEADERSHIP SKILL
COMMUNICATION
ORGANISATION/TEAMWORK
LAB REPORT
INTRODUCTION
BASIC CONCEPTS
SUMMARY OF PROCEDURES/ METHODS
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
DISCUSSION OF RESULT
CONCLUSION

LECTURERS
SIGNATURE:

REMARKS:

UiTM Pahang
Faculty
ofREPORT
Civil
THE
MUST BE SUBMITTED 1 WEEKAFTER THE COMPLETION OF THE LAB.
Engineering

ECM 346 BUILDING SERVICES

1.0 Introduction
Level 1 laboratory activity refers to condition where the problem and ways & means are
guided and given to the students. However the answers to the assignment are left to the
students to solve using the group creativity and innovativeness. The activity is to slowly
introduce and inculcates independent learning amongst students and prepare them for a
much harder task of open-ended laboratory activities.
In this laboratory activity students will be exposed to the characteristic equation of the Hilton
Bench Top Cooling Tower.

2.0 Objective
The objective of the laboratory session is:

To determine the characteristic equation of the Hilton Bench Top Cooling Tower.

3.0 Theoretical Background

Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the
atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process
heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or, in the case of closed
circuit dry cooling towers, rely solely on air to cool the working fluid to near the dry-bulb air
temperature.
Common applications include cooling the circulating water used in oil refineries,
petrochemical and other chemical plants, thermal power stations and HVAC systems for
cooling buildings. The main types of cooling towers are natural draft and induced draft
cooling towers. The classification is based on the type of air induction into the tower.
Cooling towers vary in size from small roof-top units to very large hyperboloid structures (as
in the adjacent image) that can be up to 200 metres tall and 100 metres in diameter, or
rectangular structures (as in Image 3) that can be over 40 metres tall and 80 metres long.
The hyperboloid cooling towers are often associated with nuclear power plants, although
they are also used to some extent in some large chemical and other industrial plants.
Although these large towers are very prominent, the vast majority of cooling towers are much
smaller, including many units installed on or near buildings to discharge heat from air
conditioning.

4.0 Problem Statement

Reproduces all the processes that are found in an industrial system serviced by a forced
draught cooling tower. The unit incorporates a process load, circulating pump, packed
column, water distribution, volume control system and fan. Standard instrumentation allows
measurement of the air, circulating water mass flow rate and all end state temperatures using
wet and dry bulb thermocouples. Evaporation rates under varying load and flow conditions
can also be investigated.
As a group you are required to determine the characteristic equation of the Hilton Bench Top
Cooling Tower.
The group must carry out the test following the procedures outline and subsequently analyse
the data and present it in a proper technical format

5.0 Apparatus
The Hilton Bench Top Cooling Tower fitted with the Packing Characteristic Column, H 891
bench cooling tower, Stop watch

6.0 Procedures
1.
2.
3.
4.

The fan inlet damper was fully open andthe water flow was set to its maximum
Add water if necessary
The water heater was switch to give a heat input of 1.0 or 1.5 kW
The orifice differential pressure, water flow rate and all temperature was observed
and recorded
5. The observation was repeated at a number of lower water flow rates down to about
gm/s.

7.0 Data Acquisition

Test No.
Packing Installed
Packing Density
Air Inlet

m-1

1
B
110
32.4

2
B
110
32.5

3
B
110
32.7

4
B
110
32.5

27.3

26.8

26.3

25.7

27.8

29.3

30.2

31.2

28.0

29.1

30.1

31.2

26.6

30.9

34.4

38.2

26.1

27.1

27.7

28.2

16

16

16

16

38

38

38

38

0.5

1.0

1.5

t1
C

Dry Bulb
Air Inlet

t2
C

Wet Bulb
Air Outlet

t3
C

Dry Outlet
Air Outlet

t4
C

Wet Outlet
Water Inlet
Temperature

t5
C

Water Outlet
Temperature

t6
C

Orifice

X
Differential H 2 O
Water Flow
Rate

mw
gms1
Q

Cooling Load kW

8.0 Discussion

We have conducted four test on cooling tower in which we obtained a different values
of each test. For water cooling tower experiment, there are several parameters that can be
adjusted to observe its effects on the evaporation of water. The parameters are temperature
and flow rate of water and cooling load. In this experiment, we choose the cooling load as
variable while water flow rate as constant parameters. We have determine the value for air
inlet dry bulb are greater than the values of air outlet dry. It shows that the values is
decreasing from the inlet air to the outlet air. The value of water inlet temperature are higher
than the value of outlet water temperature.
In the cooling tower, water is cooled by the process known as evaporation. In the
process, heat energy is being transferred between the water and air which having different
temperature. As the energy in the water molecules is transfer to the air flowing through the
water, the bond of the water molecules becomes weaker then it will slowly evaporate to the
air. It can be prove from the result of this experiment, whereby the water outlet temperature is
lower than the inlet.
From the data obtained at the end of the experiment, changes in heater power will
affect the energy being transferred within the system and surrounding. Larger heater power
will cause higher temperature in water. As for this experiment, the temperature of the water is
assumed higher than the air flowing through the system (without considering the changes in
heater power). As the difference in the temperature between the water and air increase, the
heat energy being transferred rate is therefore higher than the lowered heater power.

TABLE 2 : FACTORS AFFECTING COOLING TOWER PERFORMANCE

Factors
1. Capacity

Description
Heat dissipation and circulated flow rate are not sufficient to

understand cooling tower performance

For example, a cooling tower sized to cool 4540m 3/hr through
a 13.9C range might be larger than a cooling tower to cool

2. Range

4540m3/hr through 19.5C range

The range at the exchanger is determine entirely by the heat
load and the water circulation rate through the exchanger and

on to the cooling water

Cooling towers are usually specified to cool a certain flow rate
from one temperature to another temperature at a certain wet

3. Heat Load

4. Air
Compressor

bulb temperature
The heat load imposed on a cooling tower is determined by the

process being served

Process heat loads may vary considerably depending upon the

process involved
There are various types of air compressor and its values of
heat rejection

9.0 Conclusion
As the difference in temperature between the water and air increase, the rate of heat
energy being transferred is higher than the lowered heater power. Therefore, it can be said
that heater power is directly proportional to heat energy transfer rate. Hence, this experiment
has been a success since the objectives of the experiment were achieved and we have
gained knowledge regarding to the water cooling tower operation.

10.0 References
1. http://www.p-a-hilton.co.uk/products/H893-Bench-Top-Cooling-Tower
2. http://spxcooling.com/coolingtowers
3. http://www.baltimoreaircoil.com/english/products/cooling-towers