Cooling Tower

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 Components of CT
Frame & casing fill
Cold water basin
Drift eliminators
Air Inlet
Louvers
Nozzles and Fans

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 Cooling Water System

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 Efficiency of Cooling Tower

Efficiency of CT=
Temp.Diff.of water entering and leaving
Temp. of entering water-WBT

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 Types of Cooling Tower
Cooling towers fall into two main categories: Natural draft
and Mechanical draft.
Natural draft is used in Power Stations

Mechanical draft towers are available in the following

airflow arrangements:
1. Counter flow induced draft.
2. Counter flow forced draft.
3. Cross flow induced draft.

Mechanical draft allows maximum heat transfer between air to water.

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 Cooling Tower Types

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 Definitions- related to Cooling tower

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 Wet bulb temperature
The temperature sensed by a thermometer
whose bulb is wrapped with water soaked
wick, in rapidly moving air is called wet bulb
temperature.
Cooling tower reduces circulation water temp. close to
ambient WBT.
The higher the WBT,the smaller the CT required to give a
specified approach to the wet bulb at constant range and flow
rate

17-Mar-17 Smart Energy Management

 Dry Bulb Temperature
The temperature of air sensed by ordinary
thermometer is called Dry Bulb Temperature.
From a monitored DBT(0C)and RH %,WBT can be arrived
using psyhometric chart and the same is used for CT
design.
In the design of CT ,WBT selected is not exceeded over
5% of the time in that area.

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 Approach
The temperature difference between basin
water temperature and ambient wet bulb
temperature is called Approach Temperature.
Usually, the difference will be in the range of 3 to 4oC .
A cooling tower is said to be performing well when the
approach is closer to zero
Generally,a 2.8 0C approach to the design WBT is the
coldest water temp,that CT manufacturer guarantee.

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 Range
The temperature difference between the inlet
and outlet of the cooling tower is called range.
Range= heat load in kcal/h
water circulation in lph

Range is determined not by the CT but by the heat exchanger it is serving.

The range at the exchanger is determined entirely by the heat load and
the water circulation rate through the exchanger and on to the cooling
water.

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 Cooling Tower Effectiveness
It is the ratio of range to ideal range(range
+approach) expressed as a %.

Cooling Tower
Effectiveness = Range
Range +Approach

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 Blow down
Because of the evaporation of water, which would allow reaching the
saturation point of any of the soluble salts, a certain amount of
concentrated water is removed and fresh, less concentrated water is
added to the cooling tower basin. This periodical removal of water from
basin of the cooling tower is called blow down.
Blow down= Evaporation Loss
C.O.C 1

where C.O.C is the ratio of solids in the circulating water to the solids in the make-up
water

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 Concentration And Holding time Index
This number expresses the population of a
specific ION per unit volume.
The holding time index is the amount of time
it takes to reduce the initial concentration to
half its value via normal blow down.

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 Makeup & Drift or Windage
The water added to a cooling tower system to replace water
evaporated or by blow down is called make up water.

A cooling tower has a considerable amount of air rushing over

tiny water droplets. Some will find their way through the drift
eliminator sections and will be blown out of the tower called
windage/drift.
This windage loss should be 0.1% - 0.2% of re-circulated water flow rates

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 Water losses in cooling tower

Water losses include evaporation, drift (water entrained in discharge

vapor), and blow down (water released to discard solids).

Evaporation Loss = 0.00085 x water flow rate x (T1-T2)

Blow down Loss = Evaporation Loss

(c.o.c-1)

Total Losses = Drift Losses + Evaporation Losses + Blow down

Losses

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 Humidity Ratio & Dew point
temperature
This is also called the moisture content. The
weight of water vapour, per kilogram of dry
air, in kg/kg dry air, or grains / lb dry air.

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 Sensible heat & Latent heat
The heat contained in determined volume of
air as a function of its temperature is called
Sensible heat.
The heat present in a determined volume of
air as a consequence of the quantity of vapour
contained in it is called latent heat.
Total heat= Sensible heat+ Latent Heat

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 Factors Affecting Cooling tower Size
Heat load
Internal heat load
Machine/Lighting/People
Transmitted Heat Load
Walls/doors/false ceiling
Range
Approach and
WBT(Wet Bulb temperature)

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 Factors Affecting Cooling tower Size
When any of the above 3 parameters are held
constant, then Tower Size varies:
Directly with heat load
Inversely with range
Inversely with approach
Inversely with WBT

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 Factors Affecting Cooling Tower Size
Tower Size vs Approach

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 Other Design Characteristics

Drift eliminators.
Fan horsepower
Pump horsepower
Make-up water source
Fogging abatement

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 Cooling Tower Performance

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 Cooling Tower Performance
Better indicator of cooling tower performance
is Approach.
The fill media also affects cooling tower
performance.
A film fill is energy efficient.
A cooling tower is said to be performing well
when the approach is closer to zero.

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Improving Cooling Tower Efficiency
Making sure the tower is sized correctly
Incorporating better fans,
Including variable-frequency drives (vfd's),
Adding new or more efficient fill, or
Using a new set of nozzles to give better
distribution over the fill.

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 Energy Saving Opportunities
Follow Manufacturers recommended
clearances around cooling towers and relocate
or modify structures that intrfere with exhaust
or air intake
Optimize cooling tower fan blade angle on a
seasonal and/ or load basis
Correct excessive and/ or uneven fan blade tip
clearance and poor fan balance

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 Energy Saving Opportunities
On old counter flow cooling towers replace
spray nozzle with new square spray non
clogging nozzles
Replace splash bars with self extinguishing
PVC cellular film fills
Install new nozzles to get a more uniform
water pattern
Restrict flow through large loads to design
values
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 Energy Saving opportunities
Periodically clean plugged cooling tower
distribution nozzles
Balance flow to cooling tower hot water basins
Cover hot water basins to prevent algae growth
that causes fouling
Optimize blowdown flow rate as per COC Limits
Replace slat type slit eliminators with low
pressure drop,self extinguishing PVC cellular units

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 Water Quality
There are three problems, which are common to
all cooling system. They are:

Deposit formation,
Corrosion and
Biological growth

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 Deposit formation
Deposit problems are usually divided into two
categories - scale and fouling.

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 Scale
Scale is the deposition on heat transfer
surfaces and in flow lines of material normally
in solution in water.
As water is evaporated in a cooling tower, the
dissolved solids concentration becomes
greater until the solubility of a particular salt is
exceeded. When this happens in an untreated
cooling water system, the salt will crystallize
on any surface in contact with the water,
especially on heat transfer surfaces.

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 Scale Control
There are three basic methods for scale control.

Remove the scaling material from the water prior

to use.
Keep the scale-forming materials in solution.
Allow the scaling material to precipitate as a
removable sludge, rather than as hard deposits.

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 Fouling
It is the deposition; usually on heat transfer
surfaces, of materials normally in suspension.
Such materials include silt and other suspended
solids brought into the system with the makeup
water; dust and pollen scrubbed out of the air
passing through the tower; product leakage;
corrosion products; and both living and dead
microbiological materials.
Slime-producing organisms can be particularly
serious as a source of fouling.

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 Fouling Control
Fouling by non living matter can be controlled
by adding a dispersant like polyacrylate.

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 Corrosion
It is the deterioration of a metal that may
occur because it is in contact with the cooling
tower water.There are 3 types
Galvanic Corrosion(due to the presence of diff. metals)
Crevice corrosion (due to flow restriction in a crevice)
Deposit corrosion (due to slime, debris etc)
General corrosion

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 Corrosion Control
Galvanic and crevice corrosion are design
problems and cannot be eliminated.A proper
water treatment program can control it.
Deposit corrosion is controlled by keeping the
system clean
General corrosion can be controlled by the use
of inhibitors.
Inhibitors are chemicals.They can be cathodic or anodic.

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 Biological Growth
They are called slime deposits
Result from the presence of microorganisms such
as algae, bacteria, and fungi.
These can grow within a cooling system, coating
all pipe and heat exchanger surfaces.
The gelatinous slimes produced by many
microorganisms can trap sediments, thus
encouraging fouling and scale.
Certain organisms that produce corrosive
byproducts can cause even corrosion.
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 Biological growth control
Fungi control requires special treatment of
wood before the construction of CT.

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