ABSTRACT

Besides, this experiment was conducted to perform energy and mass balance
on the cooling tower system and to observe the effects of one of the process variables
on the exit temperature of water. 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, relative humidity and flow rate
of air and cooling load. In this experiment, we choose the cooling load as variable
while water flow rate and flow rate as constant parameters. The steady flow equations
which is energy and mass balances were employed in order to provide an insight on
the amount of energy transferred between phases under different conditions. The
energy transfer calculated from the experiment for cooling load of 0.5 kJ/s , 1.0 kJ/s
and 1.5 kJ/s.

Laboratory-scale cooling tower experiment is a replication of cooling tower that

is being used in industries processes. The aim of this experiment is to study the cooling
load performance at a range of water and air flow rates. Besides, the amount of heat
energy transfer and mass and energy balance can also be studied in this closed
system. By changing the parameter on the laboratory-scale cooling tower, the cooling
performance of the cooling tower can be affected.
TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGE

6.1 Introduction ………………………………………………………...……….

6.2 Theoretical Background ………………………………………………….

6.3 Experimental Apparatus …………………………………………………..

6.4 Procedure ……………………………………………………………………

6.5 Result and Discussion …………………………………………………….

6.6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………..

6.7 References ………………………………………………………………….

6.8 Appendix ……………………………………………………………………

6.1 INTRODUCTION

The laboratory cooling tower is a cooling tower unit from a commercial air conditioning
system used to study the principles of cooling tower operation. It is used in conjunction with a
residential size water heater to simulate a cooling tower used to provide cool water to an
industrial process. In the case of the laboratory unit, the cooling tower process load is provided
by the water heater. The laboratory cooling tower allows for complete control of the speed of
the fan used in cooling the warm return water and the pump used to return the cooled water
to the water heater.

Experiments can be conducted which study how adjustment of one or both of these
parameters affects the amount of heat removed from the water provided to the water heater.
The remainder of this report will explain the theory behind the operation of a cooling tower and
how the laboratory cooling tower is operated. An example of a mass and energy balance on
the laboratory cooling tower will be presented along with the results of experiments in which
the rate of heat dissipated by the tower was calculated at full capacity and when the pump
speed and fan speed were varied independently
6.3 EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS
Bench top cooling tower.
6.6 CONCLUSION

This experiment has been conducted to study the effects of heater power on the exit
temperature of water and to perform energy and mass balance on the cooling tower
system. According to the results that we acquired, we can infer that the difference in
temperature between the water and air increase, the rate of heat energy being
transferred is higher than the lowered heater power. Thus, it can be said that the heater
power is directly proportional to heat energy transfer rate. Throughout the experiment
being conducted we need to ensure that the system is in steady state. Otherwise, if it
is not in the steady state the results will not be accurate and thus affecting all the
measurements and thus resulting in errors. As a conclusion, the experiment can be
said as successfully done as the objective of the experiment is accomplished.

6.7 REFERENCES